Released from the captivity of the studio and the Academy by the pioneers of Impressionism, French artists of the late 19th and early 20th century were free to go where life was easy, winter short, and the light of the sun an invitation to see things anew. Migrating to Brittany with Gauguin or to the South with the ageing Renoir, as the 19th century gave way to the 20th the epicentre of French painting was no longer in Paris, but at Pont Aven, at Aix en Provence, or on the shores of the Mediterranean. The constellations of painters – Post-Impressionists, Nabis, Fauves and so forth – who succeeded the Impressionists, believed that they were renewing the art of painting, whereas in reality they were nursing it through its last illness.

If the man on the Clapham omnibus can take a photograph of a thing, what is the point of trying to reproduce its appearance by the laborious process of painting it? The 20th century can be seen as a stimulating if increasingly cacophonous debate as to what we mean by art, what art does to us, and at what precise point (between the germination of an idea in the artist’s mind, the gesture of the maker’s hand, the sale of the finished article, its installation in a public space, its impress on the mind of the beholder) does the work of art materialise. These are some of the questions that our survey of the art and artists of the Riviera will stir up.

We fly to Nice and transfer to our modern 4 star hotel in the centre of the city. The hotel has an indoor swimming-pool which can be opened to the elements in good weather. It also has air-conditioning and is insulated against the noise of the surrounding city by extremely efficient sound-proofing. Once you have settled into your rooms, your tour leader will take you on a short walking tour of the surrounding streets and squares for orientation purposes ending with dinner (which this evening is included) in a local restaurant.

We begin our survey with the figure who came to dominate the art of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, making our way to the recently restored and reorganised Musee Picasso housed in the medieval chateau on the ramparts overlooking the sea at Antibes. Later, we drive up to Biot, a picturesque village on a hill behind Antibes. A remote province of France in the 19th century, and of Piedmont and Savoy in the 18th, the French Riviera of the 16th century had quite a distinctive artistic tradition of its own – the so-called Ecole de Nice – by whose leading exponent, Ludovic Brea, a fine polyptich is to be seen in Biot church. After an independent lunch in the pretty arcaded square, we will look at the work of Fernand Leger in the nearby museum devoted to his bold and colourful canvasses.

This morning takes us to the edge of the new, where the 20th century rubs shoulders with the 21st in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice. After an independent lunch in the Old Town of Nice, we will make our way up the hill to the elegant suburb of Cimiez, to Marc Chagall’s Museum of the biblical message and the recently restored Matisse Museum which stands in an olive grove surrounded by the ruins of a 2nd century Roman spa. After a cup of tea in the gardens, we will visit the Franciscan Monastery which houses two further Renaissance paintings by Ludovic Brea.

Today we extend our foray a little deeper into the 21st century at the L’Espace d’Art Concret – encompassing Concrete Art , Minimalism and Conceptual Art – on our way up to lunch, which today is included and will be taken at the Bastide St Antoine, home of Michelin-starred French superchef Jacques Chibois.

The Chateau of Antibes is not the only site on the Riviera connected with Picasso. Vallauris, a little town to the west of Cannes, has been a pottery-making centre since Roman times. It was here at the Madoura ceramic factory that it dawned on Picasso that the potter’s product – everyday dishes, plates, mugs and the like – are also works of art. For a number of years he lived here, pouring his restless energy into the invention of new forms and new relationships between form and decoration. We will drop into the Chateau of Vallauris this morning to look at the extensive exhibition of the many types of pottery produced here over the centuries, including Picasso’s ceramics as well as major works in other media and an important collection of paintings of the so-called “Grasse Group”, on our way up into the surrounding hills to see what is going on at the Fondation Maeght, a purpose built art gallery housing a constantly changing exhibition of sculpture, paintings and prints by Giacometti, Calder, Miro and others, from the collections of art-dealer and publisher Aimé Maeght. After an independent lunch at the Fondation itself or in the nearby village of St Paul, we will drive on to Vence to visit the Convent Chapel of the Rosary, Matisse’s last and most permanent work, of which we saw models and sketches in the Musee Matisse at Nice two days ago. On our way back to the hotel at the end of the afternoon, we will look in on Renoir’s last home, a cottage in an olive grove at Cagnes sur Mer, where his studio has remained eerily unchanged since his death - the wheelchair beside the easel, the brushes and the palette still lying where he last laid them aside.

Today is devoted to Jean Cocteau, another iconic figure of the 20th century who like Chagall and Picasso brought his particular genius to bear on every available art-from or medium – painting, drawing, ceramics, stage and costume design and even film-making. There is a small museum at Menton devoted principally to his ceramics, but we will also see here his mural paintings in the Salles des Mariages of the Town Hall, and then, driving back along the coast towards Nice, his work in the Fishermen’s Chapel in the port of Villefranche sur Mer, one of the world’s most beautiful natural harbours.

This morning we will begin with a walking tour of the Old Town of Nice. Essentially 17th and 18th century, its narrow streets and colourful squares and markets conceal one or two gems of Baroque art and architecture. We divide our afternoon between what might be termed the mainstream, represented by the works of Vuillard, Bonnard, Dufy, van Donghen and others, in the Musee des Beaux Arts; and the charming backwaters of the primitive art movement – the Sunday painters - collected by art-critic Anatole Jakowski.

Today will be free for you to explore the shops and other amenities of Nice and its environs until we transfer to Nice airport for our return flight to London.

• Accommodation -
  • 7 nights bed and breakfast in a 4 star Hotel in the centre of Nice.
  • One dinner in a local restaurant and one gourmet lunch in a Michelin 2 star restaurant
• Transport
  • Private coach throughout for all transfers and excursions
• Excursions as outlined in the itinerary.
• Entrance fees to all places mentioned in the itinerary
• Services of an experienced lecturer/tour leader -
• Local guide where required by local legislation
• All tips and gratuities

• Insurance
  • It is a condition of booking that you have adequate travel insurance to cover your needs when you travel with us. This will need to cover a missed departure, any emergency that may arise while you are travelling with us, and should also enable you to claim back from the insurance company any monies already paid to us or due to us in the event of your having to cancel the tour after booking and before the departure date.
    
    If you have difficulty finding cover due to your age, it may be of help to know that there are at least two companies who provide Travel Insurance to those over retirement age:-
    • Age Concern - Tel 0845 601 2234 Click here for Website
    • Saga - Tel 0800 559 3231 Click here for Website
  
  
• Walking - Most of our tours involve a good deal of walking.
• Sites and Museums - Archaeological sites in some countries can be rough and uneven underfoot and do not always conform to western standards of health and safety.

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FLIGHTS:             Economy Class    Club Class (if available and at supplementary cost)    None