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Mosaics in primary colours, carried out to Léger’s own design, identify this strikingly modern museum. The Cubist painter planned to build a studio here just before his death in 1955, and the museum contains more than 400 of his works (see Biot).

The multi-talented Jean Cocteau, a playwright, author and film director as well as artist and designer, converted this 17th-century fort into his personal museum, donating tapestries, set designs and drawings to the collection.

The most attractive collection in Nice, the Musée Matisse was founded in 1963, nine years after the painter’s death, and is housed in the 17th-century Villa des Arènes. The collection includes sketches, paintings and bronze sculpture by the prolific artist, as well as some of his personal effects (see Musée Matisse).

One of the jewels of Provence, this museum houses the world’s largest collection of works by Marc Chagall, including 17 canvases from his Biblical Message series (see Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall).

Housed in the Château Grimaldi, used as a studio by Picasso in 1946, the museum contains more than 50 of his paintings, sketches, prints and ceramics, as well as works by Léger and Miró (see Musée Picasso, Antibes).

Auguste Renoir’s house at Les Collettes, where the painter came in hope that the climate would cure his rheumatism, houses 10 of his paintings. It also has works by Raoul Dufy and Pierre Bonnard (see Musée Renoir, Cagnes-sur-Mer).

The 1952 work is among the best known of Matisse’s blue paper cut-outs series.

Charles Camoin evokes the St-Tropez of 1925.

Nicolas Froment’s 1476 triptych in the Cathédrale de St-Saveur (see Cathédrale St-Sauveur) was commissioned by Provence’s last king, René.

One of Renoir’s finest bronzes (1914) stands amid the olive groves at Les Collettes.