Female artists in the spotlight at the Mougins Museum
Permanent exhibition
From impressionism to abstraction, female artists, too often neglected, have truly marked the history of art. In 2009, a prolific collector passionate about art, a former British investor, Christian Levett, opened the Mougins Museum to share his collection of antiques and classical art with the public. Today, he is putting women artists in the spotlight. In love with Florence, Mr. Levett has also been invariably charmed by the French Riviera. A Monaco resident in the past, he eventually chose the old village of Mougins to settle down with his family and open a museum, unique for Europe. Its three levels showcase paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings created exclusively by women, taking us to the depths of feminine creativity. Impressionist paintings of Berthe Morisot and colourful creations of Sonia Delaunay, delicate works of Marie Laurencin and the rebellious compositions of Frida Kahlo naturally rub shoulders here. Displaying a wide range of works, the Museum caters to a variety of sensibilities. All in all, this is a collection of some 500 works created by the most famous women from the mid-19th century to the present day. A fascinating journey in a scenography honouring each of the works displayed.
While there, take a walk down scenic alleys of old Mougins village. Don’t miss out on the Photography Centre, with its exhibitions always of great interest.
FAMM Femmes Artistes Musée Mougins
32, rue Commandeur, Mougins
+33(0)4 9375 1822
“Surrealist Legacies” at Hauser & Wirth in Monaco
Until December 21, 2024
For its autumn exhibition, the Hauser & Wirth in Monaco has opted for the surrealism legacies theme. It was in October 1924 that the first manifestos of Yvan Goll and André Breton were published. The founding texts of the avant-garde movement greatly impacted our very perception of art and modern life. To celebrate this centenary, the Monaco gallery has brought together in its vast and sunlit spaces contemporary artists whose modes of expression are reminiscent of the surrealist audacity. Unbridled imagination giving free rein to the darkest springs of the psyche, dreams and introspection, associations of ideas and surprising graphic elements… According to painter sculptor Max Ernst, “Art is child’s play”.
Bittersweet Mimicry 2023
© Camille Henrot Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth Photo: Thomas Barratt
Ida Applebroog, Phyllida Barlow, Louise Bourgeois, Hélène Delprat, Camille Henrot, Luchita Hurtado, Cathy Josefowitz, Allison Katz, Erna Rosenstein, Anj Smith are in the spotlight celebrating feminine creation. The link established between surrealism and feminism is thus perpetuated. A story that never ceases to bounce back, to amaze us. And for a reason since the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo once said “Surrealism is the magical surprise of finding a lion in a closet where you were certain to find shirts”.
“Surrealist Legacies”
Hauser & Wirth
One Monte-Carlo, Place du Casino, Monaco
+377 9200 0420
Twelve Miró masterpieces at the Picasso Museum in Antibes
Until January 12, 2025
Joan Miró is capable of making the whole world spring out of something fairly small. His inspiration is often drawn from everyday details, evolving into a surprising, magical, and sometimes wild creation. It is therefore essential to take the time to look at his every painting, to observe, let yourself be transported by the abundance of small elements making up the composition.
In this sense, the exhibition at the Picasso Museum is of a particular interest. Twelve Miró masterpieces from one of the most prestigious Nahmad collections are the subject of this unprecedented scenography. Each room only hosts one, or sometimes two of the works. This setting is intentional to get us fully absorbed by the painting, to breathe it in, to contemplate it, to listen to and interpret it. A genuine encounter indeed.
Miró and Picasso were linked by a true friendship. Having met in Paris in 1920, both transported by a desire for free and innovative creation, the two artists had immediately established a bond. Picasso would say about Miró: “We live in the same world”. We are thus privileged to meet the two artists, in a special place taking us on a 12-stage journey. Just let us be seduced by “the magical sense of things”.
“Joan Miró. The Nahmad collection masterpieces”
The Picasso Museum
Place Mariejol, Antibes
+33(0)4 9290 5426
Marc Chevalier at the Eva Vautier gallery in Nice
Until February 8, 2025
“Pouvoir faner, désir fleurir” (Being able to fade, wanting to bloom) is a new Marc Chevalier exhibition. After his “Les tableaux n’existent pas” in 2020, the artist is now establishing a dialogue between his older works and those specially created for the occasion at the Eva Vautier gallery in Nice.
Refusing to limit himself to a univocal language, Chevalier is experimenting with different modes of expression.
He willingly mixes an eminently industrial product, adhesive tape, with weeds or twigs collected on the Paillon river, flowing through Nice. The artist admits to “looking for scribbles in nature”. An approach combining very different, even unusual, elements.
For Marc Chevalier, a work of art is a compilation of diverse elements, unrelated, yet taking part in the staging of an idea. Pre-conception free, it comes up during the creative process. This rigorous, almost scientific approach is inspired by different disciplines (sculpture, painting, performance, etc.). The delicacy of lines operating first by seduction, then arousing a deep reflection, the exposition is inviting us in active contemplation.
“Pouvoir faner, désir fleurir”
Galérie Eva Vautier
2, Rue Vernier, Nice (Libération)
+33(0)9 8031 7663
