Matisse Museum: The progress of an artist
The Villa Garin de Cocconato
Completed in 1695, it was a beautiful villa in the typical Genoese style with a coloured façade adorned with trompe l’oeil decorations and pierced with numerous windows. Inside, it had an imposing groin vaulted hall.
When the City of Nice acquired in 1950 the villa Garin de Cocconato, also called “Villa des Arènes” just a stone’s throw from the master’s residence at the Regina Hotel, the idea gained ground that it could be converted into an exhibition space for the donations made by the painter and his heir.
The Light of Nice
Matisse discovered Nice, more than a hundred years ago, in December 1917. He produced most of his work in this city where he lived until his death in November 1954. The many places where he lived and worked deeply influenced his creative process and left their imprint on all the decisive stages of his work including the culmination of his artistic career, the cut-outs and the Chapelle de Vence.
When I realized that every morning I would see this light again, I could not describe my joy. I decided not to leave Nice, and I stayed there practically all my life.
