Musée Matisse (Nice)

Musée Matisse
Established	1963
Location	164, Avenue des Arènes de Cimiez 06000 Nice, France
Type	Art museum
Website	www.musee-matisse-nice.org/

The Musée Matisse in Nice is a national museum devoted to the work of French painter Henri Matisse. It gathers one of the world's largest collections of his works, which shows his artistic beginnings and his evolution until his last work. Located in the Villa des Arènes, a seventeenth-century villa in the neighborhood of Cimiez, the museum opened in 1963.^[1]

Description

The Villa des Arènes, whose construction began in 1670, was completed in 1685 and was then named Gubernatis palace after its sponsor and owner, Jean-Baptiste Gubernatis, then consul in Nice. The villa took its current name in 1950, when the City of Nice bought it to a real estate company.

The museum was created in 1963 and occupied on the first floor of the villa, the ground floor being then occupied by the Museum of archaeology. In 1989, the archaeological museum was moved to the nearby ancient site of the city and the Musée Matisse was extended: it was renoved, which led it to stay closed for four years. The museum reopened in 1993 with a new modern aisle as well as a renovated space, which allowed it to exhibit its whole permanent collection which has increased since 1963 through several successive deposits and donations.

The museum's permanent collection was formed through a variety of donations: firstly, those of Matisse, who lived and worked in Nice from 1917 to 1954, those of his heirs as well as deposits of works made ​​by the State. The museum counts 68 paintings and gouaches, 236 drawings, 218 prints, 95 photos, 57 sculptures and 14 books illustrated by Matisse, 187 objects that belonged to the painter, and prints, tapestries, ceramics, stained glass and other documents.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Musée Matisse de Nice Cimiez" (in French). Nice Trotter. http://www.nicetrotter.fr/art-musee-matisse-de-nice-cimiez-125.html. Retrieved 21 June 2011. 
2. ^ "Musée Matisse" (in French). City of Nice. http://www.nice.fr/Culture/Musees-et-expositions/Musee-Matisse. Retrieved 21 June 2011. 

External links

• Official site