|
|
| Where's Barbara? ... Aix-en-Provence |
WEB RESOURCES
OTHER ARTICLES by Barbara
Picasso: Art and soul |
A magical master's tour from the Riviera to Provence. By Barbara Barton Sloane The light shimmers bright and golden on a cerulean sea. The soft, warm breeze stirs the palm trees and threatens to take my napkin off into the blue. I'm sitting at a terrace cafe on the Cote d'Azur, drinking a cappuccino and asking my friend Karen to pinch me to prove I'm not dreaming. Since the beginning of the 20th century, many of the world's greatest artists have made this the birthplace of modern art. Painters have long celebrated the sensational light, the sensual climate, the diversity of the landscape and the beauty of the Mediterranean. This year, France pays homage to Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and there are, through September of this year, both on the Riviera and in Provence, important exhibits of Picasso's work including some paintings never seen before. My group of five women had the lucky opportunity to view exhibits, studios and homes of Picasso, as well as those of Matisse and Cezanne – two painters that had a profound impact on the artist. NICE: IT'S MAGIC Southern France played an essential role in Picasso's life and the soul of this great Spanish artist continues to be felt here, so we began our sojourn in Nice, a city that has inspired artists for centuries. In fact, it prompted Matisse, upon moving here to exclaim: "When I realized I would see this light every morning, I could not believe my good fortune and I decided to live here for the rest of my life." Nice is elegant and trendy, cheerful and bustling, and when the sea spray meets the fragrance of the tall Aleppo pines, this town is downright bewitching! We visited the Matisse Museum, a Genovese-style villa filled with his masterpieces and personal possessions. After the museum, wandering around town, we experienced a deeper level of appreciation for Nice as we saw it now through the eyes of Matisse. Lunch at Oliviera, (entrees between $15 and $25), was amazing. We were attended to by the owner himself, Monsieur Nadim, who has a love affair going with olive oils and diners here are the lucky recipients of his passion! Our hotel, the Beau Rivage (from $364/night) just happened to be where Matisse himself lived till the end of his life. Sadly, my room there was not the one he occupied, but from my window the view of the sea and the special Nicoise light was exactly what the artist saw and that alone sufficed. LIVE THE DREAM Next, we went to the Riviera town of Vence. There's an Old Town of quirky houses showing the patina of time and a walk through its colorful market captivated us with the scent of delicious herbs and bouquets of lavender. Here, we found the Villa Le Reve where Matisse lived and worked from 1943 to 1949. Today it's a charming house that can be rented by groups of artists. After touring the studio, we descended upon the garden where a small group of Swedish women were attending to their easels on the vast sloping lawn, all the while taking their inspiration from the grand master. Matisse named this place The Dream, a name that is, quite literally, spot-on! We dined nearby in Juan les Pins at La Passagere, (dinner from 90 euros), now under the direction of its new and famous chef, Alain Llorca. With his collection of Michelin stars and personal exuberance, the restaurant lives up to its promise: The fun starts here! The enchanting Picasso Museum, in the Grimaldi Castle lies amid the calm beauty of pine groves and is located in the town of Antibes. This is the first museum to be dedicated to the painter, and it is home to some 245 of his works. The exceptional exhibit includes his gay and lyrical work La Joie de Vivre, with flute-playing fauns, dancing goats and a female nude model, his then love Francoise Gilot. Lunching at Le Bastion ($22-$33), was a happy experience. It's tres elegante with good food and great music. Our hotel, the Garden Beach Hotel, (from $223/night), afforded us smashing views of the sea. Antibes has grand estates, dense vegetation and park-like settings. F. Scott Fitzgerald, staying here wrote: "We've found a splendid location – a big house, the seaside, and the casino is hardly 100 meters away." Apparently the Fitzgeralds were enchanted by Antibes, as were we. THE POWER OF PEACE The town of Vallauris is where Picasso discovered the art of ceramics. From the summer of 1948 until 1955 when he left, he created 4,000 ceramic works. In the town square rests his iconic bronze Man with a Sheep, which he gave to Vallauris in 1950 when he was made an honorary citizen. One of the artist's most famous works War & Peace, his last great political composition, was installed in the 12th century chapel of the Vallauris chateau in 1959. It is a powerful work that takes the viewer from the horrors of war to peaceful times. Picasso depicts his belief that all is possible through peace with images of a boy plowing the sea, fish swimming in a birdcage, and birds happily existing in a fish tank. Through peace, all is possible. PICASSO AND CEZANNE Leaving the Riviera and driving to Provence, the landscape began to change dramatically, from exotic plants and palm trees to purple mountains and fields filled with yellow rape flowers. Aix-en-Provence has always been associated with water. Springs and fountains abound in squares and along streets lined with centuries-old plane and olive trees. This was once a Roman city, and it is thoroughly Mediterranean. Artists' studios, artisan shops, restaurants, cafes and market stalls today make this ancient city modern and lively. In Aix there are two major events that will run through September, 2009. Picasso-Cezanne is at the Granet Museum. This exhibit brings together a hundred works by the two artists and explores the significant influence Cezanne had on Picasso throughout his life. Of Cezanne, Picasso said, "He was my one and only master." I saw first-hand how the colors Cezanne favored were used again and again in Picasso's works. It was enlightening to compare the artists' works, and two in particular were most revealing: Cezanne's Man with a Pipe and Picasso's The Smoker. Picasso once said, "I don't paint what I see but what I feel." In these paintings, one observes how Picasso, inspired by the Cezanne work, painted essentially the same subject but in abstract form. The second event is the opening of the Chateau Vauvenargues, which lies at the foot of the Sainte-Victoire Mountain, and is where Picasso worked and died. In this austere castle he now rests alongside his wife Jacqueline. The chateau will be opened to the public until September 25. Advanced reservations are required and can be made through the Granet Museum. UNESCO SITES AND BULLFIGHTS, TOO Picasso was deeply attracted to the city of Arles whose extravagant atmosphere, climate, and bullfights reminded him of his birthplace, Spain. The town is known as "the daughter of the South" and cultivates a way of life that cries out to be sampled – on terraces, in shaded alleyways or beneath trees in tiny village squares, and boasts seven UNESCO-ranked World Heritage Monuments. We guested at the Hotel d'Arlatan (from $146), and visited the Reattu Museum, which has 57 drawings and two paintings by Picasso, including the charming "Portrait of Maria," Picasso's mother. WHIRLING, TWIRLING PICASSOS Our last stop was Les Baux, a pearl of Provence. The town is ranked as one of France's most beautiful villages and is home to a most wondrous thing: the Cathedrale d'Images, an audio-visual center carved out of a quarry featuring, until January 3, 2010, Picasso! You will gorge on his beguiling images shown 50 feet high on thousands of feet of rock face used as screens. The works appear in unrestrained profusion of colors, curves and shapes which swirl around you and are set to some great music, including Nino Rota's haunting theme from The Godfather and his circus music from 8 1/2. This is an immense retrospective from every period of the artist's work and I believe Cathedrale d'Images could be considered, truly, something new under the sun. It's fabulous! Picasso did not paint what he saw but what he felt. "We need to get to the bottom of the story," he said, "and see all the pictures underneath a picture. I have tried, by destructuring, to illustrate and help reveal the hidden picture." On this magical romp through Picasso-Land, we saw what he saw, felt what he felt and, as his feelings were revealed through his work, we gained a profound and lasting insight into his world. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Barbara Barton Sloane is a Contributing Travel Writer for The Westchester Herald, Bay Area Family Travel, Travel Savvy News, What? Magazine and Beauty & Fashion Editor for Elegant Accents Magazine. She is a former Assistant Beauty & Fashion Editor at Ladies’ Home Journal, an Associate Editor at McCall’s, and has written for Redbook, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Les Nouvelles Esthetiques, Women’s News and Marie Claire magazines. In addition to writing, Barbara’s interests include running marathons, hiking and cycling. She is a member of North American Travel Journalists Association, International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association, Cosmetic Executive Women, and Fashion Group International. Barbara has a BA in Journalism from Ohio State University. Destinations of interest are those that appeal to the family traveler, the avid adventurer, luxury, exotic and romantic travel, spas/resorts and sites of historic and cultural interest both here and abroad. *Please tell us what you think of this story!
|
| Join Our Mailing List |
JohnnyJet.com • About Johnny • Publicity • Newsletter Archive Contact Us • Suggestions
