Renoir museum Cagnes sur mer

Renoir museum Cagnes sur mer in the Cote d’Azur is a gem of a place to visit for art lovers and families on holiday alike.

Towards the end of his life Renoir built and lived in a beautiful old villa, named Collettes, set on a hillside looking towards the sea, set in large grounds with a gorgeous grove of handsome ancient olive trees, in Cagnes sur mer near Nice. 

Here he spent his last days where despite his great age and considerable physical handicap he continued to produce masterpieces, surrounded by family and friends.

What I really like about this place is that it was very much a home and in many ways it is a bit rough around the edges and I got the impression that’s the way Renoir would have liked it. The interior décor colours and the garden were obviously in his mind when painting a number of the pieces which you see on display in the museum and they were clearly colours he chose for the house as he liked them.

Don’t expect to see loads of Renoir’s paintings here, but what you do get is some of his paintings, hung in the context of his home and there they take on a whole new meaning. At least they did for me; you can make your own mind up. There is also his studio as it would have been and lots of interesting information regarding his life.

To see more photographs of the exterior of the villa and gardens, plus opening hours, see our facebook album for the Renoir museum

This is a museum which quite a few of our villa holiday clients have visited over the years along with their families, some with young children. It is a nice casual place where you can picnic in the garden under an olive tree and absorb the peace and warmth which Renoir loved at les Collettes.

Musee de Renoir, 19 chemin des Collettes, 06800 Cagnes sur mer. 04 93 20 61 07

When you rent a Cote d’Azur villa you can take some time to discover the many attractions which enticed the likes of Renoir to set up home in this beautiful area of France. You may like to rent a holiday house in Provence for your second week so that you can enjoy more of the art museums of the PACA region of France. It would be our please to offer you help and assistance with visiting museums along with selecting accommodation and a suitable town or village for your requirements. You can call us with the freephone number to speak to us directly or send an email with your questions, we respond nice and quickly.