aixcentric

….in both senses of the word.  ‘Un Monde Flottant’ just opened in Nice focuses on the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue who was born in 1894 into a high-society French family.  Given a camera as a child, he photographed everything and everyone around him, from early aviation and sports cars, to his family, to people in the Champs-Elysees, the Bois de Boulogne or at the races.

He especially liked action and shots of people jumping, diving and playing various sports.  Life took him to the Riviera and so he continued, living and working amongst the rich; interestingly he wasn’t particularly well 0ff and had to paint commissions to keep himself in style and his photography wasn’t discovered until he was in his late 60s.

His early photographs capture a society long-gone, with its people and their often-fleeting moments of happiness.

The exhibition is in a beautiful mansion, Theatre de la Photographie et de l’Image in Nice which will close when this exhibition ends on 25th September.  (It’s been bought to be a private school.)

It’s 10 euros to get in; but for the same 10 euros you can get a Musees de Nice pass instead…which means you can have a day of it, going from museum to museum!

An easy few-block walk takes you to MAMAC (Musee d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain) which has floors of abstract and pop art as well as work from the school of Nice – Yves Klein and Niki de Saint-Phalle especially good; plus if you climb right up, a great view from the roof-terraces.  There’s an underground car-park here too.

Then your 10€ pass will get you in to the Musée Matisse a drive away up in Cimiez.  This is turn is not far from the Musée Chagall which is a colourist’s heaven………but  you have to pay separately for this one!

The permanent collection at the Musee Chagall is wonderful but if you wait until 9th July, you can see the new expo ‘Le Cantique des Cantiques’ which runs until 31st October.

There is a delightfully-planted garden and nice café here too.