After years of controversy, Picasso museum in Paris is set to finally reopen

An over-budget, controversy-riddled reopening of Paris's Picasso museum is planned for Saturday, amid the fallout from a 71 million euro renovation.

The Picasso museum will reopen in October after five years of renovation Reuters/Benoit Tessier

After five years of controversy linked to the slow process and 22 million euros over budget, Paris’s Picasso Museum will finally reopen its doors on Saturday.

What was intended to be a two-year refurbishment became a 71 million euro project for the historic building housing the collection.

A conflict has also arisen between the artist’s son Claude Picasso and the French government, after museum director Anne Baldassari was fired by then Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti.

First opened in 1985, the gallery holds one of the world's most extensive collections of Picasso’s work, including 5,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and documents.

Most of these works were left to the French state after his death in 1973, while others were donated by Picasso's family.

According to the museum's new director Laurent Le Bon, the expansion will allow for the display of many more works than before.

In future, the museum is expected to hold one major exhibition each year, beginning with a collaboration with New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2015.