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.

That home was quickly surrounded by the residences of many members of the Russian aristocracy who vacationed in Cannes, and the area was nicknamed "Little Russia".

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.

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.

Florian said of the performance, "Turning the entire house into a moving piece of art felt like the right way to pay tribute to what this place represents and the history it has.