Just whisper "French Riviera", and you'll hear sighs, see eyes glaze over with dreamy, far-away gazes into the distance, and perhaps an accompanying "ooooh", "aaaah" or "oh-la-laaaa"... Do it, and you'll see. The Côte d'Azur is one of the most sigh-worthy travel destinations in the history of ever; not just in Europe, but in the entire world.
This Mediterranean paradise is not only a playground for the rich & glam, dripping with beautiful people, private jets, water toys and mega yachts, but also a picture-perfect postcard immersed in a rich history and sprinkled with colourful towns, beaches, villas (regular people too! ) and legendary allure - all the way from St. Tropez to Monaco. Keep going East past Monaco and you'll find yourself next door on the Italian Riviera - but that's another blog post.
But how did the French Riviera become THE French Riviera? How did this mythical destination find itself at the top of most people's "must see" bucket list? Few people are aware of how artists created, shaped, and spread the myth of the French Riviera - equating the Côte d'Azur, (and The South of France) with beauty, culture, and a green-with-envy-worthy lifestyle for the rich and famous.
Long before the South of France became a symbol of glamour and sun-soaked allure—evoking images of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955) or Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon on the beaches of Saint-Tropez—this region drew a very different type of traveller.
How The French Riviera Became... THE French Riviera: The Art and Artists That Shaped The Myth
Art & Asthma: The Start Of The World's Most Famous Promenade
In the 1700's and 1800s, the French Riviera attracted Russian and English royalty and aristocrats, along with wealthy Americans seeking its mild Mediterranean climate, health cures, and luxurious winter vacations. They built grand villas and estates, hosting lavish parties that brought together the bourgeoisie, actors, artists, writers, and influential thinkers.
But why did they flock here in the first place? Have you ever wondered why The Promenade des Anglais in Nice is one of the world's most celebrated boulevards? What began as a winter health resort for the British upper class in the 1700's was all because of a book by Tobias Smollet: a Scottish a novelist, historian and travel writer.
Tobias Smollett first ignited British interest in the region that is now known as the French Riviera with his 1766 work, Travels through France and Italy. This book, among the earliest English accounts to highlight Nice, is often credited with inspiring the longstanding British fascination with the region.
What began as a quest to cure asthma would unexpectedly lay the foundation for one of history's most iconic travel campaigns.
Smollett’s asthma improved significantly: "since my arrival in Nice, I have breathed more freely than I have in years, and my spirits are more lively." The climate was exceptional. “For several months on end, there is nothing overhead but a delightful, unblemished blue sky,” he wrote, meticulously recording daily temperatures.
Intrigued by his descriptions, members of the British royal family began visiting Nice, transforming it into a fashionable destination. Soon, wealthy travelers followed, establishing a British enclave in the new part of town along the Paillon River.
When an unusual frost in the 1820s destroyed the orange and lemon trees that had once enchanted Smollett, British residents sought to aid local workers impacted by the loss. In doing so, they funded the creation of a broad seaside pathway, offering sweeping views of the beautiful Baie des Anges. This path would become the famous Promenade des Anglais.
Et voilà, we have our answer. The Prom owes its existence to asthma, a book, and a shortage of citrus fruits.
La Belle Époque (Late 1800 - 1930's)
During the Belle Époque ("The Beautiful Era" and Europe's Golden Age), famous figures like Coco Chanel, Salvador Dali, Picasso, and Hollywood stars mingled with political leaders like Winston Churchill and the Prince of Wales, creating a vibrant social scene filled with glamour and creativity.
Before summer vacations became popular for the general public in the 1930s, this elite crowd built golf courses, casinos, and stylish villas along the coast from Antibes to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, where Coco Chanel had her summer house.
Chanel's villa was called "La Pausa", where she would spend her summers and non-working months before the war, and welcomed some of the biggest artists of the time such as Jean Cocteau, Serge Lifar, Salvador Dali, Pierre Bonnard and great thinkers like Winston Churchill. Chanel had singlehandedly designed, built and decorated the interiors in quintessential Chanel style, then threw some legendary parties there for her creative and interesting friends.
They drank champagne and partied until early mornings, and she had chauffeurs on standby to drive them all down to the beaches in Menton, then a sleepy fishing village, to swim off the champagne and rest up for the next evening's party. The villa was recently acquired by the House of Chanel.
One of the most fascinating books I've read is a historical novel by Anne de Courcy: Chanel's Riviera: Glamour, Decadence, and Survival on the Côte d'Azur, 1930-1944. It paints a very vivid and entertaining picture of life on the French Riviera and Coco Chanel's entourage, life, creativity and epic parties during this time. This book depicts life on the Côte d'Azur during incredible highs and terrifying lows, where opulent parties and celebrity glamour were soon overshadowed by the hardships of World War II. I highly recommend it.
Between creating legendary works of art, design and literature, this talented and eclectic group of artists and thinkers popularized tanning, indulged in luxurious lifestyles, and partied late into the night. Although the war years temporarily dimmed the Riviera's opulence, the region remained a favourite destination for society's shiny people.
In the 1930's, after paid vacations were institutionalized for regular people and workers in France, the notion of "summer vacation", as we know it, was born. With their summers now free and filled with imagery of paradise in the south propagated by the arts, ordinary people began flocking the beaches in the South. And while the rich had to share the coast, the French Riviera's allure remained undiminished.
When Art From The South Of France Found Me Under A Rock... And How It Expanded My Worldview, Perceptions of Art, Travel, and Life
When I was 6 years old, I started hanging out in my grandparent’s art studios in Bucharest, Romania. I was intoxicated (in a good way) by the smell of paint, turpentine (I know, but it was the 80's), their avant-garde artwork, but most of all - their art books.
Me, at 6 years old with a Modigliani portrait painting in the background. I was already drawn to the elongated, graphic lines and the exaggerated elegance this Italian artist infused into his artwork.
While children my age in other parts of the world were into fairy tales and toys, I became addicted to art: colourful landscapes from faraway, eternally sunny and exotic destinations with funny trees, flowers and architecture that looked nothing like anything I had seen yet with my own two eyes.
Through modern art, I travelled to the South of France, Morocco, Algeria, Italy, Spain, and other magical new places I had never actually been to, or previously heard of, along the Mediterranean coast.
To be fair, I wasn't born an inherently artsy book nerd - I was simply the product of my environment, which was equal parts communist propaganda from hell, and being lucky to have parents and grandparents who were into arts and literature, and who believed knowledge and culture were the only ways to properly shape young minds and prevent them from becoming propaganda-spewing machines for a country that was being economically and culturally manipulated by the people in charge of it. In the midst of grey propaganda and cultural blah, I was gifted a mental, and visual, escape.
The dictator of Romania and his wife, who controlled the cultural narrative, economy and media of the country for over 25 years with government propaganda and a brutal policy, under one of the strictest and most ruthless Iron curtain regimes in Eastern Europe.
What Modern Art Taught Me About Convention, And Why Most Grown-Ups Suck
I loved how, despite being told by proper grown-ups to colour inside the lines, and that circles are always round, for example, these magnificent and exotic colourful artworks did not in fact adhere to these proper rules of how reality “should” be, according to said grown-ups. Circles were even sometimes square! Nothing looked as it "should", but it was even better this way.
For me, the art books I discovered in my grandparents art studio were an introduction to the notion that art was way more alive and interesting than realistic depictions of grown-up reality, or the communist propaganda about being a good little conformist worker, there to serve "la patrie".
And... these fascinating artworks that didn't follow the rules we learned in school were done BY grown-ups! Who were they? I was intrigued.
And so, my love affair with colour, exploration and travel was awakened, along with a delicious exposure to far-off lands and creative freedom... through art!
What drew these talented artists to the South of France in the first place, and why did the art they created there in turn become so famous around the world? Just imagine... if this art could reach ME under that rock, how far had this imagery travelled and shaped our collective perceptions of the South of France... and the French Riviera?
The Timeless Charm Of The French Riviera, And How It Influenced Famous Artists and Modern Art: A Very Brief History (With A Little Bit of Juicy Gossip)
The very simple answer is that the artists who flocked here were attracted by the colours and the light in the Mediterranean, where everything felt so ALIVE... and they stayed because this environment fuelled their art, creativity and inspiration, allowing them to create in new and innovative ways.
Here are some major art movements and fun cultural history that flourished in the South of France, and added to its allure.
1800's: Impressionists & Post-Impressionists Defying The Rules In The South Of France
The Impressionists were rebels: they went against all the academic rules of painting, and focused on painting outdoors spontaneously "on the spot" rather than relying on studio work from sketches, capturing landscapes and everyday life as their main subjects, focusing on light and impressions rather than academic, realistic artwork that was considered "proper art".
1900’s: Matisse And Fauvism ( "Wild Beasts", They Said): The Power Of Colour
1920’s – 1960’s: Great Gatsby, Picasso, Gambling & Sunbathing
In the 1920s, the French Riviera became a creative modern art hub and it was during this decade that the image of the Côte d'Azur as we know it today was truly born. The Riviera attracted artists and literary figures like Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Ernest Hemingway. The roaring 20's also brought with them American actors, silverscreen Hollywood stars, singers and musicians during the Jazz age - and this art set liked to party!
Essentially, the Côte d'Azur was shaped by the artistic expats of the 1920s - think Art Deco, casinos, gambling, roaring 20's, jazz and glitzy glam dance parties. No one embraced the Côte d’Azur as intimately as F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the Great Gatsby. The iconic novelist lived extravagantly on the Riviera, leaving an indelible impression on the region. From the dazzling summer scenes to the exclusive guest lists, it’s still Fitzgerald’s Riviera soirée we long to join. And the party is far from over—whether or not you’re on the list.
Picasso, with his wife Olga, frequented southern hotspots like Antibes and Cannes, popularizing the concept of "sunbathing" through their extravagant beach parties.
And here's yet another juicy bite: after separating from his wife Olga in 1935, Picasso continued to visit the Riviera, never divorcing her to protect his assets. He found renewed inspiration after WWII with his mistress Françoise Gilot, and his subsequent mistress Dora Maar, followed by countless of his "other" women, who became his muses.
To learn more about Picasso and his time spent on the French Riviera, the art he created here and how he created his famous Wailing Woman series, I highly recommend the historical ficiton novel "The Paris Muse", by Louisa Treger. Set in Paris and along the French Riviera, where Dora Maar and Pablo spent holidays among their glamorous artist friends, this account offers a captivating glimpse into Picasso's life, and his art - as told through the perspective of one of his muses. It reveals how his genius allowed him to sidestep conventions—not only in his art but also in his personal relationships. You won't be able to put it down.
Nowadays, you can find Picasso’s works in various museums and galleries along the coast, and you can trace Picasso’s footsteps by visiting the towns where he lived and worked—Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Saint-Paul de Vence, Vallauris, and Mougins.
Experiencing the charm of these French Riviera locations adds depth to the appreciation of the art he created during his time on the Côte d’Azur. You don't have to like the man, as we can all agree he was he was horrible to women... but love him or hate him, his artistic output was unparalleled, and the artist's art and influence on the French Riviera is significant.
1950's: Stars, Paparazzi, Film and The Seventh Art Of Cinema
Since the 1950's, cinema culture has been flocking here, attracted by the breathtaking scenery.
The Cannes Film Festival (a nightmare for locals, but jackpot for the paparazzi and glitterati) signals a yearly seasonal influx of mega-yachts, mega stars, and mega price jacking. It first gained prominence in the 1950s with media attention fuelled by celebrity scandals and romances. Over time, it evolved into a global stage for both artistic cinema and fashion, attracting stars and designers worldwide. Now a symbol of cinematic excellence and glamour, Cannes influences culture, fosters emerging talent, and celebrates established icons, shaping the future of international cinema.
Nicknamed the "European Hollywood," Nice also has a rich cinema history; its hotels and streets have also been featured in films such as La Baie des Anges and Ronin with Robert De Niro. Nearby, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Villefranche-sur-Mer served as filming locations for To Catch a Thief and Never Say Never Again.
And there’s just no way you can talk about the cinema and the Côte d’Azur without mentioning Saint-Tropez: Gendarme de Saint-Tropez films, Louis de Funès, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin (yes, the handbag was named after her) and Brigitte Bardot.
My Off / On Relationship With Art: My 20's
So. That's a lot of art history unpack. While we let this simmer, here's a brief history of my own relationship with art, following those early formative years in Bucharest, and my first discoveries of art from the South of France, which opened my eyes to a whole new world, and new ways of looking at it.
As far as my story goes, my relationship with art continued (off and on) throughout my life. After my family moved to Canada (we emigrated away from the oppressive Ceausescu dictatorship, because my parents didn't want my sister and I growing up in Orwell's 1984 - pour vrai!), I continued to draw and paint, off and on, in my new Canadian life. Art kept me grounded, a familiar terrain that provided beauty, colour and escapism while I was navigating my new home filled with capitalism, shopping malls, commercials, and all the things I could not yet wrap my mind around. En bref, art was my solace and escape in a transition of culture shock spent adapting to my new home sweet home in a land very far removed from everything I had previously known in Europe.
Fast forward 10 years, where I ended up getting a "sensible" university degree in Criminology, having followed the sensible life path that was prescribed by all the grown-ups in my orbit, and which made me want to scream with boredom.
Once again art and colour saved me from 4 years of complete and utter dullness through my Art History classes, which I minored in. They delved even deeper into the history of art and I was particularly drawn to by the French impressionists, post-impressionists and early cubism - especially the work that was coming out of France, with its vibrant colours, bold compositions and that familiar sense of Mediterranean "je ne sais quoi".
Love & Art In The South of France: My 30's
In my mid thirties, after extensive travels and adventures around the world, I met Jeremy, who would become my partner in travel, and in love. By this time, I had long since ran away from my future in Criminology, and had pursued a degree in Graphic Design, which married my passion for visual art and the power of language into one discipline. Oh, the delight of pairing imagery with words to communicate anything and everything.... I was in love!
By my mid thirties, I was immersed in an amazingly cool creative career working as an Artistic Director and designer, while travelling everywhere and anywhere i could in pursuit of new places, inspiration, beauty and novelty...which in turn helped feed my craft as a designer, and which moulded my gaze as an art director.
After a particularly life changing 2 month trip to Bali ( I went across the world to close my eyes and be silent - more on this later), I returned to Montreal, and this is where I met Jeremy, aka mon coeur. He was working in Canada as an airline pilot (the irony!) and we bonded instantly over our love of exploration, travel, and our European roots. He knew nothing about art, and I knew nothing about planes or navigation, so we learned (and continue to learn) a lot from each on our adventures.
Through him, over the course of almost a decade, I discovered the South of France (Jeremy's a proud southern French man and a history buff) – and even though he exposed me to customs, places and history I did not know, I in turn exposed him to the rich art history of his beloved region.
My South of France life immersion has had a profound impact on both my design work and my art. In the beginning, I had no idea how much these first trips would affect the rest of my life. While circumstance eventually brought me to settle more permanently on the French Riviera, in the first few years of exploring the South of France, the trips were a journey into discovering beautiful new places and an art history pilgrimage into my past.
I wanted to stand in the footsteps of the artists from my childhood, looking out at the source of inspiration (the landscapes, the colours, the sea, the plants!!) where they created their magical artworks. Finally, I was here. In real life, not just in pages and imagination. I KNEW these places, visually. I had seen them and felt them through my eyes in my formative years. They were a part of me.
And now I finally I began to experience (in 3D!!) the magical scenery, climate, and colours that inspired some of the greatest artists of all time. Lucky me. There are too many too count, but here's an overview of my absolute favourite art moments I experienced in this beautiful Mediterranean region.
My Top 5 Art & Travel Destinations In The South of France: Midi, Provence and The French Riviera
1. Collioure: Colours & Fauvism
Collioure is a Catalan port town in the South of France, on its Western frontier before crossing over into Spain. Our road trip here was filled with wine, vineyards, and the blue sea following us on the path peppered with flowers and postcard perfect vistas. It's been home to the anchovy industry since the Middle Ages, and it's been nicknamed the "City of Painters", birthplace of Fauvism (see my earlier texts on this), and colourful inspirations for artists like Matisse, Derain, Picasso, Dufy, and Chagall. In my heart, this town will forever be remembered as the colourful anchovy place with yummy wine and wild views.
2. Provence: Arles & Saint-Rémy, Through Van Gogh's Gaze
My relationship with VanGogh started at a very early stage, with an infatuation with his graphic yet organic black and white drawings, and which progressed quickly into an obsession with his mastery of expressive brushstrokes and colour - you guessed it, in my grandparent's art studios.
When we moved to Canada, on my 8th birthday my parents gifted me a gigantic book of all his work, and this is where I discovered the greyness of Holland, and the mesmerizing (and contrasting) yellows, blues, violets and vivid greens of Provence, from his paintings in Saint Remy and Arles. By this time, all I really wanted to play with was a plastic "Skippit" that all my Canadian suburbia friends had, but I didn't get it, and so I read the Van Gogh book front to back, for lack of more peer-acceptable toys.
My young mind couldn't coincide his happy colour palette with the part of his story where he suffered a mental breakdown: famously cutting off part of his own ear during a psychotic episode, hospitalized, discharged, and suffering two more attacks before entering a psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy de Provence on May 8, 1889.
The paintings I had loved the most for their expressiveness, inherent energy and glorious colours (Yellow House, Starry Sky, Irises) were all created by him during the most torturous inner turmoil of his life.
The question is as old as time. How could someone so tortured create art of such beauty and originality? Did his pain come from the same place of artistic genius, or does this level of creativity tap into something that regular human emotions cannot process? ... And through their art, are they attempting to process the feelings that come with this connection to something bigger than most of us mortals cannot possibly comprehend through logic and reason?
3. Aix en Provence: Cezanne's Studio & Mont Saint Victoire
I started my art lessons at 6 years old, the old fashioned way: drawing still lives in my grandfather's art studio, and learning the academic steps involved in formal art education in Europe. Each still life consisted of a full day of LOOKING at artfully arranged objects: fruits, dishes, clay feet, and some kind of draping. My grandfather taught me to look at the imaginary interplay of angles, proportions and lines crossing each composition.
After learning structure and draughtsmanship, the colours and volumes followed. An artist has to look, learn, and re-create, realistically, the scenes in front of them. I would sit for hours trying to depict reality as it appeared, like a realistic photograph until I got it "right". When I was released from the 8 hour sit, I usually grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, and in 5 minutes, re-do the still life my way. This usually involved pastels, charcoal, black paint and anything I could get my hands on that let the colour dry FAST. At this point of the day, I had absorbed the scene before me for hours, so I just let my hand be led by instinct and allowed thought and analysis to begone. These were my favourite artworks.
One of my mixed-media paintings I painted at 7 years old, using watercolour, marker and pastel, after I had finished the "proper" 6 hour art lesson where I had to learn to realistically depict the same still life using oil painting techniques. I prefer the energy of this one, done impulsively and in about 15 minutes, after the art lesson was finished.
And this is why I was so attracted to Cezanne's work, which seemed so immediate, graphic and spontaneous. I later learned that it took him a lifetime of endless looking, testing, doing and redoing to reach this level of artistry, even if it looked impulsive and spontaneous. He was a perfectionist who would fly into rages and destroy his own work, over and over. His difficult personality is hard to coincide with his almost spiritual depictions of the colours, nature and beauty of Provence.
His presence is palpable through his painting studio, now open to the public. The fruit bowls, skulls, ladders and objects from the still-lifes of my childhood were suddenly laid out in front of me, the light pouring in from the wall-to-wall windows he had installed in the space. Walking through the gardens surrounding his studio is in itself an immersion into the colours and textures of Provence.
4. Antibes: Picasso's Lighter Artworks
I discovered Antibes through a mix of boats and art. Starving for escapism during Covid, Jeremy and I became obsessed with a show about yachting life in the Mediterranean, which allowed us to travel at a time we couldn't. Most of the super-yachts docked in this charming town called Antibes that I had never heard of, on the French Riviera.
Fast forward to 2020. Still Covid, but we were riding it out in France by now. The museums were freshly re-opened and much to my delight, I discovered that there was a museum filled with Picasso's work here. Not only that, but he actually lived and created much of the work in the castle that now houses the museum, before it was a museum.
And so, through a mix of yachts and art, we ended up in Antibes, and fell in love with both the city and the Côte d'Azur. The colours, the art, the old town, the markets, the beaches, the gardens, the beauty ... all of it. First, it's probably the most impressively located museum I've ever been to. A castle perched on the rampart walls of Antibes, offering sweeping views over the port, Salis Bay, the Cap d’Antibes, and the open sea. Outside, there is a sculpture garden filled with elongated Giacometti sculptures, suspended over the blindingly beautiful blue sea in the background. The sculptures actually change every few months, but the effect is always the same. Jaw drop.
5. Nice: An Explosion Of Blues, Colours and the Modern Art of Matisse, Yves Klein and Raoul Dufy
I discovered Nice by accident, and I owe it to art. After being seduced by Antibes, I wanted more. And I was surprised to learn that there was a Matisse museum not far from it, in Nice - which I had been under the mistaken impression was a town for old people.
And so, I ended up calling Nice home... for now. I came for the art, and stayed for the colours: a vibrant dance of light and beauty that inspires me, endlessly, each second of the day.
How French Riviera Art and And Artists Painting In the South Of France Shaped My Life, And Influenced My Art
I can't help but reflect how finding myself, through a mix of a pandemic and a thirst for art, on the Côte d'Azur closed the loop on a full circle art journey: a love of art, freedom and exploration brought me to the very place where the artworks I discovered in my childhood were created.. and which allowed me to dive deeper into my own creative journey, making new art, inspired by my surroundings.
View from my studio in Nice: the circled building is the famous Hotel Regina where Matisse created his famous decoupage works and some iconic artworks at the end of his life and artistic career.
The beautiful irony of the fact that every morning, as I sip my morning coffee and say thank you for the view, I face the Hotel Regina (the last place Matisse lived in, and created his famous cutouts that have influenced my work for so many years) is not lost on me.
Some process work and art I created in Nice, influenced by plants and landscapes on the French Riviera, and by my frequent visits to the Matisse Museum. In this series I mixed analog, handcrafted design techniques I learned during my Graphic Design studies and career, my love for Matisse's simple decoupage work, Mediterranean nature and landscapes, in a collection that blends my love for minimalism and expressionism... yet highly influenced by the landscapes on the Côte d'Azur and my design background.
Art, like life, is not linear. It's made up of meandering moments, impressions and moods that dance in and out of our existence, influencing what we in turn put back out into the world.
The French Riviera, as we know it, became what it is through many factors, but it is undeniable that art, and artists had a pivotal role in shaping it, and diffusing its beauty around the globe through their artworks. And if their art could reach a 6 year old kid living under an Iron Curtain dictatorship and shape the course of her life, imagine the profound influence artists painting in the South of France, and on the Côte d'Azur had on the rest of the world?
So how did French Riviera art, and artwork created in the South of France shape my life?
It taught me to look at things in a different way; that there isn't just "one way" of doing things, of seeing the world, or of depicting it. My discovery of colours, new places, and the concept that you don't have to colour within the lines that are imposed on you by convention, led me to a life filled with travel, exploration, curiosity and creativity: a dance between art and adventure, each one feeding the other.... and then, after many years of creating in both visual arts and design, finding my unique way of expressing what I see. My way.
It taught me to seek beauty, novelty and magic. To try new things. And to let go of the idea that art has to be "perfect". Once you let go of the fear of seeing things differently and the need to be like everyone else, you eventually start to find your own unique voice as an artist, and are no longer afraid to share that with the world.
And who knows? You may just change the life of someone living under a rock.
To see some of the recent artwork inspired by the colourful landscapes and seascapes on the Côte d'Azur, check out the French Riviera Art Collection. And if you're more into black and white abstract art, see how Matisse's modern art influenced my interpretation of Mediterranean landscapes in my Abstract Art Collection.