Provence is home to many contemporary art museums that, every year, attract tourists from all over the world.
From Toulon to Avignon, via Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, there are several cities that host art museums.
Provence is home to many contemporary art museums. In fact, these museums attract tourists from all over the world.
Below is a description of the best contemporary art museums in Provence.
TOLON
Toulon’s Musèe d’Art has several masterpieces of contemporary art on display, such as Donald Judd’s 1975 “Blue Progression.” It is an aluminum stack arranged according to a precise mathematical sequence that reflects the essence of the minimalist current that appeared in the United States in the early 1960s.
The museum also houses works by some of the biggest names in conceptual art, including Sol LeWitt and Daniel Buren.
MARSEILLE
Marseille is home to several museums.
Among the most famous is Mucem, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, which opened in 2013. The museum casts a critical eye on today’s society through exhibitions that combine fine arts, anthropology, history, and contemporary art. In addition to “classic” works (paintings, engravings, furniture, costumes, jewelry, etc.), the museum unveils very contemporary new acquisitions each season focusing on urban culture and industrial heritage. Georges Henri Rivière is featured in regular shows at the adjacent Fort Saint-Jean dedicated to contemporary Mediterranean creation, with examples including “Fragments of a Contemporary Tunisia” (2015), “Albania” (2017), “Persona. Works by Romanian Artists” (2018) and “Art Under Fire in Afghanistan” (2019).
Another valuable museum is the FRAC (Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain). The museum is home to more than 1,000 works of all kinds, including paintings, photos, videos, sculptures, installations and drawings, reflecting the diversity and richness of contemporary art movements through artists such as Joan Mitchell (abstract expressionism), famous for his vast multicolored canvases, and Pierre Soulages (abstract art), the father of “Outrenoir” (Beyond Black), a play of light created by the relief generated by the color black. Also on view are the creations of Ben, famous for his white slogans on a black background, and Nan Goldin, an American photographer whose work draws parallels between images and memories.
Equally nice to visit is the Musée d’Art Contemporain, which houses both neorealist works, dating back to the 1970s, and more recent contemporary works.
Among the artists on display are Vincent Bioulès, Toni Grand, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chris Burden and Robert Rauschenberg.
SAINT-RÉMY-DE-PROVENCE
In Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, you will find the Van Gogh Foundation, which is committed to sustaining the memory of the Dutch painter, who moved to the village in 1888. The Foundation aims to celebrate Van Gogh through the tributes that painters pay to the Dutch artist.
Even the building itself is a wonderful tribute to the artist: a former manor house converted into the Banque de France in the 1920s, it is adorned with a glass roof that enhances the southern light, the light that prompted Van Gogh to move to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
ARLES
Arles is home to the Musée Réattu, which displays the works of major contemporary and emerging artists. It also shows the works of prominent local 20th-century figures.
Here you can admire the works of sculptor Toni Grand, Pierre Buraglio and Pierre Alechinsky.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE
In Aix-en-Provence, there is one of the most important contemporary art museums in southern France, namely the Fondation Vasarély. Founded in 1976, the Fondation Vasarély is dedicated to Victor Vasarely, the creator of the building that houses the museum, as well as the father of op-art, an abstract art movement.
Another museum to visit in the city is the Musée Granet, which houses works by 20th-century European masters of modern art, including Giacometti, Fernand Léger, and Nicolas de Staël.
AVIGNON
The Collection Lambert can be visited in Avignon. This is a contemporary art museum that features works given to the state by the famous art dealer Yvon Lambert.
Among the works on display are those by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pierre Bismuth, Barbara Kruger, and Shimabuku.