Editing Provence (section)

=== Art ===
[[File:Frejus Cathedral Cloister Ceiling.jpg|thumb|The 14th-century ceiling of the cloister of Fréjus Cathedral is decorated with paintings of animals, people and [[mythical creature]]s]]
[[File:Nicolas Froment 003.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Triptych]] of the Burning Bush'', by Nicolas Froment, in [[Aix Cathedral]] (15th century)]]
Artists have been painting in Provence since prehistoric times; paintings of bisons, seals, auks and horses dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC were found in the [[Cosquer Cave]] near Marseille.<ref>Aldo Bastié, ''Histoire de la Provence'', Editions Ouest-France, 2001.</ref>

The 14th-century wooden ceiling of the cloister of [[Fréjus Cathedral]] has a remarkable series of paintings of biblical scenes, fantastic animals, and scenes from daily life, painted between 1350 and 1360. They include paintings of a fallen angel with the wings of a bat, a demon with the tail of a serpent, angels playing instruments, a tiger, an elephant, an ostrich, domestic and wild animals, a mermaid, a dragon, a centaur, a butcher, a knight, and a juggler.<ref>Fixot, Michel, and Sauze, Elisabeth, 2004: ''La cathédrale Saint-Léonce et le groupe épiscopale de Fréjus''. Monum, Éditions du patrimoine.</ref>

[[Nicolas Froment]] (1435–1486) was the most important painter of Provence during the [[French Renaissance|Renaissance]], best known for his [[triptych]] of the Burning Bush (c. 1476), commissioned by King [[René I of Naples]]. The painting shows a combination of Moses, the Burning Bush, and the Virgin Mary "who gave birth but remained a virgin", just as the bush of Moses "-burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed". This is the explication according to a plaque in the cathedral. A more likely reason for the juxtaposition is that in 1400 a shepherd, or shepherds, discovered a miraculous statue of the Virgin and Child inside another burning bush (thorn bush specifically), in the village of L'Epine in the present day department of La Marne. The site and statue were later visited by the "Bon Roi René".
The wings of the triptych show King René with [[Mary Magdalene]], [[Anthony the Great|St. Anthony]] and [[St. Maurice]] on one side, and Queen Jeanne de Laval, with [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine]], [[John the Evangelist]], and [[Saint Nicholas]] on the other.<ref>The cult of Mary Magdalene was very important in medieval Provence; What was believed to be her sarcophagus had been found in a Gallo-Roman crypt in [[Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume]] in 1279, and the construction of a large church, the Basilica Sainte Marie-Madeleine, was begun on the spot in 1295.</ref>

[[Louis Bréa]] (1450–1523) was a 15th-century painter, born in Nice, whose work is found in churches from Genoa to Antibes. His ''Retable of Saint-Nicholas'' (1500) is found in [[Monaco]], and his ''Retable de Notre-Dame-de-Rosaire'' (1515) is found in [[Antibes]].

[[Pierre Paul Puget]] (1620–1694), born in Marseille, was a painter of portraits and religious scenes, but was better known for his sculptures, found in [[Toulon Cathedral]], outside the [[Hôtel de Ville, Toulon|Hôtel de Ville]] of Toulon, and in the [[Louvre]]. There is a mountain named for him near Marseille, and a square in Toulon.

[[File:Paul Cézanne 090.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Cézanne]], ''L'Estaque'', 1883–1885]]
[[File:Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Caféterras bij nacht (place du Forum) Kröller-Müller Museum Otterlo 23-8-2016 13-35-40.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''Cafe Terrace at Night'', September 1888]]
[[File:Paul Signac - The Port of Saint-Tropez - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Signac]], ''The Port of Saint-Tropez'', oil on canvas, 1901]]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the most famous painters in the world converged on Provence, drawn by the climate and the clarity of the light. The special quality of the light is partly a result of the [[Mistral (wind)]], which removes dust from the atmosphere, greatly increasing visibility.
* [[Adolphe Monticelli]] (1824–1886) was born in Marseille, moved to Paris in 1846 and returned to Marseille in 1870. His work influenced [[Vincent van Gogh]] who greatly admired him.<ref>See exhibition "Van Gogh – Monticelli" in Marseille's ''Centre de la Vieille Charité'', Sep 2008 – Jan 2009 {{cite web |url=http://www.rmn.fr/Van-Gogh-et-Monticelli-Centre-de |title=Exposition "Van Gogh et Monticelli Centre de la vieille charité, Marseille" : &#91;RMNGP&#93; |access-date=2011-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209181413/http://www.rmn.fr/Van-Gogh-et-Monticelli-Centre-de |archive-date=9 December 2011 }}</ref>
* [[Paul Cézanne]] (1839–1906) was born in Aix-en-Provence, and lived and worked there most of his life. The local landscapes, particularly [[Montagne Sainte-Victoire]], featured often in his work. He also painted frequently at [[L'Estaque]].
* [[Vincent van Gogh]] (1853–1890) lived little more than two years in Provence, but his fame as a painter is largely a result of what he painted there. He lived in [[Arles]] from February 1888 to May 1889, and then in Saint-Remy from May 1889 until May 1890.
* [[Auguste Renoir]] (1841–1919) visited [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer|Beaulieu]], [[Grasse]], [[Saint-Raphaël, Var|Saint Raphael]] and [[Cannes]], before finally settling in [[Cagnes-sur-Mer]] in 1907, where he bought a farm in the hills and built a new house and workshop on the grounds. He continued to paint there until his death in 1919. His house is now a museum.
* [[Henri Matisse]] (1869–1954) first visited [[St. Tropez]] in 1904. In 1917 he settled in Nice, first at the Hotel Beau Rivage, then the Hotel de la Mediterranée, then la Villa des Allies in [[Cimiez]]. In 1921 he lived in an apartment at 1 Place Felix Faure in Nice, next to the flower market and overlooking the sea, where he lived until 1938. He then moved to the Hotel Regina in the hills of Cimiez, above Nice. During World War II he lived in [[Vence]], then returned to Cimiez, where he died and is buried.
* [[Pablo Picasso]] (1881–1973) spent each summer from 1919 to 1939 on the [[Côte d'Azur]], and moved there permanently in 1946, first at [[Vallauris]], then at [[Mougins]], where he spent his last years.
* [[Pierre Bonnard]] (1867–1947) retired to and died at [[Le Cannet]].
* [[Georges Braque]] (1882–1963) painted frequently at [[L'Estaque]] between 1907 and 1910.
* [[Henri-Edmond Cross]] (1856–1910) discovered the Côte d'Azur in 1883 and painted at [[Monaco]] and [[Hyères]].
* [[Maurice Denis]] (1870–1943) painted at St. Tropez and [[Bandol]].
* [[André Derain]] (1880–1954) painted at L'Estaque and [[Martigues]].
* [[Raoul Dufy]] (1877–1953), whose wife was from Nice, painted in [[Forcalquier]], Marseille and Martigues.
* [[Albert Marquet]] (1873–1947) painted at Marseille, St. Tropez and L'Estaque.
* [[Claude Monet]] (1840–1927) visited Menton, [[Bordighera]], [[Juan-les-Pins]], [[Monte Carlo]], Nice, [[Cannes]], [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer|Beaulieu]] and [[Villefranche-sur-Mer|Villefranche]], and painted a number of seascapes of [[Cap Martin]], near Menton, and at [[Cap d'Antibes]].
* [[Edvard Munch]] (1863–1944) visited and painted in [[Nice]] and [[Monte Carlo]] (where he developed a passion for gambling), and rented a villa at [[Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat]] in 1891.
* [[Paul Signac]] (1863–1935) visited St. Tropez in 1892, and bought a villa, La Hune, at the foot of citadel in 1897. It was at his villa that his friend, Henri Matisse, painted his famous ''[[Luxe, Calme et Volupté]]''" in 1904. Signac made numerous paintings along the coast.
* [[Pierre Deval]] (1897–1993), a French modernist and figurative painter, lived and worked at the [[Domaine d'Orvès]] in [[La Valette-du-Var]] from 1925 until his death in 1993.
* [[Nicolas de Staël]] (1914–1955) lived in Nice and [[Antibes]].
* [[Yves Klein]] (1928–1962), a native of [[Nice]], is considered an important figure in post-war European art.
* [[Sacha Sosno]] (1937–2013) is a French painter and sculptor living and working in Nice.

''Source and Bibliography about artists on the Mediterranean''
* ''Méditerranée de Courbet á Matisse'', catalogue of the exhibit at the Grand Palais, Paris from September 2000 to January 2001. Published by the Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000.