Musée Matisse

The Musee Matisse sits in Cimiez above central Nice, on a hill over the ruins of Roman Cemenelum and inside an olive grove. The museum opened in 1963 in the Villa des Arenes, an ochre Genoese house from the 17th century that the city converted for Matisse's work after the painter settled in Cimiez in 1953. The collection covers every phase, from early impressionist still lifes through fauvist watercolours to the late papiers decoupes, the cut-paper compositions Matisse developed after major surgery. Sketches and maquettes for the Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence, his total artwork, complete the picture. The antique olive grove in front belongs to a public park, a practical picnic spot after the visit.