Previously published on Ginger and Nutmeg: The Château is certainly iconic in Vauvenargues a small village of barely 1000 people. Pablo Picasso loved the place for the isolation that it provided for his work. After his death, Jacqueline proposed that the castle become a museum, the village never approved the …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: I have to confess driving round/past/through Gardanne several times but never stopping to have a look round. We did, this week, and found it interesting. It wasn’t a good start as the tourist office was shut. We had checked the opening hours on the website …

Inspired by the scenery to let out your inner artist the Ateliers Fourwinds Artist Retreat located just outside of Aureille it is a perfect venue for aspiring artists of all types. Or perhaps your inner artist could gain inspiration from American artist Jill Steenhuis who now paints Cezannes Provence. You can …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: ‘Cézanne et Moi’ (Filming took place near the Cathedral), which has been filmed in Aix, Paris and the north of France, will have its launch in Aix on the 12th September, rather than the usual Parisian launch. With Guillaume Gallienne and Guillaume Canet as the …Continue …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: The repaving of the area outside the tourist office has been completed and I was really hoping for something a bit more attractive and tourist-friendly – some benches for instance wouldn’t go amiss. And why has Cezanne just been plonked down on the ground? …Continue …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: This exhibition brings together many of the paintings and sculptures that the musée Granet has collected over the past decade. The museum has, since its inception, been the recipient of donations from various local aristos and painters, but it is increasingly buying works to enrich …

You can believe there was a lot of competition and jealousy among artists in Aix. In fact, the poster boy for Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne, was spurned by fellow artist and curator of The Museum of Aix from 1892 to 1925, Henri Pointier. Pointier, who never excelled to the degree that …

The south is a world of light. Luminescent brightness is the first, clearest and most lasting impression it makes when you arrive, and its absence is what hits you when you go back north. For a painter, the challenge is somehow to evoke this world using colours and canvas. It’s …

By aixcentric Have you seen the newly-razed ground next to the Rotonde where Cézanne has been left standing looking bemused and besieged by tourists wanting to pose with Aix’s famous son? I read that the town authorities are trying to decide what to do with the area. Well here’s an …

By aixcentric It was back in August 1961, a long-forgotten incident, and thanks to local historian Alain Paire for sending details of this fascinating story. The thieves climbed the garden walls then up the decorative ironwork of the façade to reach the first floor paintings. The town authorities were trying …