Draguignan Exhibition Explores Modernist Fascination with the Red Rocks of the Esterel Massif

The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Draguignan presents "Les roches rouges," the first exhibition dedicated to the red volcanic rocks of the Esterel massif as a motif for modern painters. Curated by Marine Roux, the show traces how the arrival of the railway in 1863 and the Corniche d'Or road in 1903 opened access to this wild coastal landscape, previously considered dangerous. Post-impressionist and Fauvist artists—including Louis Valtat, Georges d'Espagnat, Charles Camoin, Albert Marquet, Armand Guillaumin, Henri Manguin, Jacques Majorelle, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Léon Detroy—painted the rhyolite cliffs and coves from sites like the Pointe de Pierre Blave, Pointe de l'Esquillon, Château d'Agay, Île Besse, Saint-Pilon at Anthéor, and the Rochers du Trayas. The exhibition highlights how these painters often worked in series, inspired by Paul Signac's praise of "that blue, that red, and that green." Seven paintings of the Esterel were shown at the 1905 Salon d'Automne, the birthplace of Fauvism. The show also explores mythological and human figures within the landscape, such as Henri Manguin's naiad and Ker-Xavier Roussel's centaur Nessus and Deianira. The exhibition runs until October 31, 2026.