Posted on 24th Feb 2019 13:11:40 in Go & Do

Musée Renoir

Like many before him, Renoir settled on the Riviera to treat his ill-health, hopeful that the warm weather and sea air would bring some relief in his old age. Despite being riddled with arthritis and having limited mobility (in his final years he needed help just picking up a paintbrush), Renoir persevered and produced many successful works at Les Collettes (his family home), including his lively portrait of Austrian actress Tilla Durieux; completed just five years before his death.

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Posted on 18th Feb 2019 13:04:49 in Go & Do

Matisse in Nice

Matisse adored the Riviera. After a childhood spent in the industrial town of Bohain-en-Vermandois, he relocated to Nice permanently in 1917, captivated by the spectacular light of the region. He lived in Nice for most of his life (first in the grand yellow building at the eastern end of Nice’s Cours Saleya, called place Charles Félix, and latterly in the Hotel Regina in Cimiez), and then fled to Vence after the Nazi invasion. Want to immerse yourself in Matisse?

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Posted on 28th Feb 2019 12:53:05 in Go & Do

Musée marc chagall

“The quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century,” Marc Zaharovich Chagall was one of many celebrity artists smitten by the Côte d'Azur, and he eventually settled in Saint-Paul de Vence, a small commune on the French Riviera. It’s little wonder then that he chose to house the Musée Marc Chagall in Cimiez, nestled away in the hills of sunny Nice. Dedicated to his biblical works, the museum is a celebration of Chagall’s Jewish heritage, combining surreal imagery taken from the artist’s life (think flying goats, tumbling flowers, and spiralling embraces) with the Old Testament and the Hebrew Song of Songs.

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