Nice: Chagall Museum

The alliums stretch out to welcome us to the Marc Chagall Museum.
This museum holds the world's largest collection of Marc Chagall's work...and what a colorful delight it is!  We saw mosaics, stained glass, paintings, and sketches by this modern master.

This is a room that takes your breath away...the auditorium which Chagalls designed as a visual representation of the creation.

Most of the paintings were inspired by the biblical books of Genesis, Exodus, and the Songs of Solomon.  The one above here is from Genesis 18:1-5 when Abraham saw the three men and said to give them food and water to be refreshed.  Chagall portrays this with the red-hot paint of the red-hot day...the angels promise Abraham a son (depicted in the upper right corner)

The large mosaic which is reflected in a pond beneath it tells of the prophet Elijah in his chariot of fire (from II Kings)

A circular room is dedicated to his Song of Songs exhibit which the sign below shows is dedicated to his wife.  This one is one of  5 paintings all done in the rosy red celebrating human love and God's love.

Chagall wrote, "I've been fascinated by the Bible ever since my earliest childhood.  I have always thought of it as the most extraordinary source of poetic inspiration imaginable.  As far as I am concerned, perfection in art and in life has its source in the Bible, and exercises in the mechanics of the merely rational are fruitless.  In art as well as in life, anything is possible, provided there is love" 

His paintings are complex, often circular in composition, and draws on his Russian folk-village youth, his Jewish heritage, biblical themes, and his feeling that he existed somewhere between heaven and earth. 
Much of his work focuses on couples, because he believed that humans loving each other mirrored God's love of creation and of humanity. 

Nice: Random Street Scenes

Nice:  "A City of paradox, audacity, discovery and pleasure" --so says the tour book...and we certainly saw some of that...there is ample opportunity for architectural and cultural discoveries, along with beaches, gardens, restaurants (by the gazillions---to match the gazllions of PEOPLE!)
 

 

 

 

 

 

The Many Palettes of Nice

Feast your eyes on the many colors of Nice! Palettes are everywhere in the market in Nice...gardeners, florists, farmers, liquer distributors, candy-makers, soap-makers, spice-vendors, shoe-salesmen...and even a really-o-truly-o painter...everyone has a palette to be an artist!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Villefrance-Sur-Mer

Nineteen years ago, I came to this ancient Roman port to paint with a group of watercolorists.  I wasn't prepared for the changes in this little village.  The harbor used to host many small fishing vessels; today, only 8 families make their living with fishing and instead, the harbor is littered with yachts and pleasure crafts. 
It was still fun to locate certain streets and remember the good time here and to once again enjoy a Salad Nicoise by the water.
 

 

 

This is the Chapel of St Pierre which was decorated by Jean Cocteau, a famous French artist, poet, playwright, and filmmaker.

 

 

 

Vence: Chapel of the Rosary

Steve graciously indulged me to take me back to Vence, France (not a long drive from our place in SanRemo) so that I could visit The Chapelle du Rosaire, which was designed by an elderly and ailing Henri Matisse as thanks to the Dominican sister who had taken care of him.  I had visited it 19 years ago and it left a deep impression on my heart and mind.

It is a very small simple collection of white walls laced with yellow, green and blue stained glass windows and black-on-white-sketches painted on the walls. 

Seeing the light dance across the room, seeing the 14 stations of the cross simply displayed on the walls, seeing the personally chosen marble for the altar (chosen by Matisse because it is the color of bread and has holes in it as bread does---symbolizing Jesus as the Bread of Life), seeing the simplicity of his paintings, his candlelabras...all brings one to a place of pure and simple worship of God and His Son Jesus Christ.
It also brings one to appreciate very personally and graphically the genius in Matisse's work.

 

 

St Paul de Vence--Fondation Maeght

Even though St-Paul-de-Vence is touted as the most famous Riviera hill-town, having views and cobblesstone streets with photo opts abounding, we chose only to go to the Fondation Maeght, a private museum which gave us an excellent introduction to modern Mediterranean art by gathering many of the Riviera's most famous artists under one roof---and scattered over one large outdoor lawn with amazing sculptures.
Artists whose work we saw included Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Alberto Gaicometti, Fernand Leger (and some others whom I didn't know)
Below are samples of the sculptures, paintings, and stained glass.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SanRemo, Italy

The Mediterranean Sea...old world charm and character hotel (pictures show Evita Peron here in 1947)...tall shuttered windows facing the seafront promenade...antique furnishings..and tropical flowers...
what more to ask for after our busy wedding week end.

Oh, and the beaches are not like Oregon Beaches....not only are they warmer..but, you have to PAY to go on them to swim...yet they are littered with colorful umbrellas and beach chairs waiting for the tourists as well as the locals!  We chose to walk the promonade instead.