Artists in France’s Southern Light

The number of great artists who toiled in the Provencal south and around Ceret is legion. They said it was the light. Many were French but the expatriates from Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Eastern Europe were there too. Today, one can visit the small villages that once boasted the names of incomparable artists. A trip to Ceret and their charming museum includes works of Picasso, who was reluctant to go back to Spain during the Franco period. Picasso lived and worked in the areas around Cannes, Vallaurus, Antibes, Mougins and Vauvenargues, where he now rests in the shadow of Cezanne’s mountain. Cezanne, the mother of them all, created a new style of painting in a small studio on the outskirts of Aix Len Provence. He set the standards for many famous artists. That studio is still there to be visited. When you think of Saint Paul de Vence, Chagall comes to mind, as does Matisse, whose last years were spent in the hills north of Nice where he painted in the Fauvist style and decorated a church very close to his home during his final days at Vence. Chagall’s Biblical Museum in Nice is a testimony to his greatness. His shadow still hovers over the area of St. Paul and it is here that Gicometti, Arp, Miro and a host of famous painters are on permanent display in the modern setting of the Foundation Maeght. In the hills above St. Paul de Vence, the now famous museum houses works by Calder, Bonnard, Braque, and Léger. The Maeghts were friends of Chagall, Miro and Matisse and it was their private collection that was the basis for the foundation. The city hotel Colombe d’Or is an old fashioned farm-house that was once populated by impressionists. It is a wonderful place for dinner. Their dining room is a museum in itself with works by Picasso, Braque and Matisses to admire. Their terrace boasts murals by Leger. They are still proud that Simone Signoret and Yves Montand had their wedding reception there and the lengthy famous visitor list includes F. Scott Fitzgerald, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Sophia Loren, Catherine Deneuve and Greta Garbo.   At nearby Vallauris, the Museum Magnelli boasts pottery works by Picasso. In the town square you can see his L’Homme au Mouton dating from the war years. The Musee National Picasso boasts his Guerre et La Paix on the ceiling of the museum chapel. The master lived and worked in Juan Les Pins, Antibes (Chateau Grimaldi), facing the sea at Mougins where he died at age 92. Add to that the name Pierre Auguste Renoir who came to Cagnes as early as 1906 to get relief from his rheumatism. The Musee Renoir at Les Collets looks as it did when the artist lived there. Some of his works are now joined by works of his friends Bonnard and Raoul Dufy who painted in Nice. Other seekers of the southern light include Vincent Van Gogh, the German Nichlas de Stael at Antibes, Paul Signac at San Tropez and Jean Cocteau whose work can be seen at Menton and the church on the waterfront of Villefranche. From the Spanish border past Perpignan (Dali) to the main regions of Provence, these giants arrived to fulfill their dreams under the southern sun. It is true that some artists, like Cezanne, came from the south. And while he did go to Paris at one time, he returned to the city of Aix to paint his mountain in the sun. Note: Province boasted artists prior to the 20th century and still draws them today. During the Middle Ages, the schools of Nice and Avignon grew. An example is Pierre Puget (1620-1694) who was often considered the Michelangelo of Province. He was born in Marseille. His ‘Le Sacrifice’ can be seen at the Musee des Beaux Arts at Marseille. This city boasts many important museums that show that art was always a profession of greatness in this southern port city. Add it to your next visit. Arnie Greenberg