Marc Chagall National Museum, Nice

About the Chagall Museum

The Marc Chagall National Museum is a French state museum devoted to the artist's work on religious and spiritual themes. It was created in Chagall's lifetime with the support of the culture minister André Malraux and opened in 1973. Its other name is the Marc Chagall Biblical Message Museum.

It's a rare case of an artist designing his own museum. Chagall chose the place of every work, ignoring chronology, gave detailed instructions for the garden, and made the mosaic and stained glass. He wanted an exhibition each year on the spiritual history of the world, a tradition that continues.

What to see

• The Biblical Message — 17 large canvases on the Bible.
• The Song of Songs room — five red paintings about love.
• The blue windows — in the concert hall, on the Creation.
• The mosaic above the pool — Chagall's work in the garden.
• Sketches and gouaches — preparatory work for the cycle.
• The garden — olives, cypresses and lavender as the artist planned.

The Biblical Message

The heart of the museum is a cycle of seventeen paintings Chagall gave to the French state in 1966. Twelve large canvases tell stories from Genesis and Exodus: the creation of man, Paradise, Noah's Ark, Abraham, Jacob and his ladder, Moses. They hang in the main hall, each full of details to pick out: angels, animals, flying figures.

Five more paintings, on the Song of Songs, are gathered in a room of their own. Painted in shades of red and pink, they're about love, and many see them as a tribute to the artist's wife Vava. It's perhaps the warmest, brightest room in the museum.

How the collection grew

In 1972, before the opening, Chagall gave the museum all the sketches for the Biblical Message, so you can trace how the big paintings came to be. In 1986 the museum received the complete set of drawings and gouaches for Exodus and ten more paintings.

Gradually the single-theme museum became a monographic museum of Chagall: today it holds one of the world's largest collections of his spiritual work, painting, drawing, prints, sculpture, stained glass and mosaic. Temporary exhibitions run in summer and autumn.

The museum garden

The museum is surrounded by a Mediterranean garden laid out to Chagall's own instructions: olives, cypresses, pines, lavender and flowers that bloom most of the year. Paths and benches wind between the trees, and by the building is the pool with the artist's mosaic shining above it.

The garden has a small café with a terrace, a good spot to rest after the rooms and talk over what you've seen. It's quiet, with the city barely audible, though central Nice is very close.

Tips for your visit

An hour to an hour and a half is enough. The museum is usually closed on Tuesdays, and entry may be free on the first Sunday of the month, so check before you go. The audio guide helps with the Bible stories even if you don't know them well.

The Chagall Museum pairs naturally with the Musée Matisse, higher up the same Cimiez hill; together they make half a day of art. A good order: Chagall first, then the bus up to Matisse and a stroll in the olive grove.

The museum is on one level and pushchair-friendly. Photos without flash are allowed. Children enjoy hunting for animals and angels in the paintings.

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How to do it right

• Closed Tuesdays.
• Windows glow in sunshine.
• Then on to Matisse.
• Rest in the garden.

Questions