Nice Attractions

Venue: Matisse Museum    When: Daily; not Tue

Nice's Matisse Museum not only houses an impressive collection of works spanning the artist's career, but also offers a fascinating insight into the character of the man himself and his influences.

The museum is located in an elegant villa perched on Cimiez Hill in Nice, the town where Matisse lived from 1918-1954, attracted no doubt by the ebullience of Mediterranean colours, light and lifestyle. Villa Regina, where he lived from 1938, is only a few steps away. The weighty permanent collection is comprised of approximately 70 paintings and gouaches, over 200 drawings, nearly 60 sculptures and 100 photographs, as well as 187 of the artist's personal belongings.

For Matisse, drawings were as significant as paintings themselves and the collection here is one of the world's most important. The photographs include those Matisse took in Tahiti and many (taken by contemporaries such as Henri Cartier-Bresson) of the artist and his studio. With all the mediums that Matisse worked in so well represented, plus so many of the objects he used as models, a real understanding of the artist's vision emerges.