Ai Weiwei has a permanent installation at Chateau La Coste. It’s entitled Ruyi Path after the ceremonial sceptre, which symbolizes power and good fortune in Chinese history. The artist has followed the shape of the sceptre to create a new pathway that weaves between the forest trees at Château La …

Christian Detaux always wanted to be an artist.  For as long as he can remember, he’s been drawing and painting and shaping forms. At the age of 16, Detaux applied to the prestigious “Ecole des Beaux Arts” in Paris, ready to embark on a career as an artist.  But then he …

Pierre Bonnard loved his home at Le Cannet. He painted his wife Marthe in the bath, the cats in the dining room, the splendid colours of his garden, and, naturally, his view of the sparkling Mediterranean. Le Cannet now has the world’s only museum dedicated to the artist. The current …

New shows open in Arles and at the Carrières de Lumières at Les Baux at the beginning of March. Starting with the Fondation Van Gogh, it is a pleasure to see that they will have 8 of his paintings on show, starting 4th March. ‘Calm and Exultation, Van Gogh in …

Mougins is a picture-perfect centuries-old hilltop village. Constructed like a spiral with ancient passageways lined with stone houses, it is now a magnet for craftspeople, artists and high-class restaurateurs. But there’s an additional reason for visiting the village and that’s the Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins. This is one of …

What is it? The Foundation owns one of the largest collections of paintings, sculptures and graphic works of the 20th century in Europe and shows contemporary artists’ work…and it’s just a 2-hour drive from Aix. Who were the Maeghts? Aimé and Marguerite Maeght who were art dealers and collectors based …

The Musée Regards de Provence does a great job focusing on local artists who haven’t had much national recognition and their latest show, David Dellepiane arts et modernité, is a case in point. Born in 1866 to a Genoese family, Dellepiane came to Marseille aged 9 and was brought up …

Have you heard of Galerie Pentcheff in Marseille? I just stumbled across it on the internet and was amazed to read about the scale of its enterprise. It’s a commercial gallery and bookstore which mounts exhibitions. The current one is ‘Seyssaud, Verdilhan, Chabaud’, focusing on three very colourful details on …

Contributor blog post by Phoebe Thomas: So many of my good intentions for the blog slip during summer.  Mid June to mid July is by far the busiest time of year for me work wise on top of which I find it hard to write with the kids around and …

Each time I begin a blog post, it seems to start off with “One of my favourite things in France is ….” Sorry about that, but every day, every experience in this wonderful new world of mine seems to be better than the last. One of my favorite things in …