Musee Matisse featured some giant works that took up entire walls. Matisse's Piscine, in fact, took up an entire room! Much of Matisse's work was characterized by shape and color; with frequent use of "cut-outs". The bright colors and whimsical shapes were very much inspired by the Cote d'Azur.
If you look closely at the painting, it looks as though the brushstrokes are completely random and sloppy. It is only when one steps back and fully regards the entirety of the painting that the image of the woman becomes visible. (Musee Matisse)
During our first afternoon of freedom, we found a tapas restaurant by the beach. We were all craving something quick, fresh, and light, so this restaurant seemed perfect. As we sat on a long bench outside, the waitress brought us menus that featured surrealist graphic art. The entire restaurant and bar was characterized by this sort of quirky art, and even had a decal of Salvador Dali on the inner wall. He peeked out into the patio, and seemed to watch us while we had lunch, which was less creepy than it sounded. (El Merkado)
So much of the art that we saw in Nice was heavily influenced by the environment. It was neat to see each artists' interpretation of the light and the coast through the differences in their work. Everything shared the same muse but the end product was always unique to the artist.
Modern Art is nothing to make light of.
This piece was my favorite. The colors, layering, and subject matter really captured the essence of light & color on the beaches in Nice.
Seeing Chagall's work was a treat for me as I don't think I had ever seen any of his paintings in person until this trip. My grandma was an Art History major in college, and I was raised on books about Picasso and Chagall and Monet and the like. I recognized this painting right away. It was huge, bright, and beautiful. The inspiration from the landscape is, once again, evident, and Chagall's iconic circus-type people give the artist away even without looking at the signature.