Chagall. The Vence years. A Mediterranean renaissance

In 2025, the Musée national Marc Chagall formes a partnership with the Musée de Vence - Fondation Emile Hugues to honor the artist by exhibiting his works from the Vence period, produced between 1949 and 1966, the period during which the artist lived in Vence. This project renews the collaboration between these two institutions, which organized the exhibition Les Années méditerranéennes (1994) in two parts, the secular work in Vence and the religious work in Nice.

Chagall's move to the South had a decisive influence on his painting. The light, the vegetation and the rhythm of life all contributed to giving him a freer, more sensual style, in which the magic of color was increasingly present. The Vence period was conducive to technical experimentation: ceramics, sculpture, stained glass, mosaics, tapestry... At this point, the artist multiplied exhibitions and commissions. On the one hand, big projects around the themes of circus, music and dance saw the light of day, notably in commissions for public institutions. On the other hand, Chagall continues his work on the Bible initiated in 1930 with Ambroise Vollard's commission for the illustrated book Bible. Chagall completes this illustration work with lithographs published in the magazine Verve.

In the early 1950s, Chagall works on a project for monumental works destined for the Chapelle du Calvaire in Vence. After the project was abandoned, the Message Biblique cycle (1956-1966) became the subject of the first national museum dedicated to a living artist, inaugurated in 1973 in Nice. His work on the Bible continued with numerous commissions for stained glass windows and mosaics, such as the one presented in Vence Cathedral, inaugurated in 1979.

The exhibition brings together paintings, drawings and original lithographs, sculptures and ceramics from an exceptional loan from the Musée national Marc Chagall in Nice, complemented by works from the Musée national d'Art Moderne in Paris and private collections. This exhibition is organized by the musées nationaux du XX^e siècle des Alpes-Maritimes in partnership with the town of Vence.

Curatorship :
Anne Dopffer, head of the musées nationaux du XX^e siècle des Alpes-Maritimes
Grégory Couderc, scientific manager, Musée national Marc Chagall

Exhibition venue
Musée de Vence - fondation Emile Hugues
2, place du Frêne - 06140 Vence

Marc Chagall, Paravent, 1963. Four lithographs in twelve colors mounted on panels, Gérald Cramer editions. Copy 39/100, purchased in 2019 [MBMC 2019.3.1]. Photo: © RMN-GP / François Fernandez © ADAGP, Paris, 2025.