“Le midi”, or midday, is what the French call the south of their country. And perhaps this illustrative expression best captures the character of the Mediterranean coast from the Maritime Alps to the Pyrenees, because at hearing this who doesn’t get the scent of sun-heated herbs in his nose, who doesn’t get an image of Vincent van Gogh’s explosion of colour and his Pointillist and Fauvist successors before his eyes?

Amidst this European cultural landscape that attracted the Greeks and Romans a temple of art has for nearly 50 years reigned on a hill with a view of the sea: Fondation Maeght, Europe’s most beautiful private museum for modern art. Dedicated in 1964 by legendary Minister of Education, André Malraux, the foundation houses well over 10,000 works of classic modern art, collected over three decades by the gallery owner couple, Marguerite und Aimé Maeght.

It began in the middle of the 1930s when graduate lithographer Aimé Maeght (1906–1981) went into business with his own print shop and a short time later opened his first gallery in Cannes together with his wife Marguerite (1909–1977). The catastrophic times notwithstanding, the young company flourished and was able to take the plunge to Paris in 1945. The combination of gallery, print shop and publishing house that continues to this day contributed significantly to the success of the art dealer. This combination provides not only economic benefits, but more than anything creates the perfect working conditions for the artist for making prints.

It’s to be expected that gallery owners should also have a keen sense for artistic potential and the Maeghts certainly had no lack in it. But in their case, having the right instincts was augmented by a true gift from the gods – their genius for friendship with artists. During the early years on the Côte d’Azur they developed a close bond to the long-established “old masters”, Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, with whom younger painters and sculptors consorted such as Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti and Joan Miró.

Accordingly, Fondation Maeght in the hills of Saint-Paul-de-Vence also appears like a house of friendship: Not only are paintings, illustrations and sculptures of the artists displayed, who Aimé and Marguerite represented over decades, these artists friends were in fact actively involved in the design. Integrated into the exquisitely elegant building ensemble by Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert are wall mosaics by Marc Chagall and Fernand Léger, a water basin mosaic and a stained glass window by Georges Braque. For the surrounding park Miró created his “Labyrinth”, a beguilingly cheerful suite of ceramic objects. And on the lawn located in front of the museum, below evergreen trees, visitors are welcomed by sculptures by Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Eduardo Chillida und Jean-Pierre Riopelle.

Text: Thomas Held

Information:
Fondation Maeght: Domaine des Gardettes, F-06570 Saint-Paul-de-Vence,
Tel. +33 (0) 4 93 32 81 63, www.maeght.com/musee

Open 10 a.m – 7 p.m. (July-Sept.), 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 2 – 6 p.m. (Oct.-June)
Admission EUR 11 (reduced price EUR 9)