THE FRENCH RIVIERA - France 2014 - page 1095

the uphill stop located across the street. Taxis usually wait in front of the museum. It's
about €12 for a ride to the city center.
To walk to the train station area from the museum (20 minutes), turn left out of the
museumgroundsonAvenueDocteurMénard,andfollowthestreettotheleftatthefirstin-
tersection, continuing to hug the museum grounds. Where the street curves right (by #32),
take the ramps and staircases down on your left, turn left at the bottom, cross under the
freeway and the train tracks, then turn right on Boulevard Raimbaldi to reach the station.
▲ Matisse Museum (Musée Matisse)
This small museum contains a sampling of works from the various periods of Henri Ma-
tisse's long artistic career. The museum offers a painless introduction to the artist's many
stylesandmaterials, bothshapedbyMediterranean lightandbyfellowCôted'Azurartists
Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The collection is scattered throughout several
rooms with a few worthwhile works, though it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi when com-
pared to the Chagall Museum.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), the master of leaving things out, could suggest a wo-
man's body with a single curvy line—letting the viewer's mind fill in the rest. Ignoring
traditional 3-D perspective, he expressed his passion for life through simplified but recog-
nizablescenesinwhichdarkoutlinesandsaturated,brightblocksofcolorcreateanoverall
decorative pattern. You don't look “through” a Matisse canvas, like a window; you look
“at” it, like wallpaper.
Matisse understood how colors and shapes affect us emotionally. He could create
either shocking, clashing works (early Fauvism) or geometrical, balanced, harmonious
ones (later cutouts). Whereas other modern artists reveled in purely abstract design, Ma-
tisse (almost) always kept the subject matter at least vaguely recognizable. He used unreal
colors and distorted lines not just to portray what an object looks like, but to express its
inner nature (even inanimate objects). Meditating on his paintings helps you connect with
life—or so Matisse hoped.
Cost and Hours: Free, Wed-Mon 10:00-18:00, closed Tue, 164 Avenue des Arènes
de Cimiez, tel. [phone], www.musee-matisse-nice.org . The museum is housed in a
beautifulMediterraneanmansionsetinanolivegroveamidtheruinsoftheancientRoman
city of Cemenelum.
Getting to the Matisse Museum: It's a long uphill walk from the city center. Take
the bus (details follow) or a cab (€20 from Promenade des Anglais). Once here, walk into
theparktofindthepinkvilla. Buses #15, #17, and #22 offerregularservicetotheMatisse
Museum from just off Place Masséna on Rue Sacha Guitry (Masséna Guitry stop, at the
east end of the Galeries Lafayette department store—see map on here , 20 minutes; note
that bus #17 does not stop at the Chagall Museum). Bus #20 connects the port to the mu-