Book description
Marina Picasso remembers being six years old and standing awkwardly
in front of the gates of Picasso's grand house near Cannes. She was
there with her father and eight-year-old brother to collect from her
grandfather the weekly allowance that Picasso grudgingly gave his
eldest son to support is family. Sometimes they were sent away and on
other occasions, the gates would be opened and they would walk into
the intimidating, exciting chaos of Picasso's studio to face the man
himself and his unpredictable moods.
Looking back, Marina can understand why Picasso had so little
interest in his grandchildren; but at the time, she and her brother
longed for him to love and understand them. Just a few miles away down
the Côte d'Azur, they led a hand-to-mouth existence. Her father was a
weak man, reliant on his father for everything and her mother lived in
her own fantasy world; the family were therefore utterly dependent on
Picasso.
People assumed they were rich and privileged because they were
Picassos and they were to live their lives under the burden of these
assumptions. It was this that caused Marina's brother to commit
suicide and when her father died Marina found herself in the ironic
position of being one of the major heirs to Picasso's estate.
Marina Picasso is the founder of several charitable organisations
that help underprivileged children in Vietnam. She has five children,
including three adopted Vietnamese children, and lives in La Californie,
the villa in the South of France that she inherited from Picasso. She is
one of the five heirs to the Picasso estate.
