Visit these artist's residences to see where inspiration struck Artistic genius is a tenuous concept. Often the most interesting way to experience art is to learn about the life of the artist, but you can dig even deeper and experience the life of the artist. What better way to do that to visit the places where actual master-pieces were created? Here is a list of artists’ residences and workshops throughout one of the most inspirational countries in the world – France.
Alsace
Musée Bartholdi
30 rue des Marchands
6800 Colmar
Tel: 33 (0)3 89 41 90 60
www.musee-bartholdi.com
The former home of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) is now a museum that holds art by the famous sculptor. Alsatian works are on the ground floor; his former apartment is conserved on the first floor and his American works are on the second floor (particularly objects and documents relating to his most famous masterpiece, the Statue of Liberty).
Aquitaine
Château Malromé
33490 Saint-André-du-Bois
Tel: 33 (0) 5 56 76 44 92
Fax: 33 (0)5 56 76 46 18
www.malrome.com
In 1883, the countess Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec purchased this 14th-century château. Adèle’s famous son, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, stayed there frequently, finding relaxation on its grounds. It served as a welcoming venue for painting and inspired one of the most beautiful portraits he ever made of his mother. Toulouse-Lautrec died at the château on September 9, 1901.
Centre Val-de-Loire
Le Château du Clos Lucé - Parc Léonardo da Vinci
37400 Amboise
Tel: 33 (0) 2 47 57 00 73
Fax: 33 (0) 2 47 30 54 28
www.vinci-closluce.com
The Château du Clos-Lucé was Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452-1519) last place of residence. He settled there in 1516, at the request and invitation of King Francois the First. Today, the château and its park, known as the ‘park of knowledge,’ allow visitors to wander through the world of Leonardo, discovering his civil and military designs and inventions as well as his inimitable art work.
Franche-Comté
Musée Gustave Courbet
1 place Robert Fernier
25290 Ornans
Tel: 33 (0)3 81 62 23 30
Fax: 33 (0)3 81 62 49 58
www.musee-courbet.com
This 18 th-century establishment was home to Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) during his childhood. Located along the Loue River, in the heart of the old city of Ornans, it now serves as a museum and learning center. Eighty-three paintings, sculptures and drawings make up the permanent collection. Several of the museum’s rooms depict life from the artist’s youth, such as his bedroom and the Salon Hébert.
Ile-de-France
Musée Bouchard
25 rue de l’Yvette
75016 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 46 47 63 46
Fax: 33 (0) 1 46 47 70 50
www.musee-bouchard.com
The studio of the sculptor Henri Bouchard (1875-1960) presents a broad selection from the artist’s many works: sculptures in plaster, stone and bronze; his tools; and documentation on his techniques. Bouchard produced approximately 1,300 works in all.
Fondation Le Corbusier
24 rue Nungesser et Coli
75016 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 42 88 75 72
Fax : 33 (0)1 42 88 33 17
www.fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr
In an effort to consolidate his studies, plans and visual work, Le Corbusier (1887-1965) bequeathed his property to a foundation he had created before his death. The foundation’s aim is to restore and preserve all of the architect’s original notes, documents, designs, etc. and to present them to the public. The foundation owns the apartment on rue Nungesser et Coli, which Le Corbusier occupied from 1933 to 1965.
Musée national Eugène Delacroix
6 rue de Furstenberg
75006 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 44 41 86 50
Fax: 33 (0)1 43 54 36 70
www.musee-delacroix.fr
Delacroix (1798-1863) settled on rue de Furstenberg on December 28, 1857, abandoning his studio on rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette as it was too far from Saint-Sulpice church; he was hired ten years prior to decorate the church with his brushwork. A national museum since 1971, it holds a varied collection of the artist’s works and private objects, including those exotic ones that he brought back with him from his trips to North Africa.
Maison de Victor Hugo
6 place des Vosges
75004 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 42 72 10 16
Fax: 33 (0)1 42 72 06 64
www.parisinfo.com
From 1832 to 1848 Victor Hugo lived on the second floor of the current Maison de Victor Hugo, known at the time as the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée . He wrote some of his major works there, including Marie Tudor and a large part of Les Misérables. Visiting the apartment demonstrates the three main stages of his life: before, during and after exile. The first floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions and displays his drawings as well as an iconography of his literary work.
Gustave Moreau Museum
14 rue de La Rochefoucauld
F-75009 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 48 74 38 50
Fax: 33 (0)1 48 74 18 71
www.musee-moreau.fr
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) himself had the museum established and designed, so that his works could be displayed exactly as he wanted. The artist lived and worked all his life in the very same building and lived long enough to see it open in 1896. Today, the museum holds 4,800 drawings and 450 watercolors and counts among them such masterpieces as the Pretenders and the Apparition. As his former apartment, everything remains exactly as it was a century ago.
Musée Rodin
77 Rue de Varenne
75007 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 44 18 61 10
Fax: 33 (0)1 44 18 61 30
www.musee-rodin.fr
The renowned sculptor, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), rented the ground floor of this former mansion and made it his mission to convert the space into a museum to house his works. He achieved just that when it opened its doors on August 4, 1919, two years after his death. It currently holds marble, bronze, plaster, wax and terracotta sculptures, ceramics, paintings, drawings, and works by Rodin as well as other artists (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh).
Maison de Millet
27 Grande Rue
77630 Barbizon
Tel: 33 (0)1 60 66 21 55
Fax: 33 (0)1 60 66 21 65
www.pidf.com
House of the painter and leading figure of the Barbizon school, Jean-François Millet (1814-1875). In his studio, Millet worked on his chief masterpieces, such as The Angelus and The Gleaners. The establishment, virtually unchanged since the 19 th century, houses many objects owned by the great painter as well as original paintings by his contemporaries.
Maison-Atelier Rousseau
55 Grande Rue
77630 Barbizon
Tel: (33) 01 60 66 22 27
Fax: 33 (0)1 60 66 22 96
www.pidf.com
Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867) started visiting Barbizon at the age of 15. In 1847 he rented a home and transformed the barn into his studio. Today it is an addition to the Musée de l’Ecole de Barbizon and welcomes temporary exhibitions.
Maison-Atelier Foujita
7 route de Gif
91190 Villiers-le-Bâcle
Tel/Fax: 33 (0)1 69 85 34 65
www.pidf.com
Born in Japan, Léonard-Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) arrived in Paris in 1913 and very soon after became one of the most famous artists in the capital. He even obtained French citizenship. In this small rural house, you can discover the intimate atmosphere, preserved as true to form as possible, of the celebrated painter.
Le Belvédère
5 rue Maurice Ravel
Le Belvédère
78490 Montfort-L’Amaury
Tel: 33 (0)1 34 86 00 89
Fax: 33 (0)1 34 86 87 96
www.pidf.com
The famous composer, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), decided to take up residence at Montfort-l'Amaury in 1921 in search of tranquility and serenity. Visit the music room from which he wrote his most beautiful compositions, including the famous Bolero. The house includes a little garden and offers a splendid panoramic view from the balcony.
L’Atelier de Daubigny
61 rue Daubigny
F-95430 Auvers-sur-Oise
Tel: 33 (0)1 34 48 03 03
Fax: 33 (0)1 30 36 79 42
atelier-daubigny.com
Facing the Château de Levy, the maison-atelier offers a personal look into the life of Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878). He painted the house’s walls himself. In his studio stands the painting Hérons.
Maison de Van Gogh/Auberge Ravoux
Place de la Mairie
BP 40001
95430 Auvers-sur-Oise
Tel: 33 (0)1 30 36 60 60
Fax: 33 (0)1 30 36 60 61
www.pidf.com
A wine shop and restaurant since 1876, the Auberge Ravoux is in the painters’ village of Auvers-sur-Oise. Made famous by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), who lived there and died on July 29, 1890, it maintains a tradition as an artists’ café. Van Gogh is buried in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Midi-Pyrénées
Château du Bosc
12800 Naucelle
Tel: 33 (0)5 65 69 20 83
Fax: 33 (0)5 65 72 00 19
toulouselautreclebosc.com
Relive the childhood of Toulouse-Lautrec at the château. It was here that he broke both legs, disabling him and ending one of his greatest hobbies: horse-back riding. The Bosc is listed in the supplement registry of historical monuments and has been open to visits since 1954.
(The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi houses the largest collection of the artist’s work - www.musee-toulouse-lautrec.com)
Normandy
Fondation Claude Monet
84 rue Claude Monet
27620 Giverny
Tel: 33 (0)2 32 51 28 21
Fax: 33 (0)2 32 51 54 18
www.fondation-monet.com
On the house-property where the leader of the Impressionist school lived from 1883 until 1926, you’ll find rooms devoted to Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) precious collection of Japanese prints, a restored Waterlily Studio, now home to the Monet Foundation shop, and the famous pond and Japanese Bridge that inspired the unforgettable Waterlilies series.
Villa “ Les Rhumbs ”
50400 Granville
Tel: 33 (0)2 33 61 48 21
Fax: 33 (0)2 33 61 99 15
www.musee-christian-dior.com
Christian Dior’s (1905-1957) childhood home was constructed in 1890 and purchased by Dior’s parents in 1905, the year of his birth. In 1997, the villa became the Musée Christian Dior and today holds a permanent collection of the couturier’s fashion genius: perfumes, haute couture, paintings, accessories, photographs, hats and more. The museum celebrated the centennial of his birth in 2005.
Provence
Atelier Paul Cézanne
9 avenue Paul Cézanne
13090 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 33 (0)4 42 21 06 53
Fax: 33 (0)4 42 21 90 34
www.atelier-cezanne.com
Located in the upper reaches of the city of Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne's (1839-1906) studio has preserved the memory of the painter with a display of original objects appearing in many of Cézanne's still-life paintings, watercolors and original drawings. Cézanne’s last studio in Aix is a place haunted by his memory, where the spirit of the master lingers on.
Rhône-Alpes
Musée Hector Berlioz
69 rue de la République
F-38260 La Côte Saint-André
Tel: 33 (0)4 74 20 24 88
Fax: 33 (0)4 74 20 83 33
www.musee-hector-berlioz.com
The Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Museum is where the composer spent his childhood and youth, until his departure for Paris in 1821. The attic has been redeveloped and turned into an auditorium. The museum also holds temporary and permanent exhibitions and partners with the Berlioz Festival to share the composer’s music with the world.
Riviera
Maison de Renoir
“Les Collettes”
06805 Cagnes-sur-Mer
Tel: 33 (0)4 93 20 61 07
www.cagnes-tourisme.com
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)spentthe last eleven years of his life in the house he had built on his new property, “Les Collettes”. Inside, among his personal objects, you will find numerous paintings, drawings and sculptures that Renoir mastered while drawing inspiration from his surroundings. A visit to his studio reveals his paints, a wheelchair, photos, clothing and accessories worn by models, and finished canvases. The bedrooms and kitchen remain as they were under the artist’s residence here.
Musée Matisse
164 avenue des Arènes de Cimiez
06000 Nice
Tel: 33 (0)4 93 81 08 08
Fax: 33 (0)4 93 53 00 22
www.musee-matisse-nice.org
The museum is situated in La Villa des Arènes, which it shares with the Archaeological Museum. Although Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954) never lived here (he lived in the Hôtel Regina just a few steps from the Villa), it captures the essence of Matisse’s artistic and personal style. The artist spent much of his life in Nice (from 1917 to 1954) and created many works that partly make up the museum’s permanent collection.
(Source: France Guide)
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