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Colours of the Cote D’Azur
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By: Nella Scott, Issue 38 – Autumn 2009
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(Nice, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Antibes Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Grasse, Vence and Villefranche-sur-Mer - Côte d’Azur, France)
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FRANCE’S FAMOUS COTE D’AZUR HAS INSPIRED THE CREATION OF SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WORKS OF ART.
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The crystalline light along the vibrant Mediterranean coastline of Provence has been the unrivalled muse of many a French painter for centuries. From Monet and Matisse to Picasso and Chagall – impressionists, expressionists, cubists and fauvists – the unusual glow that bathes the historic towns and cities of France’s Côte d’Azur has seduced some of the world’s most influential painters. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the illuminated azure sea and brilliant hues of the Mediterranean were captured on canvas again and again, and the area still attracts artists and art lovers from all over the world. A recently unveiled self-guided art trail, Côte d’Azur des Peintres, winds its way through the Riviera guided by 60 lecterns placed at key locales so visitors can follow in the footsteps of the masters and see the views that inspired them, long after the paint has dried
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Nice
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The cultural capital of the Riviera, Nice is at the heart of the Côte d’Azur art trail. A skilled draftsman, sculptor and printmaker as well as painter, Henri Matisse (1869-1954), moved to Nice in 1917 at the age of 48. It was the exceptional light that attracted him to the area, and seduced by the ethereal ambience it created, he spent the next 36 years of his life immortalising his favourite landscape on canvas until his death in 1954. “When I realised I would see that light every morning, I could not believe my good fortune,” he wrote. The upper-class neighbourhood of Cimiez where Matisse lived is now the home of the Henri Matisse Museum, which houses a collection of original paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, paper cut outs and illustrated books, the first of which were donated by Matisse himself in 1953. Along the Promenade des Anglais, the stretch of road that dominates the seafront, the pink dome of the Hôtel Negresco easily outshines the less majestic buildings in the vicinity. The heritage-listed palace is a museum as well as a luxury hotel, and is famous for the large collection of French art that adorns the walls. The living museum is also a well known celebrity magnet – dancer Isadora Duncan famously spent her last months in residence at Hôtel Negresco before her long scarf caught in the wheel of her car and tragically strangled her to death.
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Cagnes-sur-Mer
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Fifteen kilometres from the city of Nice is the final retreat of impressionist master Pierre-August Renoir (1841-1919), who created some of his most celebrated landscapes on his idyllic estate, Domaine des Collettes. Encouraged by fellow painter Ferdinand Deconchy to visit the area, Renoir was enchanted by the ancient olive trees and acquired the estate in 1908 to save the trees from destruction. Just over a century later, those 600-year-old trees are part of Renoir’s far-reaching legacy – concerts and cultural events take place in the beautiful grounds, and the house and studio, now known as Musée Renoir, has been preserved with 11 original paintings on display.
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Antibes Juan-les-Pins
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A picturesque drive down the coast leads to the Cap d’Antibes and the exclusive seaside resort of Juan-les-Pins where the majestic Summer mansions of the ridiculously rich seem to rule the Mediterranean. Here literary minds like Ernest Hemmingway and F Scott Fitzgerald once enjoyed the trappings of high society. And Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) created art inspired by the unmistakable magic of the Riviera. Impressionist Claude Monet was also enthralled by the unearthly quality of the light. During one of his visits to the Cap d’Antibes in 1888, he wrote, “in order to paint here, one would need gold and precious stones.” Twenty years after Monet’s death at the age of 86, Pablo Picasso was invited to set up a studio in the seaside Château Grimaldi. Picasso painted some of his most well known post-war works while in residence, including La Joie de Vivre (1946) and The Goat (1946). The Château Grimaldi Museum is home to over 50 of Picasso’s drawings, paintings, prints and ceramics.
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Cannes
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Famous for luxury boutiques, fine sandy beaches, and the gathering of celebrities during the annual international film festival, Cannes is another leisurely drive down the azure coastline. The palm-lined Boulevard de la Croisette is dotted with lecterns dedicated to the art of painters Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Théo Tobiasse (b.1927), and Emmanuel Bellini (1904-1989), and a short drive through the narrow streets will take you to the Bellini Chapel, the studio where the architect and self-taught painter set up his studio overlooking the picturesque city.
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Grasse
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Leaving the sparkling Mediterranean behind, the journey into Provence’s glorious hinterland reveals the fragrant city of Grasse where artists have become as enraptured with its famous perfumes as they have with its mediaeval buildings. The International Museum of Perfumery satisfies the senses, while a walk through the narrow streets reveals the locations where photographer Charles Nègre (1820-1880) captured the city on film, and Yvon Peron (b.1910) and Raoul Dufy (1877-1853) committed Grasse to canvas.
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Vence
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Another hub for artistic talent nestled just a few kilometres from the sea, Vence still has the mediaeval atmosphere of its hinterland sister towns. It was in Vence that Raoul Dufy imagined the Cargo Noir series, and Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943) befriended Mark Chagall (1887-1985), who lived in nearby Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and became a member of the Nabis movement and a leader of abstract expressionism. The luminous interior of Chapelle du Rosaire took Matisse four years to complete as a gift for the Dominican nuns who nursed him through illness during the Second World War. Adorned with murals, stained glass windows and ritualistic objects, the chapel was regarded by the artist as “the result of my entire active life”.
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Villefranche-sur-Mer
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The idyllic waters of the Bay of Villefranche wink a greeting like an old friend as the art trail rejoins the Côte d’Azur. One of the deepest ports in the Mediterranean, the harbour provides a sheltered berth for luxury liners and private yachts while their passengers explore the narrow streets and colourful old buildings on the hills of Villefranche. The stunning bay is one of the most habitually painted views in the Côte d’Azur, with aspiring present day artists setting up their easels where Europe’s artistic greats once mixed their paints.
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Pre-impressionist painter
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Eugene Boudin (1824-1898) is famous for his beautiful seascapes that captured the lives of fisherman in the harbours and markets of the Riviera. Standing where he stood on the edge of the bay, it is surprising how little a century has changed the skyline of the well-preserved town since he painted Bay of Villefranche in 1892. Among the town’s other artistic attractions, is the Rue Obscure (dark street), an enclosed street built as a bomb shelter often painted by poet, filmmaker, and artist, Jean Cocteau (1889-1963).
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