France Guide
The Côte d'Azur
Musée Matisse
Address: In the seventeenth-century villa between the excavations and the arena in the suburb of Ciminez
Website: www.musee-matisse-nice.org
Opening time: Daily except Tues 10am–6pm
Price: Free
Matisse spent his winters in Nice from 1916 onwards, staying in hotels on the promenade – from where A Storm at Nice was painted – and then from 1921 to 1938 renting an apartment overlooking place Charles-Félix. It was here that he painted his most sensual, colour-flooded canvases of odalisques posed against exotic draperies. As well as the Mediterranean light, Matisse loved the cosmopolitan aspect of Nice and the presence of fellow artists Renoir, Bonnard and Picasso in neighbouring towns. He died in Cimiez in November 1954, aged 85.The Musée Matisse back onto an old olive grove, one of the best open spaces in Nice and venue for the July jazz festival.