Winter is the perfect time to immerse yourself in art, when the cosiness of museums and galleries combines perfectly with a rich cultural experience. HelloMonaco brings you a selection of the best art exhibitions this winter in and around the Principality.
FAMM, Europe’s first museum dedicated to women artists, in Mougins
Permanent exhibition
In June 2024, the Museum of Classical Art in Mougins, created in 2009 by former British investor and commodities trader Christian Levett, closed. Christian, a former resident of Monaco, who chose the old town of Mougins to live in and open a museum unique in Europe, has always had a special interest in women’s art. The work of women is often overlooked, but many of them were as skilled as the famous impressionists and abstractionists, created their own artistic styles, like Sonia Delaunay, and have undoubtedly left their mark on the history of art
The halls of the new museum display paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings by women only. The collection contains some 500 works from the mid-19th century to the present day. Paintings by Berthe Morisot, one of the three ‘great ladies’ of Impressionism, are juxtaposed with the colourful works of Sonia Delaunay, and the tender works of Marie Laurensen with the bold paintings of Frida Kahlo. Presenting an incredibly wide range of works of art, FAMM is able to satisfy a wide variety of tastes.
As for the Museum of Classical Art, its collections of military uniforms, contemporary works inspired by past masters, Egyptian and Greco-Roman art can be viewed on the museum’s website.
FAMM Femmes Artistes Musée Mougins
32, Rue Commandeur, Mougins
+33(0)4 9375 1822
‘Legacies of Surrealism’ at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Monaco
Until 21 December 2024
For its autumn exhibition, Hauser & Wirth Gallery Monaco has chosen the theme of the legacy of Surrealism. In October 1924, the first manifestos of Yvan Gaulle and André Breton were published. These seminal texts of the avant-garde movement had an enormous impact on the very perception of art and contemporary life. To mark the centenary of this momentous occasion, the bright and spacious Hauser & Wirth Monaco halls will display works by contemporary artists whose modes of expression refer back to the audacity of surrealism. The unbridled imagination that gives free rein to the dark depths of the psyche, to dreams and introspection, to the combination of ideas and astonishing visualisation… It is not without reason that the painter and sculptor Max Ernst called art child’s play.
The names of the participants in the exhibition are truly impressive: Ida Appelbrook, Phyllida Barlow, Louise Bourgeois, Helene Delprat, Camille Henro, Lucita Hurtado, Cathy Josefovitz, Allison Katz, Erna Rosenstein, Ange Smith. Their works are a shining example of female creativity, emphasizing the long-standing connection between surrealism and feminism. Surrealism as an artistic style never ceases to amaze and arouse interest. “Surrealism is a magical surprise when you find a lion in the closet where you keep your shirts,” said Frida Kahlo.
«Surreal Legacies»
Hauser & Wirth
One Monte — Carlo , Place du Casino , Monaco
+377 9200 0420
Twelve Miro Masterpieces at the Picasso Museum in Antibes
Until January 12, 2025
Joan Miro created entire universes from something very insignificant. He drew inspiration from ordinary things, which he knew how to transform into something amazing, magical and even unbridled. That is why it is so important to look at each of his paintings slowly, allowing yourself to immerse yourself in the variety of small elements that make up a single composition.
In this sense, the exhibition at the Picasso Museum in Antibes is of particular interest, featuring twelve masterpieces by Miró from one of the most prestigious art collections in the world, the Nahmad brothers’ collection. Each room is dedicated to one, occasionally two works. This arrangement deliberately immerses us in each painting, giving us the opportunity to breathe it in, contemplate it, listen to it and understand it.
Miró and Picasso were truly friends. Having met in Paris in 1920, the two young artists, driven by a desire for free and innovative creativity, immediately found a common language. Picasso said that he and Miró lived in the same world. It can be said that the exhibition at the Picasso Museum allows art lovers to meet two masters at once and enjoy the “magical meaning of things.”
Joan Miró. The Nahmad collection masterpieces
The Picasso Museum
Place Mariejol, Antibes
+33(0)4 9290 5426
Marc Chevalier at Eva Vauthier Gallery in Nice
Until February 8, 2025
«Pouvoir faner, vouloir fleurir» («The ability to fade, the desire to bloom») is the title of Marc Chevalier’s new exhibition. Marc last exhibited at the Eva Vautier Gallery in 2020 with the exhibition «Les tableaux n’existent pas» («Pictures do not exist»). Four years later, he is presenting both his old works and new ones created especially for this exhibition.
Refusing to limit himself to a particular style, Chevalier boldly experiments with different ways of expressing inspiration. For example, he uses adhesive tape in one composition with weeds and twigs collected on the banks of the local Paillon River. The artist admits that he “looks for scribbles in nature.” This approach allows him to combine different, sometimes unusual elements in his work.
For Marc Chevalier, a work of art is a combination of diverse, unrelated elements that participate in the implementation of an idea. Marc does not think through his works in advance; they are born directly in the creative process, which is at the intersection of various disciplines: sculpture, painting, performance, etc.). The graceful lines in Marc Chevalier’s creations first surprise and fascinate, and then push the public to active contemplation.
“To be able to fade, to want to bloom”
Eva Vautier Gallery
2, Rue Vernier, Nice (Liberation)
+33(0)9 8031 7663
