Paris' Picasso museum reopens after costly, controversial expansion

A top-level firing, harsh words from the artist's son, delays and a huge budget overrun - Paris' Picasso museum reopened its doors on Oct 25 amid the fallout from a fraught $71-million renovation.

A little more than five years after it closed for what was intended to be a two-year refurbishment, the museum - housed in a 17th-century baroque mansion in Paris' historic Marais quarter - has been extensively modernized and is more than twice its previous size.

Costs, however, stand at 22 million euros ($27 million) over budget due to an increase in the scope of the work, a rift has opened up between Picasso's son Claude and the French government and the museum's director of nearly a decade, Anne Baldassari, no longer has her job.