Royal Academy Opens 'Painting the French Riviera,' 120+ Works Tracing the Côte d'Azur in Modern Art
On 2 October 2026, the Royal Academy of Arts in London will unveil 'Painting the French Riviera: A Celebration of Heat and Light,' which will be on display until 31 January 2027. This exhibition boasts more than 120 artworks that illustrate the Mediterranean coast's impact on modern art from the 1870s through the 1960s. Featured are early pieces by Cézanne, Renoir, and Morisot, alongside a special room dedicated to Monet, as well as Neo-Impressionists such as Signac and Cross. Works by the Fauves, led by Matisse, and Bonnard's depictions of the Mediterranean are also included. The exhibition concludes with pieces by Nicolas de Staël and Yves Klein. It is curated by Ann Dumas, Heather Lemonedes Brown, and Colm Guo-Lin Peare, in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Key facts
- 'Painting the French Riviera: A Celebration of Heat and Light' runs at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, from 2 October 2026 to 31 January 2027
- The exhibition took five years to make and includes more than 120 paintings, sculptures and drawings, plus films, books and travel posters
- Its timeline spans nearly ninety years, from the 1870s to the 1960s
- Monet's 1880s visits to Bordighera, Cap Martin and Antibes are represented by 'The Beach at Juan Les Pins'
- Cross's 'Les Îles d'or' from the early 1890s is lent by the Musée d'Orsay; Signac's 'Le Pin de Bertaud' dates to 1900
- Matisse is traced from his 1904 arrival in Saint-Tropez to his Nice years, including 'Interior at Nice' (1917–1918)
- Picasso's ceramics were made at the Madoura studio in Vallauris between the late 1940s and the 1960s
- The exhibition is organized with the Cleveland Museum of Art and curated by Ann Dumas and Heather Lemonedes Brown with Colm Guo-Lin Peare
Entities
Artists
- Claude Monet
- Paul Cézanne
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Berthe Morisot
- Paul Signac
- Henri-Edmond Cross
- Théo van Rysselberghe
- Henri Matisse
- André Derain
- Georges Braque
- Aristide Maillol
- Pablo Picasso
- Raoul Dufy
- Pierre Bonnard
- Nicolas de Staël
- Yves Klein
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Ann Dumas
- Heather Lemonedes Brown
- Colm Guo-Lin Peare
- Georges Seurat
- Francis Picabia
- Marc Chagall
- Chaïm Soutine
- Albert Camus
- Cécile Delos
Institutions
- Royal Academy of Arts
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Musée d'Orsay
- Madoura studio
- Artlyst
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Carmen Thyssen Collection
- Muskegon Museum of Art
- L.C. and Margaret Walker Foundation
- Saint Louis Art Museum
- McNay Art Museum
- Marion Koogler McNay
- ADAGP
- DACS
- Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM) railway
- Kingdom of Sardinia
- FAD Magazine
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- French Riviera
- Côte d'Azur
- France
- Bordighera
- Italy
- Cap Martin
- Antibes
- Juan Les Pins
- Saint-Tropez
- Nice
- Le Cannet
- Cannes
- Vallauris
- Golfe Juan
- Cleveland
- United States
- L'Estaque
- Monaco
- Menton
- Roquebrune
- Paris
- Philadelphia
- St. Louis
- San Antonio
- Muskegon
- South of France
- Mediterranean coast
- Cagnes
- Collioure