It’s a little-known fact that the Côte d’Azur has inspired many of the greatest French painters who lived here for many years and left behind artworks and wonderful museums.
You’ll be making a good decision if you choose a cultural break in Nice and its surroundings, because our region has the most museums in France after Paris. You’ll be blown away by the wealth and diversity on offer.
Read on to discover more about the famous painters of the Côte d’Azur.
Auguste Renoir (Cagnes-sur-Mer)
Renoir was already famous and celebrated when he arrived in Cagnes sur Mer at the age of 61 during the Belle Epoque. He had a vast house built in the Provence style overlooking the Domaine des Collettes, a park with magnificent hundred-year-old olive trees. He stayed there until his death in 1919, tirelessly painting landscapes as well as nudes and portraits. Twelve of his paintings are on show at the Maison de Renoir (Renoir’s Museum) which is open to the public (as are the house’s garden and croft). This museum shows us the simple lifestyle this great man lived and his affinity with the southern way of life, despite his fame.
Henri Matisse
It was in 1917 at the age of 48 that this painter who was already famous in Paris but little known in Nice moved close to the Cours Saleya market. He quickly fell in love with the region’s extraordinary light, which bathes and beautifies everything it touches. That decided it. He chose to live in Nice and wander the entire coast, from Monte Carlo to Antibes, committing the palm trees, clear waters and sails pitching on blue swells to his canvases. He was innovative, creating “decorative” paintings and very modern art using paper cut-outs. The Cimiez Musée Matisse, a magnificent country house, reveals the many different aspects of his artistic career from sketching to painting and frescos.
Marc Chagall (Nice): Mars
At the end of his life, Chagall exclaimed “I thank fate for leading me to the shores of the Mediterranean.” This Russian Jew who was naturalised in France in 1937 lived through two world wars and the partial destruction of his work by the Nazis, but retained all his fresh creativity and unrelenting love for life. Chagall was famous for his paintings which intertwined colourful dreamlike symbols to celebrate love and joy. A beautiful museum in Nice is now home almost exclusively to his interpretation of the great passages from the Bible. His tomb can be found in Saint Paul de Vence, the place he most loved to work.
Pablo Picasso
This prolific genius lived on the Côte d’Azur from 1946 and remained there until his death in 1973. He left his powerfully creative mark on Antibes, which has dedicated a museum to him in the Château Grimaldi, a remarkable Medieval building that overlooks the adjacent Mediterranean. There you can see many of his ceramics and some famous works, such as Joie de Vivre. In Vallauris, Picasso tried his hand at ceramics, a local specialty. The Musée Magnelli pays great homage to the painter, ceramic artist and sculptor. It is also home to some of his most notable works such as La Guerre et la Paix. Mougins was his last home. He continued to innovate in his painting to the end in this beautiful village that had adopted him. The Maison Notre Dame de Vie, which is completely dedicated to his work, is testimony of this.
Chateau Grimaldi, Antibes – Musée Notre Dame de Vie, Chemin de la Chapelle, Mougins.
Pierre Bonnard
From the first half of the 20th century, this great painter classed as one of the “Nabis” but later considered to be unclassifiable travelled the Mediterranean coast before settling in Le Cannet in 1926, the artists’ village overlooking Cannes (this village is a must-visit as the soul and spirit of the artists who have lived there can still be felt around place Bellevue, all the way to promenade Bonnard and, fittingly, between the mimosas and picturesque villas). Throughout his life Pierre Bonnard painted the splendour of the natural world in the South of France, the beauty of women and everyday life. His colourful sun-drenched paintings won worldwide acclaim. One of his major works, l’Eté, can be seen at Fondation Maeght (St Paul de Vence).
Musée Pierre Bonnard, Boulevard Sadi Carnot, le Cannet
Fondation Maeght, chemin des Garcettes; Saint Paul de Vence
Also noteworthy are Fernand Léger (Biot) and Seurat, two of the famous painters who have featured in the history of the Côte d’Azur. So much talent, and so many masterpieces! They await in the celebrated museums of Nice, Mougins and Antibes. To do them justice, book a villa or apartment in the Nice region from the leading holiday rental specialist on the Côte d’Azur: https://www.rivieraholidayhomes.com/en/