Eugène Tripet (1816–1896), consul of France in
Moscow, moved to Cannes in 1848 with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna Skrypitzine (1818–1895), a wealthy Russian heiress and friend of
Prosper Mérimée. He built the "Villa Alexandra" on the heights of the city, overlooking the Cape of the
Croisette facing the
Lérins Islands. That home was quickly surrounded by the residences of many members of the Russian aristocracy who vacationed in Cannes, and the area came to be nicknamed "Little Russia". In 1903, Tripet's son-in-law, General vicomte Alphonse de Salignac-Fénelon, acquired the northern part of the garden of Tripet's property and commissioned a winter residence project from architect
Henri Picquart. In 1920, the project was completed and the house was named "Villa Fénelon".
Pablo Picasso, who had been living in the quarter of La Californie since the 1940s, bought the villa in 1955 and moved there with
Jacqueline Roque. It is from this workshop that he painted the Bay of Cannes in 1958, where he represents the seascape strangled by the urban environment. In 1961, with the construction of a new building obstructing the sea view, Picasso decided to look for another home. He left the villa in Cannes and moved to
Mougins, where he spent his last years. During the inventory of Picasso's estate, many previously unknown works were found in the villa and formed part of the original collection of the national museum which bears his name. His granddaughter,
Marina Picasso, inherited the villa and finished restoration work in 1987. She renamed the villa "Pavillon de Flore". In 2015, she put the villa up for sale. ==Cultural==