More information in the Lonely Planet Provence and Côte d'Azur guide and at www.lonelyplanet.es
Some came for the light, others looking for the mild climate of the Mediterranean and others because life was cheaper.
Be that as it may, at the end of the 19th century and during the 20th, Provence and the Côte d'Azur were filled with artists, and their works of representations of these two French destinations.
A journey through your favorite corners is full of color and light: from the lavender fields to the ports overlooking the sea, passing through the great French cities of the South, such as Nice or Aix-en-Provence.
enlarge photo Exterior of the Monastère Saint-Paul de Mausole, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
Albert Ceolan Getty Images
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Van Gogh.
A refuge in the sun
The Starry Night
and many other paintings by
Van Gogh
(1853-1890) were painted in the charming village of Saint-Rémy. The painter did not arrive here like the carefree tourists who visit this corner of Provence: he did so to enter the Monastère Saint-Paul de Mausole, then an asylum. Safe behind the monastery walls he lived his most productive period: 150 drawings and some 150 paintings, including his fabulous
Lilies
or
The Starry Night
and several of his self-portraits. Today the monastery can be visited and, in addition to a beautiful Romanesque cloister, we find a replica of his room open to the public and gardens with the flowers that starred in his work.
Today Saint-Rémy is one of the
jet set's
favorite summer
retreats
.
In this honey-colored town, around a shady square, there is a calm atmosphere.
To the south, the rugged mountains of Les Alpiles loom on the horizon (they were also immortalized by Van Gogh) and very close to the village awaits one of the most impressive Roman ruins in Provence: the superbly preserved town of Glanum awaits be explored.
enlarge photo The room in which Vincent van Gogh was admitted.
Albert Ceolan Getty Images
Vincent van Gogh
had come to nearby Arles from Paris in 1888, escaping the excesses of the capital. He found inspiration in Provencal landscapes and customs and, above all, in the intensity of its light. He lived in Arles for more than a year, where he came to paint more than 200 oil paintings, including masterpieces such as
The Bedroom in Arles
and
Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers
. But after cutting off an ear (or part of it) during a serious crisis, he voluntarily entered the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence hospital. Later he would leave Saint-Rémy to meet his brother Théo in Auvers-sur-Oise; two months later, he shot himself. He was 37 years old.
Today his works are exhibited in the best international museums, although some paintings are preserved in Provence: in the Musée Angladon in Avignon and the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, two museums that bring together many works by the great Impressionists.
enlarge photo Pablo Picasso photographed in his house and studio in Mougins, on October 13, 1971. Ralph GATTI afp / getty images
Mougins and Pablo Picasso.
Arts, gardens and friends
Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973) was already over 60 years old when he arrived on the Côte d'Azur with his wife Françoise Gilot in 1946. His influence in the region and that of the region in him were very important.
He first bought the Châteaux de Vauvenargues, near Aix-en-Provence, at the foot of Mount Sainte-Victoire, painted so many times by Cézanne whom the Spaniard admired and whose studies on Cubism were the ones that spurred Picasso to start the movement. Cubist. In 1961 he moved to Mougins with his second wife,
Jacqueline Roque.
.
In this charming southern town he lived his last years, cultivated many friendships between artists and famous people, and it is here that he is also buried.
Even today the castle still belongs to the family.
But Picasso visited many other places in Provence, such as Antibes (where he installed a studio at the Château Grimaldi, now the Picasso Museum), and later he lived for a few years in the potters' village of Vallauris, where he discovered ceramics, before move to Mougins.
enlarge photo The Châteaux de Vauvenargues, near Aix-en-Provence, bought by the Spanish artist in the 1950s.
Gerard SIOEN / Gamma-Rapho getty images
Spiraling up to the top of a hill, this medieval town seems perfect.
Picasso discovered it in 1935 with his partner at the time,
Dora Marr
, and lived in it with his last love,
Jacqueline Roque
, from 1961 until her death.
Since then, Mougins has become an elite place, with prestigious restaurants, France's most sought-after international school, and Sophia Antipolis (the French Silicon Valley) in the immediate vicinity.
Neighboring Mouans-Sartoux is just as charming and more earthy, with an array of popular restaurants and an excellent museum.
An essential visit is the Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, the work of the compulsive British art collector and entrepreneur
Christian Levett
. It brings together more than 600 works spanning 5,000 years and aims to show how ancient civilizations inspired neoclassical, modern and contemporary styles of art. But there is even more to see in the exquisite Mougins: the beautiful gardens du MIP, which belong to the International Museum of Perfumery in Grasse, where roses, jasmine and lavender and many other olfactory families are grown; or the small and attractive André Villiers Museum of Photography. Fans of modern art and architecture should also visit the Espace de l'Art Concret, which occupies the Château de Mouans and with a modern extension built expressly, a controversial and shiny green concrete block that clashes with the historical surroundings. The space exhibits works by many great artists, from
Chillida
to
Warhol
.
enlarge photo The medieval village of Saint Paul de Vence (France).
Gabrielle Therin-Weise getty images
Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Chagall: a colony of artists
Once upon a time there was a small medieval village on a hill facing the sea.
Postwar Picasso and movie stars like
Yves Montand
and
Roger Moore arrived
, and Saint-Paul-de-Vence was catapulted to fame.
Today it houses dozens of art galleries, in addition to the famous Fondation Maeght.
Among the many artists who have lived or passed through here are also Soutine, Léger, Cocteau, Matisse and Chagall.
The latter arrived in the fifties, he stayed to live and is buried in his cemetery.
The Belarusian Jew
Marc Chagall
(1887-1985) came to Paris from Russia in 1922. He managed to flee to the United States during World War II and, upon returning to France in the early 1950s, settled in Saint-Paul -de-Vence, on the Côte d'Azur.
Matisse and Picasso lived in the area at that time, many artists visited it frequently and it was that feeling of "artistic colony" that attracted him.
Despite the fact that Provence and the Côte d'Azur never appear explicitly in his paintings, Chagall had a clear fascination for the light and color of the region, which is evident when looking at the luminous works exhibited in the National Museum Marc Chagall in Nice or the mosaic he composed for the Notre Dame de la Nativité cathedral in the city.
enlarge photo The Foundation Maeght, a project by the Spanish architect Josep Lluís Sert.
Arthur R. Alamy
In the village, the artistic atmosphere is everywhere, but especially in the famous Fondation Maeght, which exhibits works by many of the artists who found inspiration on the Côte d'Azur, such as
Braque
,
Kandinsky
,
Giacometti
,
Miró
and
Marc Chagall himself
.
It is like a treasure cave, with the works exhibited in an innovative and experimental building (the work of the Spanish architect Josep Lluís Sert), and surrounded by gardens that are a delight.
The other must-see is La Colombe d'Or: a world-famous hotel and restaurant, which could almost be considered an annex to the Fondation Maeght.
It was the party stronghold of dozens of 20th century artists (Chagall, Braque, Matisse, Picasso, among others), who paid for their meals in kind.
From there he derived an extraordinary private collection.
The rooms are decorated with unique pieces, just like the restaurant.
Cagnes-sur-Mer and Renoir: country happiness with the family
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
(1841-1919) began to suffer from rheumatic arthritis in 1892, and the disease worsened until, in 1907, doctors ordered him to move to a sunny climate to relieve his pain.
In 1909 he bought a farm in Cagnes-sur-Mer called Les Collettes, where he would live until his death.
However, far from retiring, in the south of France he regained his vigor and painted tenaciously despite his fingers deformed by illness.
He had to adapt his pictorial technique to his physical condition, and many connoisseurs believe that his latest works have the same joy and brilliance that had characterized the earlier and more famous pieces.
enlarge photo 'The Farm at Les Collettes', oil painting by Renoir.
getty images
His home, Les Collettes farm, is today a museum named after him.
Shrouded in greenery, six kilometers southeast of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Le Domaine des Collettes in Cagnes-sur-Mer was the artist's home and studio until his death.
There he lived happily with his wife and three children, received many friends and organized very celebrated meals.
The house evokes him perfectly, despite being very little furnished.
Some of his original paintings are also on display, including a version of
Les Grandes Baigneuses
(1892), sculptures, letters, photographs, documents and the artist's wheelchair.
Aix-en-Provence and Cézanne, the Provençal
In Aix its local painter,
Paul Cézanne
,
is worshiped
, although in his day his countrymen did not understand his art and even formally asked him to leave the town. Today, however, they proudly show tourists where the artist lived, ate, drank, studied or painted and you can follow in his footsteps at the
Circuit de Cézanne,
a route marked with bronze plaques on the road.
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) is perhaps the most Provençal of the Impressionists.
It is believed that it was his work that led to the transition from the "traditional" art of the 19th century to the radical new art forms of the 20th century, especially Cubism.
He was born and spent most of his life in Aix-en-Provence, except for a decade that he lived in Paris and another that he was traveling between Provence and the French capital.
He met the writer
Émile Zola
at school and the two maintained that friendship for years, until Zola took his friend as an example to create the character of Claude Lantier, a failed painter, in his novel
The Work
(1886).
enlarge photo Paul Cézanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence.
DeAgostini / getty images
Provence was an essential source of inspiration in Cézanne: the
seaside town of L'Estaque
, the
Bibémus quarries
near Aix (geometric shapes are said to have inspired his cubist experiments), or the
family home of Jas de Bouffan in Aix
appear in dozens of frames. But what most influenced him was the Sainte-Victoire mountain: its splendor, its shape and its colors appear in more than 30 oil paintings and 45 watercolors. Sainte-Victoire is a land of vineyards and it is possible to do many activities, such as mountain biking and excursions, especially on the north face. The circular route around Sainte-Victoire is especially beautiful.
Another of the landmarks of Cézanne's route is the Atelier de Cézanne, the studio where he worked from 1902 until his death four years later. It is preserved as he left it, and visiting it is one of the most exciting ways to understand his art. It is an inspiring place that hosts temporary exhibitions. It must be completed with a visit to the Terrain des Peinters, a beautiful garden ideal for picnics and from where Cézanne painted the Sainte-Victoire mountain.
La Bastide du Jas de bouffan is an 18th-century manor house, located to the west of the city, that Cézanne's father bought in 1859. There the artist painted like a man possessed: 36 oils and 17 watercolors in which he represented the house, the farm, the avenue of chestnut trees, the park… And to finish the
artist's
tour you
have to go to the Carrières de Bibémus (quarries), where he rented a cabin in 1895 and painted 27 paintings. The quarry offers interesting walking circuits to see that scene that the painter captured so well on his canvases.
Today Aix is one of the most touristic places in France, a stronghold of
Parisian
chic
in the heart of Provence: tree-lined boulevards and squares flanked by mansions from the 17th and 18th centuries; haughty stone lions guarding its most majestic avenue, Cours Mirabeau, lined with terraced cafes and an attractive student atmosphere.
The Musée Granet is one of its jewels.
It was one of the first public museums in France, installed in a former convent and today it brings together a collection of more than 12,000 pieces, including nine paintings by Cézanne, but also works by
Picasso
,
Léger
,
Matisse
,
Monet
,
Klee
or
Van Gogh
.
The painting also has another refuge in the Caumont Art Center, located in a majestic
hotel particulier
from the 18th century.
Palatial rooms filled with antiques and works of art in an impressive and aristocratic building.
enlarge photo 'Landscape in Arles', by Gauguin (1888).
getty images
Gauguin and Van Gogh in Arles: the meeting of two geniuses
Arles is an interesting city in the Camargue region, with Roman treasures, shady squares and a rich indigenous culture. But if its colorful, sun-drenched houses evoke a certain
déjà vu, it
's because you've seen them before, in a
Van Gogh painting
: he painted more than 200 works in and around the city. This place in Provence is also linked to another great Post-Impressionist,
Paul Gauguin,
who lived with Van Gogh for two months in the so-called “yellow house” on Place Lamartine. Today it is not even possible to photograph it: it was destroyed during the Second World War. Another of the scenes painted by both are the Alyscamps, a most evocative processional avenue of tombs and sarcophagi.
The memory of the two artists can be found in the Fondation Vincent van Gogh, in a fifteenth century manor house converted into a gallery dedicated to the artist, with interesting annual exhibitions that complete its permanent collection.
Although the true jewel of Arles is the amphitheater, Les Arènes, one of the great stages of Roman Gaul, which remains almost intact, and still today hosts bullfights or local festivals.
From Roman times are also the Cryptoporticos, fascinating underground chambers in the center of the city, or the Baths of Constantine, from the 4th century.
Gauguin
He arrived in this town in 1888 following Van Gogh. The relationship between the two artists in Arles was undoubtedly one of the most tormented in the history of art. In just nine weeks they exchanged ideas and canvases, worked non-stop and collided in such a way that Van Gogh, sensing the separation, cut off his ear. But what is undoubted is they left a mark on the other's work. It all started well: Van Gogh encouraged Paul Gauguin to visit him in Arles to form a community of artists who would share experiences and new forms of art. But his way of understanding art and life was radically opposite: the Dutch approached art with the fervor typical of a religion and reality with a mystical touch; Gauguin came to Arles simply to spend time in the sunny south of France with a colleague he admired,a mere stopover in the search for paradises in distant settings like those of
Tahiti
. Van Gogh was unpleasantly surprised when he saw his idol, but he continued to work together. He prepared his "yellow house" for this, with just two bedrooms, a study and a kitchen rented in a building on Lamartine Square, adorned by bright sunflowers.
They began to paint the same scenes together (the Café de la Estación, the Alyscamps…) and even painted the same people, each with their own perspective and style.
The end sped up: Van Gogh was very fierce, psychologically unstable, and drank a lot of absinthe.
Gauguin also had a strong and unstable character.
They argued often, more and more and even violently, until the final fight in which Van Gogh cut off his ear in a delirium.
There the coexistence ended, but they continued to correspond until Van Gogh's death in 1890.
Van Gogh painted about 300 paintings in Arles, but curiously today in the city you cannot see any of the painter's work.
enlarge photo View of Antibes from La Garoupe beach.
alf getty images
Saint-Tropez, Antibes and Paul Signac.
Between artists and
jet set
In 1956, the voluptuous
Brigitte Bardot
came to Saint-Tropez to shoot the film
And God Created Woman
. Overnight, this sleepy fishing village was transformed into a
jet-set
favorite haven
. Since then, its neighbors have taken advantage of turning the picturesque and captivating beauty of Saint-Tropez into an irresistible tourist attraction.
But before Bardot, he had other illustrious visitors.
Like the pointillist
Paul Signac
(1863-1935), who, fascinated by the charm of his port in 1962, bought a house, La Hune, to spend part of the year there, and introduced other artists to the area.
He would paint various works on the town before moving to Antibes.
In the small
16th century
chapel of the Annonciade
, he is remembered with an impressive collection of modern art, including some works by Signac, such as his
Quai de Saint Tropez
(1899) and
St-Tropez sunset in the pine forest
(1899).
Vuillard, Bonnard and Maurice Denis (the Nabis Group) also have a room with their works.
enlarge photo Work of Paul Signac from the French city of Antibes.
getty images
Paul Signac would end up settling in Antibes - about 100 kilometers north of Saint-Tropez -, a port with 16th century walls and narrow cobbled streets full of flowers that also stole the hearts of artists and writers such as
Graham Greene
,
Max Ernst
or
Picasso
. who included the city in several of his paintings. The city has a museum dedicated to the Spanish artist.
Those famous Antibes residents today would only recognize the pretty old town, a delightful place to stroll.
The splendid
Marché Provençal
is the old living nucleus of the area, covered by a forged roof from the 19th century and filled with stalls selling cheeses, olives, vegetables,
tapenades
and other Provencal delicacies.
Another good place to escape the hustle and bustle of the port is the historic fishing district of
Saint-Tropez
.
Villefranche-sur-Mer and Menton with Jean Cocteau.
Happiness in front of the sea
Jean Cocteau
(1989-1963), in addition to being a poet, novelist, playwright and filmmaker, was also a painter. Several examples of this facet have remained in Villefranche-sur-Mer, the town eight kilometers from Nice where he arrived in the 1920s to cure himself of his opium addiction and take refuge after the death of his partner
Raymond Radiguet
, a young and brilliant Writer. Cocteau claimed that this was where he spent the happiest moments of his life.
With an idyllic port, this picturesque town crowned by an imposing citadel looks out over the Cap-Ferrat peninsula.
Its deep port is the main stop for pleasure cruises whose passengers flock to wander through its old town, from the 16th century, with its small streets interrupted by stairs and views of the sea.
But out of season, it could be a quiet Mediterranean village from the old days.
Jean Cocteau arrived here in 1925 and his refuge was the Welcome Hotel and more specifically room 22, with a latticed balcony overlooking the sea and the Chapel of Saint Peter.
There he created some of his masterpieces.
Today the hotel remains open, with its orange tones and blue shutters on the curve of the port.
enlarge photo Exterior of the Arena in Nimes.
Shaun Egan Getty Images
Cocteau was a provocateur in art, literature and cinema, never ceasing to cross disciplines and enlist the collaboration of great friends, such as
Marcel Proust
,
Igor Stravinsky
,
Sergei Diaghilev,
Nijinsky
,
Edith Piaf
or
Marlene Dietrich
. He wrote 23 poetry books, five novels and wrote plays, scripts and memoirs, directed 11 films, designed theater and ballet sets. He struggled for years with his drug addiction and in Villefranche he would find the perfect place to try to rehabilitate himself. There he painted fishermen, lived with them, and wrote about them. Her friend
Colette
lived nearby
, and with P
ablo Picass
or he attended the bullfights in Nimes and Arles.
Cocteau has left a deep mark on Villafranche-sur-Mer.
One of his great works was the restoration of the 14th century Chapelle Saint-Pierre, which he transformed into a mirage of mystical frescoes.
Scenes from the life of Saint Peter are mixed with references to his own cinematographic work and to his friends, such as
Francine Weisweiller
, whose Villa Santo Sospir in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, was also decorated by the artist.
enlarge photo Jean Cocteau Museum, in Menton (France).
Prisma by Dukas getty images
The largest collection of his work is in the Cocteau Museum, opened in 2011 in
Menton
, a futuristic building perfect for enjoying his eclectic work, ranging from ceramics, paintings and drawings to his film production.
Also in this French city, Cocteau designed his own museum: after a walk along the coast he had the idea of turning an abandoned 17th century bastion into a monument to his work.
And he restored it himself, decorating the bedrooms, walls, reception and floors with pebble mosaics.
There he turned a 17th century fort into his personal museum called La Bastion.
Nice, Vence and Matisse.
Luxury, calm and voluptuousness
Henri Matisse
(1869-1954), the leading exponent of Fauvism, came from the nondescript north of France, but his most creative years were spent enjoying the sun and the brightness of the south. Before settling there, he had already traveled to the area several times, one of them to visit the impressionist
Paul Signac
in Saint-Tropez, on a trip that inspired one of his most famous works:
Luxury, calm and voluptuousness
. But what made Matisse fall in love was the trip he made to Nice in 1917 to heal from bronchitis. And he never left. In gratitude to the nun who cared for him during his convalescence, he decorated the Chapelle du Rosaire in the nearby village of
Vence
.
There he designed everything from the stained glass windows to the altar, the structure of the chapel and the clothing of the priests.
He dedicated four years to it, until the work was completed in 1951. From the road you can see the blue and white ceramic tiles, the wrought iron cross and the bell tower.
The interior is bathed in sunlight, which shines through the magnificent stained glass windows.
enlarge photo La Chapelle du Rosaire, in Vence, decorated by Matisse.
MLBARIONA Alamy
Matisse settled in
Cimiez
, in the northern hills of Nice, where in the 1940s, after an operation, he began to experiment with his
gouaches dêcoupées
(
collages
of pieces of wallpaper). The famous
Blue Nudes
series
and
The Snail
are typical of that period.
Nearby Nice is today one of the must-see cities in the south of France, a mix of authenticity, European luxury, lively street life and an incomparable location by the sea. Getting lost in the alleys of the old town is a delight, with its markets and its architectural jewels in the form of churches and palaces. But the most famous is undoubtedly the Promenade des Anglais, a huge promenade that runs the four kilometers of the Bay des Anges, dotted with symbols such as the Hôtel Negresco, the
Art Deco-
style Palais de la Méditerranée
and the gigantic sculpture made of iron
The chaise bleue
de SAB, which pays tribute to the city's famous blue and white beach chairs.
A must-see is also the Musée Matisse, in the leafy Cimiez neighborhood where the artist lived and where he is buried, about two kilometers north of the center.
It houses an incredible collection of oil paintings, drawings, sculptures, tapestries and its famous paper figures.
The collection is exhibited in a Genoese villa from the 17th century, in the middle of an olive grove.
Some of Matisse's work can also be seen at the Musée de Vence, in the imposing Château de Villeneuve, with a permanent exhibition showing six dozen of his works, which are exhibited in batches.
Find inspiration for your next trips on our Facebook and Twitter and Instragram or subscribe here to the El Viajero Newsletter.