Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: It was Renoir’s birthday on February 25th, which has prompted me to write a little about his final home at Cagnes-sur-Mer, now the Musée Renoir. It’s easily do-able from Aix and a must once this wave of cold weather has ended. A sunny day is ideal as …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Two exhibitions are now open in Marseille, both dedicated to Picasso, as part of the ‘Picasso-Méditerranée 2017-2019′ cultural programme. (These join the other Picasso-orientated shows which I list further down this post.) ‘Picasso et Les Ballets Russes, entre Italie et Espagne’ focuses on four productions …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Just opened, and with perfect timing to catch the wave of ‘Quel Amour’, the new exhibition at Marseille’s Musée Regards de Provence illustrates the relationship between the artist and his or her muse. “The modern muse has this irresistible faculty to appeal to the artist and …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric The new ‘Quel Amour‘ programme launched on 14th February and runs until September 1, 2018. This is the 7-month cultural extravaganza planned by the MP2018 committee who were inspired by the European Year of Culture back in 2013 which did so much to galvanise the …

Contributor blog post by Margo Lestz: 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 …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: The former convent and college des Precheurs in Aix centre ville has been sold for 11.5 million euros to house an extensive collection of Picasso’s works – paintings, ceramics, sculptures – 2,000 in all. The Musée Jacqueline et Pablo Picasso will be the third museum …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Picasso’s work has been chosen to be the co-subject of the summer show at Aix’s Musée Granet. ‘Picasso/Picabia’ begins on at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence on June 9th and runs through to 23rd September.  It promises to be an intriguing juxtaposition of two very different artists working in …

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 hand it to the Musée Regards de Provence who seem to keep finding interesting local artists to introduce to us all. This time it is André Maire (1898-1984) who was an inveterate traveller. He was very curious about people, civilisations and religions, …

Contributor blog post by Barefoot Blogger: Now that I’ve seen the movie “Loving Van Gogh” — in French no less, with no subtitles — I’m remembering my first visit to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. I started my quest for Vincent Van Gogh’s trail in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence early on a beautiful, sunny morning. Temperatures were in the …