All by itself, the luminous light of the French Riviera and Provence makes everyday things into works of art. Experienced in person, it’s suddenly apparent that artists from Renoir to Cezanne, Matisse to Picasso used the exquisite qualities of the light in southern France as a tool to bring an otherwise hidden reality to their works. The light transforms the trip into its own interactive work of art and experiencing it should be a must during any lifetime. And right now is one of the best times ever. My own visit was made all the better last month as towns and villages throughout the Riviera and next-door Provence region collaborated to put the spotlight on artists who lived, worked and played there. I found replicas of famous paintings in the very places where the artists placed their easels. Their studios have been opened to the public, and even the late-in-life chateau home of Picasso, still occupied by a descendant, is opened to a handful of people every day this summer. The catalyst is a stunning exhibit at the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence that demonstrates the major influence Aix native Paul Cezanne had on contemporary artists, notably Picasso. Bringing together about 100 works by the two artists, the exhibit remains open only until Sept. 27. Some of the works are privately owned and have never before been seen in public. The Granet is housed in a one-time 17th-century priory of the Knights of Malta. “He was my only master,” Pablo Picasso said of Cezanne, who was 40 years his senior and died when Picasso was 25. Although a contemporary of the Impressionists, Cezanne reduced what he saw to its minimal elements and challenged the “rules” of perspective. A look at many of Cezanne’s still-lifes reveals that, as portrayed by him, the fruit would roll right off the table. His Aix-en-Provence studio, as he left it when he died in 1906, remains open for visits. From here Cezanne’s favorite subject, Mount Sainte-Victoire can be seen. It was Cezanne’s ability to visualize and distill his subjects to their basics that intrigued and challenged Picasso — although it’s hard to believe that this greatest of artists had a case of hero worship. In 1958 Picasso even bought the 14th-century Chateau Vauvenargues at the foot of Mount Sainte-Victoire — a mountain painted by Cezanne more than 30 times. After installing heating and air conditioning, Picasso moved there from Cannes to escape tourists seeking to spot him or watch him work. Picasso, who died at 92, and his last wife, Jacqueline Roque, are buried in a grassy spot in front of the chateau entrance marked only by his 1933 sculpture “Femme au Vase.” The chateau’s owner, Catherine Hutin, Picasso’s step-daughter, has opened her home to small groups of visitors for the three months of the Granet’s Picasso-Cezanne exhibit. Only a few tickets each day are available for specific times because local people, anxious to see the inside of the chateau, closed since Picasso’s death 36 years ago, bought up all the other spots. I was in line by 7:30 a.m. hoping to purchase a 7 euro ticket to visit Vauvenargues. I had only a small window of available time but was near the front of the line and was delighted when a 1:30 p.m. tour became available. By 9 a.m., just a half-hour after the ticket office had opened, all that day’s available tickets had been sold. A shuttle, met a taxi ride away at the edge of Aix, took me and other visitors to the village over which the chateau presides. The 90-minute tour is given in French, but a headset interprets each area at the push of a button. I was one of just two Americans in the small group. The mandolin he portrayed in several of his works is among Picasso’s furnishings that still fill his bedroom. His chateau studio remains vaguely redolent of turpentine, and the wall mural he painted above the bath tub recalls the family conferences he had while soaking in the tub when Catherine was a child. Unlike other artists who chased the light, Picasso kept the schedule of his native Spain, sleeping late and working at night under spotlights. But in 1965 the Picassos moved to the hilltop village of Mougins because Roque found the chateau to be too drafty. Today the tourist office has his former Mougins studio as its headquarters, and a stunning exhibit of photos taken of Picasso is in place in the Andre Villers Museum of Photography. Fascinated with the art of photography, Picasso befriended Villers, who photographed him over many years. The artist, himself, used his own photos to study elements of posture. Lovely hilltop Mougins, huddled within the ramparts of a 15th-century fortification, is today the center of a prosperous community in the mountains north of Cannes. It’s also known throughout France as a major town for extraordinary dining and the location of a renowned gastronomy festival each September. Not far away is Vallauris, where a Picasso statue of a man holding a sheep marks the town square. It is one of the few publicly displayed works done by Picasso and, like his grave, it is without identification or any markings. Clay from the hillsides around Vallauris has been used to make pots and other sculptures since the Romans lived on this land in the first century. Considered the pottery capital of France, it was here that Picasso discovered the pleasures of working with clay. He first made the acquaintance of the village in 1946, when he and companion Francoise Gilot came from Antibes to see an art show of works created from the area’s famous clay. He asked to visit a workshop and was given a fresh bowl of clay so he could try his hand at the process. Picasso became so fascinated with transforming his ideas into three dimensions and the variations that could be achieved with different firings that he returned to the Madoura workshop again and again to work. He quickly mastered all that could be taught and embarked on the creation of new techniques in the world of ceramics. It was at that studio where he met Jacqueline Roque, who became his companion after Gilot left him in 1953. It also was there that he met the young Dominique Sasso, a potter who was just 15 but worked beside the great master at Madoura. French-speaking Sasso was accompanied by an interpreter when he joined our small group to give us insight into the life and times of Pablo Picasso in Vallauris. “In 1948 he came to live here so he could visit the studio every day,” Sasso told us. “Although he also continued painting, Picasso worked on ceramics the rest of his life.” The scent of firing clay hangs over Vallauris, where ceramic artists work to this day. Their creations are found in galleries to tourist shops throughout the town. Picasso’s daughter, Paloma, which means “dove” in Spanish, was born in Vallauris in 1949. Doves had been a theme for Picasso since he was a child, learning to paint at his art teacher father’s knee. The Dove of Peace that Picasso created in her honor became the symbol for the peace movement early in the 1950s. Here in Vallauris the dove is part of Picasso’s “War and Peace” — over a likeness of Gilot, then his love. Picasso had left his native Spain when Francisco Franco came into power and vowed he would never return until Franco was dead. During the Spanish Civil War, he painted “Guernica,” which depicted the horror of war by focusing on the bombing of a Spanish villa by Franco’s German allies in 1937. Somewhat envious of French artist Henri Matisse for the chapel he crafted nearby at Vence, near Nice, Picasso approached Vallauris officials with a proposal to paint the vaulted interior of the town’s 17th-century chapel. The Korean War had broken out, and Picasso, as chairman of the French Communist Party’s peace movement, wanted to paint a large-scale work as a token of his commitment. When he began work in 1952 he’d filled an entire sketch book with ideas. The resulting mural portrays peace on one side of the arch and war on the other. “All things are possible in peace time,” Gilot had told him. So he portrayed a child plowing the sea as an example of the possibilities. The horse pulling the plow has eyes that are much like Picasso’s own. Exploring manifestations of the light in the south of France inescapably leads the visitor to great artists and illuminates the circumstances surrounding their works. Travelers’ checks Most Web sites are in French but carry a small British flag that can be clicked for an English translation. To plan a visit to France do your homework using these Web sites:
www.us.franceguide.com www.cotedazur-tourisme.com
Picasso-Cezanne is a ground-breaking new exhibit, continuing through Sept. 27 at the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence. Timed tickets are 10 euro, and an English language audio guide is 5 euro. Both can be ordered in advance at
. Aix-en-Provence, a major university town, has attractions and events enough to be a destination in its own right. Included are Cezanne’s studio and Chateau Vauvenargues, Picasso’s home for several years. Learn about the many options with a visit to
. Mougins today combines the pleasures of golf, dining and lovely hotels with breathtaking views across the bay of Cannes. Picasso moved into his home there in 1971. It is privately owned and not open to visitors. Catch the Andre Villers Museum of Photography there. Details:
. Vallauris is a delightful town where pottery and ceramic arts still reign thanks to the fine clay found in its hillsides. Picasso considered his statue “L’Homme au Mouton” to be one of his best creations. The man holding the sheep stands on the church square with no sign to announce the name of the artist. “War and Peace,” Picasso’s last political composition, was installed in the 17th century chapel, which has become a national museum. A fine display of Picasso ceramics is in an adjacent space. Details:
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