French Riviera - Painters

Painters

The climate and vivid colours of the Mediterranean attracted many famous artists during the 19th and 20th centuries. They included:

• Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947); retired to and died at Le Cannet.
• Georges Braque (1882–1963); painted frequently at L'Estaque between 1907 and 1910.
• Roger Broders (1883–1953); Parisian travel poster illustrator.
• Paul Cézanne (1839–1906); a native of Aix-en-Provence, Cézanne painted at L'Estaque between 1878 and 1882.
• Marc Chagall (1887–1985); lived in Saint-Paul-de-Vence between 1948 and 1985.
• Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910); discovered the Côte d'Azur in 1883, and painted at Monaco and Hyères.
• Maurice Denis (1870–1943); painted at St. Tropez and Bandol.
• André Derain (1880–1954); painted at L'Estaque and Martigues.
• Raoul Dufy (1877–1953); whose wife was from Nice, painted in the region, including in Nice, Marseille and Martigues.
• Albert Marquet (1873–1947); painted at Marseille, St. Tropez and L'Estaque.
• Henri Matisse (1869–1954); first visited St. Tropez in 1904. In 1917 he settled in Nice, first at the Hôtel Beau Rivage, then at the Hôtel de la Méditerranée, then at la Villa des Alliés in Cimiez. In 1921 he lived in an apartment in Nice, next to the flower market and overlooking the sea, where he lived until 1938. He then moved to the Hôtel Régina in the hills of Cimiez, above Nice. During World War II he lived in Vence, then returned to Cimiez, where he died and is buried.
• Claude Monet (1840–1927); visited Menton, Bordighera, Juan-les-Pins, Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Beaulieu and Villefranche, and painted a number of seascapes of Cap Martin, near Menton, and at Cap d'Antibes.
• Edvard Munch (1863–1944); visited and painted in Nice and Monte Carlo (where he developed a passion for gambling), and rented a villa at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1891.
• Pablo Picasso (1881–1973); spent each summer from 1919 to 1939 on the Côte d'Azur, and moved there permanently in 1946, first at Vallauris, then at Mougins, where he spent his last years.
• Auguste Renoir (1841–1919); visited Beaulieu, Grasse, Saint-Raphaël and Cannes, before finally settling in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1907, where he bought a farm in the hills and built a new house and workshop on the grounds. He continued to paint there until his death in 1919. His house is now a museum.
• Paul Signac (1863–1935); visited St. Tropez in 1892, and bought a villa, La Hune, at the foot of citadel in 1897. It was at his villa that his friend, Henri Matisse, painted his famous Luxe, Calme et Volupté in 1904. Signac made numerous paintings along the coast.
• Yves Klein (1928–1962); a native of Nice, considered an important figure in post-war European art.
• Sacha Sosno (1937- ); French painter and sculptor living and working in Nice.