Modern Art in Nice: Matisse, the Mamac and the Maeght Foundation

We set off from Turin on 2 January 2014 and reach Nice around midday; we head to Place Massena to settle in at the Hotel Helvetique, then start our first stroll by visiting the Christmas market on Place Massena, with its cheerful little wooden huts, all alike, displaying sweets and Christmas items; in the evening we will see it splendidly lit up with the beautiful Christmas lights that cast evocative reflections on the surrounding buildings, the Fontaine du Soleil with its tall jets of water that change constantly, and, a little hidden, the Conversation à Nice, a work of 7 statues mounted on columns about 6 metres high representing the continents of the earth, lit from within by lights of different colours that pass from one column to another to symbolise the transmission of culture between the peoples of the world. The Christmas tree powered by pedalling bicycles is lovely too.

In the following days, bearing in mind that we have been to Nice many times, we visit the old town with its narrow pedestrian streets and, in particular, the Palais Lascaris, a 17th-century Baroque residence (like almost all the churches of the Vieille Ville), with period furnishings, frescoes on the vaults and walls, tapestries with mythological scenes and many musical instruments from different eras; note that it is often described as a museum of music.

We do not miss a visit to the flower market, where the Maison Matisse stands on one side, and, when the weather allowed, long walks along the famous Promenade.

In the evening we visited the sites of the Christmas lights, rue de France and Place Garibaldi.

This year we then treated ourselves to a full dose of modern art. We began with the Museum of Contemporary Art (Mamac). Inside the building, made up of four 30-metre towers in white marble linked by iron walkways in the shape of a donkey's back, with garden areas, called by the French Jardin Suspendu, or Gardens of Eden, there is no shortage of artworks, and it is also a viewpoint offering a splendid 360° view of Nice.

The collections consist mainly of French works, but there are a few foreigners such as Warhol, Pistoletto and others; everything is arranged in large rooms with big windows, and a walk on the Jardin Suspendu is not to be missed either.

We then went to the Musée d'Art Naïf A. Lokovsky; it is located in a somewhat outlying position, on the road up the Boron hill, but is easily reached by public transport. It is a little-known museum, housed in the Château de Sainte Hélène, which struck us rather as an elegant villa, with a large park decorated with big, colourful sculptures that give a pleasant and cheerful welcome.

The interior is laid out over two floors; the works allow a complete understanding of this art, with no particular subdivision, as it is an art that has no different schools or styles, and some come from the Musée d'Orsay.

Pastel colours prevail in the works, and the subjects are simple but not for that reason devoid of meaning.

With bus 400 we reach the area near Saint Paul de Vence to visit the Maeght Foundation, one of the major French contemporary art galleries.

You enter through a large park, where sculptures by famous artists such as Miró, Calder and others are displayed; inside there is a rich collection of artworks and sculptures. I very much appreciated Braque's Fish Tank, a small pool whose bottom is decorated with the painter's drawings of fish; inside there are many French painters, but you can also admire works by Bonnard, Pistoletto, Léger and others.

We also visited a temporary exhibition by a French-Algerian painter, Djamel Tatah, which did not, however, enthuse us.

We take bus 400 again and go to Vence to visit Matisse's Chapelle du Rosaire, about 1 km from the town centre.

It is rather small, a single rectangular nave; the large stained-glass windows designed by the painter are magnificent, with green, yellow and blue prevailing; I particularly liked the window behind the small stone altar, depicting a flowering cactus as a symbol of the will to live even in impossible environments. The other windows mostly show designs of leaves, palms I think. Some of the white perimeter walls have panels with designs of the Stations of the Cross, naturally by the great master.

We then visit the small museum displaying photographs, drawings and original sacred vestments designed by the great painter.

Ferny forner