This conference will be presented by Alex Benvenuto and will be followed by a book signing session.
At the end of 1917, Henri Matisse, while passing through Nice, decided to stay for several months at the Hotel Beau Rivage. With the sun replacing the rain, the painter was captivated by the brightness of the region. This marked the beginning of years of research and creation. Various places influenced his work, throughout the seasons: the Hotel Beau Rivage, 102 Quai des États-Unis (1918/19), Villa des Alliés, and later more permanently, 1 Place Charles Félix, on the Cours Saleya, (1921) which opened the “Odalisque period.” From 1938, the large compositions of gouache-painted cut-outs, as well as those for the Chapel of the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary in Vence, inaugurated in 1951, were displayed on the walls of the apartment at the Regina.
On the artworks of the Nice and Vence periods, authors and art historians have conducted numerous studies, and museums worldwide have organized significant exhibitions. However, no author had yet delved into the everyday life of Nice or Vence, the local traditions, the various and surprising events that the painter might have heard of, his encounters and friendships, from 1917 to 1954, the year of his passing, in Nice.
