Musée Matisse
Works spanning Henri Matisse’s career in a Genoese villa on Cimiez hill.
The Musée Matisse is in Cimiez, the hilltop district of Nice where Henri Matisse lived and worked for much of his later life and where he is buried. The museum opened in 1963 in the red-ochre Villa des Arènes, a 17th-century Genoese-style villa set in an olive grove next to Roman ruins, and a modern extension was added in the early 1990s.
The collection began with gifts from Matisse and his family. It follows his whole career, from early paintings and drawings through sculpture and book illustration to the late paper cut-outs, and includes material connected to the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence. Temporary exhibitions put Matisse in dialogue with other artists and designers.
Highlights
- Late paper cut-outs, including Blue Nude IV
- Sculptures and drawings from across Matisse's career
- Studies linked to the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence
- Villa set in the olive grove beside the Roman arena of Cemenelum
