Between 1955 and 1959, Crotto visited the village of
Deià on the island of
Mallorca for the first time, on the recommendation of his friend the artist and archaeologist , who described it as "a paradise on Earth for artists, writers and poets." Crotto became part of the artistic Deià community spearheaded by
Robert Graves, and returned there yearly throughout his life. Among Crotto's closest friends in both Paris and Deià, as reported by literary critic Bruce King in his memoirs, were Waldren, writer Nick Arnold, and Paul Arnoboldi (described by another Deià regular as an "
LSD entrepreneur"). According to King, Crotto "was a handsome man who attracted woman," and was married at least three times. While Crotto wasa good painter in the increasingly out-of-date
Parisian School...he had avoided following others he knew towards
action painting,
pop art,
minimalism, and other
postmodernist styles and that perhaps explained his obsession with chess rather than his own paintings which over the decades would sell poorly and sporadically. Every so many years he would be rediscovered and promoted for a few shows by some gallery and then there would be a wait for the next rediscovery. Meanwhile he played more and more chess, painted less and less, and his wives left him...Deià was a continual chess game that moved from the cafes to the beach to private houses to restaurants to wherever pieces and a board could be set up, [and] one of the most dedicated chess players was Paul Crotto. "Paul Crotto once told me that Deià was the center of his life," wrote King. "As Arnaboldi disappeared, Bill Waldren, Nick Arnold and others died, he felt the world he knew was dissolving." ==Solo exhibitions==