Matisse Museum Nice

The history of the Nice Matisse Museum is closely linked to the successive donations of Matisse and his heirs, and to his deep affection for Nice, the city where he created most of his works.

In 1950, the City of Nice acquired the Villa Garin de Cocconato (also known as the "Villa des Arènes"), a stone's throw from the residence of the owner of the Hôtel Regina, and the idea of ​​transforming it into a donated exhibition space was widely accepted. created by the painter and his heirs.

On January 5, 1963, the Matisse Museum was inaugurated in the presence of many famous figures from the world of art and culture. The works are exhibited on the ground floor of the Villa, which was then occupied by the Archaeological Museum.

In 1978, following the donation by Jean Matisse, the City of Nice planned to renovate the museum to better highlight the richness of its collections while maintaining the intimate quality of Mrs. Henri Matisse's first donation.

The complexity of the program, the excavations carried out on the construction site, and the appeals significantly slowed down the construction of the new archaeological museum, which was not completed until 1989. Its relocation to the neighboring Roman ruins allowed the Matisse Museum to occupy the entire space of the villa.

After an architectural competition held in 1987, Jean-François Bodin was selected to implement the renovation activities and build the new wing. The museum reopened on June 26, 1993, after being expanded and renovated. In 2002, it was equipped with an educational studio and in 2003 a "Cabinet des dessins" dedicated to the conservation and treatment of graphic works of art was created.

In 2013, the ceramic mural La Piscine was exhibited in the remodelled basement level (2nd floor).

In 2017, a new museum route was created with the re-display of the collections and the renovation of the museum and its surroundings.