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62-768: The Maeght Foundation or Fondation Maeght ( pronounced [mɑɡ] ) is a museum of modern art on the Colline des Gardettes , a hill overlooking Saint-Paul de Vence in the southeast of France about 25 km (16 mi) from Nice . It was established by Marguerite and Aimé Maeght in 1964 and houses paintings, sculptures, collages , ceramics and all forms of modern art . The collection includes works by many important 20th-century artists including Jean Arp , Pierre Bonnard , Georges Braque , Alexander Calder , Marc Chagall , Sam Francis , Alberto Giacometti , Wassily Kandinsky , Ellsworth Kelly , Fernand Léger , Anne Madden and Joan Miró among others. The building

124-518: A "quasi-monastic life." During this time in Solesmes, Reverdy wrote several collections including Sources du vent , Ferraille and Le Chant des morts . Besides this, Reverdy published two volumes containing critical matter (reflections on literature mingled with aphorisms) entitled En vrac and Le livre de mon bord . During the WWII German occupation of France, Reverdy became a partisan in

186-578: A 12th-century Spanish Christ figure gifted by Cristóbal Balenciaga, as well as a slate-carved Stations of the Cross by Raoul Ubac. Ubac also created the stained glass The Cross and the Rosary, while White Bird was created by Georges Braque. An exhibition on architect Josep Lluís Sert was held in 2014 to celebrate the foundation’s 50th anniversary. The Maeght Foundation is the first building to achieve HQE (High Environmental Quality) certification. Sert designed

248-482: A brown ceramic face perched atop a tall iron rod. The Tower is crowned by an iron bird, The Solar Bird and The Lunar Bird are made of Carrara marble, and The Fork, crafted from iron and bronze, echoes the symbol of the raised fist of Spanish peasants during the civil war. The Great Arch, made of concrete, features Miró’s recurring signs engraved with a jackhammer. In the center of a pool stands The Woman with Disheveled Hair in white marble, and another pool hosts three of

310-406: A complete contradiction between the clumsiness of Chanel the letter writer and the talent of Chanel as a composer of maxims…After correcting the handful of aphorisms that Chanel wrote about her métier, Reverdy added to this collection of 'Chanelisms' a series of thoughts of a more general nature, some touching on life and taste, others on allure and love." Purportedly, Reverdy was not fully aware of

372-639: A key point in his career and the development of modern painting. It reflected Matisse's incipient fascination with primitive art : the intense warm color of the figures against the cool blue-green background and the rhythmical succession of the dancing nudes convey the feelings of emotional liberation and hedonism . At the start of 20th-century Western painting , and initially influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec , Gauguin and other late-19th-century innovators, Pablo Picasso made his first Cubist paintings based on Cézanne's idea that all depiction of nature can be reduced to three solids: cube , sphere and cone . With

434-512: A member of the jury at the Salon d'Automne where he exhibited three of his dreamlike works: Enigma of the Oracle , Enigma of an Afternoon and Self-Portrait . In 1913 he exhibited his work at the Salon des Indépendants and Salon d'Automne, and his work was noticed by Pablo Picasso , Guillaume Apollinaire , and several others. His compelling and mysterious paintings are considered instrumental to

496-403: A museum, but as a large workshop where all the living arts can come together. The Nuits de la fondation Maeght took place every summer from 1965 to 1970. Here, the public could discover pioneering experimental music artists such as Terry Riley , Pierre Boulez and Cecil Taylor . The foundation also played host to contemporary music, dance and avant-garde theatre. The Maeght Foundation has had

558-756: A public library since 1972. It contains around 10,000 volumes on art, complete collections of the main art magazines and catalogues of the world's leading museums. It is open by appointment to researchers and students. The foundation included an art cinema that ran every day in the summer and three days a week during the rest of the year. Around fifty films about the artists, most of them produced by Maeght, were shown there on an alternating basis. 43°42′02″N 7°06′54″E  /  43.70059°N 7.115085°E  / 43.70059; 7.115085 Modern art Art of Central Asia Art of East Asia Art of South Asia Art of Southeast Asia Art of Europe Art of Africa Art of

620-404: A ritualistic act signifying the renunciation of the material world, he burned many of his manuscripts in front of an assembly of friends. He converted to Catholicism and retreated with his wife, Henriette, to a small house located in proximity to a Benedictine abbey at Solesmes . Excluding intermittent periods when he visited Paris, Solesmes was his home for the next thirty years where he lived

682-596: A search for more realism in the depiction of common life, as found in the work of painters such as Jean-François Millet . The advocates of realism stood against the idealism of the tradition-bound academic art that enjoyed public and official favor. The most successful painters of the day worked either through commissions or through large public exhibitions of their work. There were official, government-sponsored painters' unions, while governments regularly held public exhibitions of new fine and decorative arts. The Impressionists argued that people do not see objects but only

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744-471: A small volume of poetry in 1915. A second compilation of his work brought out in 1924, Les épaves du ciel , brought him greater recognition. The poems were short, fragmentary, the words an evocation of sharp visuals: the volume was the literary equivalent of the Plastic arts as practiced by Cubist painters and sculptors. In the first Surrealist Manifesto , André Breton hailed Reverdy as "the greatest poet of

806-405: A space where light, natural ventilation, airflow, water, and plant shading were essential components, making it a pioneer of sustainable architecture. The issue of exhibition hall lighting was addressed by using semi-vaulted roofs, actual “light traps” that capture and diffuse sunlight through glass panels. Sert aimed for indirect natural light to preserve the artworks. This natural light connects

868-413: A village. The building’s rhythm is set by white claustra walls and glass facades, inviting visitors to view the woods, sea, patio, or the pool decorated by Braque. Sert retained the natural slope of the land, arranging exhibition rooms, patios, and gardens on various terrace levels, which gives the building its distinctive character. The chapel, dedicated to Saint Bernard, is a consecrated space housing

930-479: Is a special creation by Diego for the foundation. He designed the shelves, counters, lamps, chairs, and tables in bronze and wrought iron. Georges Braque created the south stained glass window of the Saint-Bernard chapel in 1962, where his white bird embodies the sacred. He also designed a mosaic pool depicting fish. Raoul Ubac created the north stained glass window of the Saint-Bernard chapel as well as

992-445: Is being made to do something that has never been attempted before: to create a universe in which modern art can find both its place and that background once called the supernatural.” The foundation was entirely funded by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, ensuring its financial independence and enabling it to freely choose its program and exhibitions. The board of directors currently consists of 11 members, including three representatives from

1054-507: Is believed Reverdy took his inspiration for the title of his periodical from the subway line, the Paris Métro , which in 1910 instituted a route running from Montmartre to Montparnasse ; it was Reverdy's intention to unite the vitality of these two distinctive city districts. By nature, Reverdy was a somber man, whose strong spiritual inclinations led him over time to distance himself from the frenetic world of bohemian Paris. In 1926, in

1116-766: Is believed that Reverdy’s father and mother were not able to marry each other until 1897. His father schooled him at home, teaching him to read and write. Reverdy arrived in Paris in October 1910, devoting his early years there to his writing. It was in Paris, at the artistic enclave centered around the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre that he met Guillaume Apollinaire , Max Jacob , Louis Aragon , André Breton , Philippe Soupault and Tristan Tzara . All would come to admire and champion Reverdy’s poetry. Reverdy published

1178-536: Is closely related to Modernism . Although modern sculpture and architecture are reckoned to have emerged at the end of the 19th century, the beginnings of modern painting can be located earlier. Francisco Goya is considered by many as the Father of Modern Painting without being a Modernist himself, a fact of art history that later painters associated with Modernism as a style, acknowledge him as an influence. The date perhaps most commonly identified as marking

1240-411: Is composed of works from Aimé and Marguerite Maeght’s personal collection, along with commissions and purchases from artists. The collection aims to be diverse, bringing together multiple generations of artists. Alberto Giacometti is one of the most prominently featured artists at the foundation. The collection includes 35 sculptures, 25 drawings, and 60 prints and lithographs, including rare bronzes from

1302-424: Is in my pocket, it is Poems by Pierre Reverdy. — Frank O'Hara , "A Step Away From Them" "Reverdy's strange landscapes, which combine an intense inwardness with a proliferation of sensual data, bear in them the signs of a continual search for an impossible totality. Almost mystical in their effect, his poems are nevertheless anchored in the minutiae of the everyday world; in their quiet, at times monotone music,

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1364-401: Is the chairman of the foundation's administrative council, which also includes Isabelle Maeght and her sister Yoyo Maeght. As of 2024, the museum is home to 13,000 objects. It celebrated its 60th anniversary with a new expansion that was designed by Paris-based firm Silvio d’Ascia Architecture. The expansion adds over 5,000 square feet to the footprint and has been done without disturbing any of

1426-402: The 1930s like The Cube, The Invisible Object, and The Fountain. The Maeght Foundation notably owns both versions of Walking Man and both versions of Standing Woman. The collection also encompasses a substantial portion of Joan Miró’s work, with eight paintings, 140 sculptures, 75 drawings, around 100 collages and models, and over a thousand lithographs and engravings. Since its opening in 1964,

1488-493: The 1980s and 1990s, as evidenced by the rise of neo-expressionism and the revival of figurative painting . Towards the end of the 20th century, many artists and architects started questioning the idea of "the modern" and created typically Postmodern works . (Roughly chronological with representative artists listed.) Pierre Reverdy The son of a winegrower, Reverdy was born in Occitanie (southern France), in

1550-501: The Americas Art of Oceania Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation. Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about

1612-600: The Maeght Foundation has organized over 140 thematic, monographic, and contemporary artist exhibitions, including: The Foundation has also hosted exhibitions dedicated to writers, their role in art, and the painters they supported. Examples include shows for Pierre Reverdy in 1970, René Char in 1971, and André Malraux in 1973. The Foundation also organizes exhibitions abroad in museums or private foundations in cities such as Tehran , Granada , Brussels , Madrid , Turin , and Stockholm . The building housing

1674-553: The Maeght Gallery for the first time. In 1947, this visionary couple organized the first surrealist exhibition centered on André Breton and Marcel Duchamp . Georges Braque , supported by André Malraux —then Minister of Cultural Affairs—suggested that Marguerite and Aimé Maeght embark on an ambitious project: the creation of a new type of cultural space in the south of France , in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, where

1736-729: The Maeghts already owned a home. Following Braque’s advice, the Maeghts traveled to the United States in 1955 to visit American foundations such as the Barnes Foundation, the Phillips Collection, and the Guggenheim Museum . Inspired by these models, the Maeght Foundation opened its doors on July 28, 1964, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. It was inaugurated by André Malraux, who declared, “Here, an attempt

1798-532: The Ministry of Culture. Each year, Joan Miró spent several months in Saint-Paul with the Maeghts, where he worked in the engraving and ceramics studios. As a token of gratitude, he donated several hundred works to the foundation. In 1979, the foundation celebrated the artist’s 85th birthday, unveiling a monumental stained glass window designed by Miró for the foundation. Aimé Maeght invited Joan Miró to use

1860-687: The architecture by creating works integrated into the building and nature: the Giacometti courtyard, the Miró Labyrinth filled with sculptures and ceramics, wall mosaics by Marc Chagall and Pierre Tal Coat, the pool and mosaic by Braque, the chapel's stained glass window based on the Birds theme created by Georges Braque for the ceiling of the Louvre museum, and Pol Bury 's animated fountain. The building has been labeled as “20th Century Heritage” by

1922-580: The artist's gargoyles. One can also see Ariadne’s Thread, a white line painted by Miró on low walls, guiding visitors through their walk. The Giacometti courtyard lies at the bottom of the main building with its pagoda roofs. This courtyard hosted the Foundation’s Nights as well as concerts and large events. All decorative elements of the foundation, such as benches, doors, lamps, and streetlights, were designed by Alberto Giacometti and Diego Giacometti . The entire café’s furniture, called Café Diego,

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1984-484: The attention of curators and critics, at the expense of more traditional media. Larger installations and performances became widespread. By the end of the 1970s, when cultural critics began speaking of "the end of painting" (the title of a provocative essay written in 1981 by Douglas Crimp ), new media art had become a category in itself, with a growing number of artists experimenting with technological means such as video art . Painting assumed renewed importance in

2046-524: The birth of modern art as a movement is 1863, the year that Édouard Manet showed his painting Le déjeuner sur l'herbe in the Salon des Refusés in Paris. Earlier dates have also been proposed, among them 1855 (the year Gustave Courbet exhibited The Artist's Studio ) and 1784 (the year Jacques-Louis David completed his painting The Oath of the Horatii ). In the words of art historian H. Harvard Arnason : "Each of these dates has significance for

2108-501: The development of modern art, but none categorically marks a completely new beginning .... A gradual metamorphosis took place in the course of a hundred years." The strands of thought that eventually led to modern art can be traced back to the Enlightenment . The modern art critic Clement Greenberg , for instance, called Immanuel Kant "the first real Modernist" but also drew a distinction: "The Enlightenment criticized from

2170-425: The development of modern art. At the beginning of the 20th century Henri Matisse and several other young artists including the pre-cubists Georges Braque , André Derain , Raoul Dufy , Jean Metzinger and Maurice de Vlaminck revolutionized the Paris art world with "wild," multi-colored, expressive landscapes and figure paintings that the critics called Fauvism . Matisse's two versions of The Dance signified

2232-527: The early beginnings of Surrealism . Song of Love (1914) is one of the most famous works by de Chirico and is an early example of the surrealist style, though it was painted ten years before the movement was "founded" by André Breton in 1924. The School of Paris , centered in Montparnasse flourished between the two world wars. World War I brought an end to this phase but indicated the beginning of many anti-art movements, such as Dada , including

2294-463: The extent of Chanel’s wartime collaboration with the Nazis . However, as he subscribed to a belief that women were the weaker, more vulnerable sex, he rationalized that Chanel had been manipulated by men who convinced her to champion German interests. Further, as a staunch Catholic, Reverdy was able to absolve Chanel of her transgressions. Indeed, so strong was his tie to her that in 1960, sensing his death

2356-428: The fire of this initial involvement cooled, they still maintained a deep bond and great friendship, which would continue for some forty years. He had always been both appalled and intrigued by the wealth and excess that comprised Chanel’s social circle. Reverdy had become enamored with American jazz , which had just become a popular craze in Paris, a type of nightlife for which Chanel expressed contempt. Chanel, however,

2418-412: The first clear manifestation of cubism, was followed by Synthetic cubism , practiced by Braque, Picasso, Fernand Léger , Juan Gris , Albert Gleizes , Marcel Duchamp and several other artists into the 1920s. Synthetic cubism is characterized by the introduction of different textures, surfaces, collage elements, papier collé and a large variety of merged subject matter. The notion of modern art

2480-500: The first decade of the 20th century were Fauvism , Cubism , Expressionism , and Futurism . Futurism took off in Italy a couple years before World War I with the publication of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 's Futurist Manifesto . Benedetta Cappa Marinetti , wife of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, created the second wave of the artistic movement started by her husband. "Largely thanks to Benedetta, her husband F.T. Marinetti re orchestrated

2542-473: The focal point of new artistic movements. The 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of Abstract Expressionism , Color field painting , Conceptual artists of Art & Language , Pop art , Op art , Hard-edge painting , Minimal art , Lyrical Abstraction , Fluxus , Happening , video art , Postminimalism , Photorealism and various other movements. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, Land art , performance art , conceptual art, and other new art forms attracted

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2604-699: The foundation's gardens. Alongside his childhood friend from Barcelona, Josep Llorens Artigas, Miró reinvented monumental sculpture, blending it with nature and architecture. For the Labyrinth, he created a dreamlike world populated by fantastic animals. The Catalan artist explored various materials, mainly using ceramics: the Lizard climbs the patio wall, the Wall consists of 468 ceramic panels, The Sundial sculpture, and his most significant piece, The Goddess of Fertility. The main building’s brick wall supports The Personage,

2666-445: The foundation’s collections was designed by Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert, recommended by Joan Miró. The initial idea was to create an artists’ village, not a museum. Sert based his design on that of a Mediterranean village, with everything organized around a central point: the chapel. Each building serves a unique function, such as the library, café, bookstore, office, exhibition halls, and engraving and ceramics workshops—much like

2728-493: The fourteen Stations of the Cross in sculpted slate in 1961. Also, on one of the exterior walls of the foundation, is the artist's largest wall sculpture. Marc Chagall specifically created for the foundation a wall mosaic titled 'The Lovers' or 'Welcome.' It depicts the Maeght couple welcoming visitors. He also signed The Life, a painting that summarizes his own life up to that point." The Maeght Foundation does not see itself as

2790-553: The interior with the outside surroundings. To the dismay of some architectural advocates, several openings envisioned by Sert, including skylights, had to be closed off to better protect the artwork inside. The foundation’s two large white impluvium are iconic. They serve dual purposes: collecting rainwater to fill pools and providing coolness to the exhibition rooms through the shade they cast. In 2008, Italian architect Silvio d’Ascia led restoration and expansion efforts. Painters and sculptors collaborated with Josep Lluís Sert on

2852-433: The light that they reflect, and therefore painters should paint in natural light ( en plein air ) rather than in studios and should capture the effects of light in their work. Impressionist artists formed a group, Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs ("Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers") which, despite internal tensions, mounted a series of independent exhibitions. The style

2914-467: The nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency away from the narrative , which was characteristic of the traditional arts, toward abstraction is characteristic of much modern art. More recent artistic production is often called contemporary art or Postmodern art . Modern art begins with the heritage of painters like Vincent van Gogh , Paul Cézanne , Paul Gauguin , Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec all of whom were essential for

2976-569: The original architecture by Josep Lluís Sert. In December 1945, Aimé and Marguerite Maeght opened the Maeght Gallery in Paris, which quickly became a gathering place for artists, poets, and writers. Among them were painters like Matisse , Bonnard , and Braque , who supported Aimé Maeght’s projects. The group expanded with the addition of artists such as Fernand Léger , Joan Miró , Bram and Geer Van Velde, and later, between 1946 and 1951, with Marc Chagall , Alexander Calder , Raoul Ubac , Alberto Giacometti , and Wassily Kandinsky , who exhibited at

3038-402: The outside ... . Modernism criticizes from the inside." The French Revolution of 1789 uprooted assumptions and institutions that had for centuries been accepted with little question and accustomed the public to vigorous political and social debate. This gave rise to what art historian Ernst Gombrich called a "self-consciousness that made people select the style of their building as one selects

3100-434: The painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Picasso dramatically created a new and radical picture depicting a raw and primitive brothel scene with five prostitutes, violently painted women, reminiscent of African tribal masks and his new Cubist inventions. Analytic cubism was jointly developed by Picasso and Georges Braque , exemplified by Violin and Candlestick, Paris, from about 1908 through 1912. Analytic cubism,

3162-448: The pattern of a wallpaper." The pioneers of modern art were Romantics , Realists and Impressionists . By the late 19th century, additional movements which were to be influential in modern art had begun to emerge: Post-Impressionism and Symbolism . Influences upon these movements were varied: from exposure to Eastern decorative arts, particularly Japanese printmaking , to the coloristic innovations of Turner and Delacroix , to

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3224-404: The poet seems to evaporate, to vanish into the haunted country he has created. The result is at once beautiful and disquieting as if Reverdy had emptied the space of the poem in order to let the reader inhabit it" — Paul Auster English translations of Reverdy's work have appeared in a smattering of volumes over the years, most of which are now out of print but still available used. Beginning in

3286-520: The region of Narbonne , and grew up near the Montagne Noire . The Reverdy ancestors were stonemasons and sculptors associated with work commissioned for churches. The extant facts of his childhood and early years are few and obscured. Some source material indicates that at the time of Reverdy’s birth, his mother was a married woman whose husband was at the time living in Argentina . Further, it

3348-402: The resistance movement. At the liberation of Paris from Nazi rule, his group of French Resistance fighters were responsible for the capture and arrest of French traitor and German espionage agent Baron Louis de Vaufreland. One of Reverdy’s most enduring and profound relationships was with the couturier Coco Chanel . The intense period of their romantic liaison lasted from 1921-1926. Yet after

3410-728: The shifting ideologies of Futurism to embrace feminine elements of intuition, spirituality, and the mystical forces of the earth." She painted up until his death and spent the rest of her days tending to the spread and growth of this period in Italian art, which celebrated technology, speed and all things new. During the years between 1910 and the end of World War I and after the heyday of cubism , several movements emerged in Paris. Giorgio de Chirico moved to Paris in July 1911, where he joined his brother Andrea (the poet and painter known as Alberto Savinio ). Through his brother, he met Pierre Laprade,

3472-715: The supervisory ministries. The director is responsible for administration, conservation of the works, and exhibitions. Recognized as a public utility, the foundation is authorized to receive donations, bequests, and sponsorships, allowing it to preserve and expand its collection, maintain its architectural heritage, and develop cultural activities. The Maeght Foundation holds one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures, drawings, and graphic works in Europe, with over 13,000 items. The foundation’s collection includes over 1,000 paintings and sculptures, 600 drawings, 6,000 prints, and more than 30,000 books. It

3534-423: The time." Louis Aragon said that for Breton, Soupault, Éluard and himself, Reverdy was "our immediate elder, the exemplary poet." In 1917, together with Max Jacob, Vicente Huidobro and Guillaume Apollinaire, Reverdy founded the influential journal Nord-Sud ("North-South") which contained many Dadaist and Surrealist contributions. Sixteen issues of Nord-Sud were published, from 15 March 1917 to 15 October 1918. It

3596-468: The work of Marcel Duchamp , and of Surrealism . Artist groups like de Stijl and Bauhaus developed new ideas about the interrelation of the arts, architecture, design, and art education. Modern art was introduced to the United States with the Armory Show in 1913 and through European artists who moved to the U.S. during World War I. It was only after World War II , however, that the U.S. became

3658-424: Was a necessary catalyst for his poetic output. She bolstered his confidence, supported his creative ability and further helped assuage his financial instability by secretly buying his manuscripts through his publisher. It is postulated that the legendary maxims attributed to Chanel and published in periodicals were crafted under the mentorship of Reverdy—a collaborative effort. "A review of her correspondence reveals

3720-467: Was adopted by artists in different nations, in preference to a "national" style. These factors established the view that it was a "movement." These traits—establishment of a working method integral to the art, the establishment of a movement or visible active core of support, and international adoption—would be repeated by artistic movements in the Modern period in art. Among the movements that flowered in

3782-459: Was designed by the Spanish architect Josep Lluís Sert , houses more than 12,000 pieces of art and attracts "on average, 200,000 visitors ... every year". There is a small chapel dedicated to Saint Bernard, in memory of Bernard, the son of Aimé and Marguerite Maeght who died of leukemia, aged eleven. The foundation is entirely independently funded with no reliance on state subsidies. Adrien Maeght

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3844-422: Was imminent, he wrote a poem to the woman whom he had loved for the past forty years. Dear Coco, here it is The best of my hand And the best of me I offer it thus to you With my heart With my hand Before heading toward The dark road’s end If condemned If pardoned Know you are loved Reverdy died in 1960 at Solesmes . A glass of papaya juice and back to work. My heart

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