“With Matisse, everything is dizzying…” With these words, Jean Jacques Aillagon, chief curator, opens the inauguration of the event “Nice 2013 a summer for Matisse.” 8 exhibitions in 8 museums connected by a route and by Matisse. A way to pay tribute to this extraordinary artist.
Matisse maintained a strong connection with Nice for a long time. The colors reflected by the city on the Azure Coast largely inspired most of his works. Hence, this is the first tribute to Matisse of this scale in his adopted city on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Matisse Museum.
Nearly 700 works presented to the public including some world-renowned ones like “La Piscine.” At the inauguration, everyone offered their speeches. Jean Jacques Aillagon, chief curator of the event, Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, and Marie-Christine Labourdette, director of the museums of France, paid tribute to the artist. Alongside them was Barbara Duthuit, widow of Matisse’s grandson, Claude, who initiated the donation of “La Piscine” to the city.
Christian Estrosi does not hide his pleasure at the idea of such an exhibition: “We thus see the Nice of Matisse come alive again. A work like ‘The Sadness of the King’ required an insurance of 50 million euros but it is the equivalent of the Mona Lisa in its field.” Once the speeches are made, the public is invited inside the museum. On the program, a complete visit of the museum to the sound of violins and other flutes. An experience in perfect symbiosis with the artist’s philosophy: “Matisse finds in music a rigorous method and a precise technique that correspond to his way of working,” specifies Jean-Jacques Aillagon. This encounter with Nice changed his vision immeasurably.
Upon arriving in the room housing “La Piscine,” applause crowns this work as an obviousness in the face of the sublime. One thing is sure: “Matisse is not the same without Nice, and the city is not the same without Matisse,” concludes Jean-Jacques Aillagon.
To find out everything about the exhibitions: https://matisse2013.nice.fr
