Cocteau Chapel
Artists Inspired by ProvenceGuest PostInspire

Master Artists Influence on the French Riviera

The South of France has long attracted artists and creative types who were inspired by the natural beauty. Vincent Van Gogh followed his dream to Arles. Paul Cézanne returned to his beloved Aix-en-Provence after time spent in Paris. Paul Gaughin accepted Van Gogh’s invitation to head south and participate in …

READ MORE  Master Artists Influence on the French Riviera
Henri Matisse Art lidole-1942
Artists Inspired by ProvenceInspireMargo Lestz

Henri Matisse, a Nun, and a Chapel in Vence, Provence

“Night Nurse Needed – Should be young and pretty.” This was the ad Henri Matisse placed with the nursing school in Nice, France in 1942. He was seventy-two years old and still working while recovering from a serious surgery. He required constant care and needed someone to fill in while …

READ MORE  Henri Matisse, a Nun, and a Chapel in Vence, Provence
Matisse in Studio
Artists Inspired by ProvenceInspireMargo Lestz

The Artist and His Objects: Matisse in His Studio

I’ve just been to a wonderful exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It was called Matisse in the Studio, and it shows how the objects that Matisse surrounded himself with appeared in his art. Henri Matisse was a collector: He had an array of vases, chairs, carpets, furniture, …

READ MORE  The Artist and His Objects: Matisse in His Studio
Painting in the South #Artists #Provence by Duncan Barker
Artists Inspired by ProvenceInspire

Painting the South

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 …

READ MORE  Painting the South
Chapelle du Rosaire #Matisse #Vence #Provence
AixcentricArtists Inspired by ProvenceInspire

Matisse’s Chapelle du Rosaire at Vence

If you are inspired to visit Tourrettes Sur Loup (see last post), you should have time to call in to see Matisse’s famous chapel at nearby Vence, which the artist called his ‘masterpiece.’ Recovering in Nice from cancer, Matisse had hired young Monique Bourgeouis to nurse him and act as …

READ MORE  Matisse’s Chapelle du Rosaire at Vence