Self-guided art tour of Provence-advice needed

Can you narrow what you mean by focusing on art? We humans would like to prove we can do better, but we need your help. Walking streets to see Van Gogh’s inspirations, visiting galleries and museums, period of art, sculpture, painting, architecture? That’s a wide question geographically and historically.

Jerry, I agree that a sharper focus would help us, but I found a paragraph in a trip report I filed some years ago that might be useful to you:

I won't do a blow-by-blow description of our time in Aix, but we had a wonderful time. We visited the Gramet Museum – a real eye-opener. I learned a lot there about an artist and collector (Gramet) that I had never heard of. There is another related museum we also visited: Gramet XXe that focuses on 20th century art. And the best was the exhibit of pieces from the New York Guggenheim at the Hôtel de Caumont Centre d'Art. The Caumont was worth visiting even without the Guggenheim exhibit; highly recommended.

I suspect the Guggenheim exhibit ended several years ago, but we did love that museum. We were only in Aix for two days after our RSE Eastern France tour, so those three museums are the only ones we had time to visit. We did enjoy them, though, and wished we had had more time there.

Thank you. Focus on Impressionists because of the region. So if I had to choose to devote a day to a side trip, I would most likely choose a side trip to St.-Remy for Van Gogh than a side trip to Pont du Gard. Does that help? There are so many choices, I am hoping to benefit from some who may have already made such a trip, either on their own (as we are) or as part of an organized tour.

It’s important to note that there’s next to nothing from the famous impressionists actually in Provence. Arles probably plays their hand better than most here, there are placards up at specific spots where Van Gogh painted so you can see the entire setting. Still, it’s pretty thin soup.

As far as bases, having a car is a major factor. I would recommend it. If you have a car, you can base pretty much anywhere and comfortably get around Provence. Public transportation is decent, but connecting these small towns gets tricky and can often be better dealt with via a guided tour. St. Remy is a popular choice with a car. From Barcelona, I would look at Arles/St. Remy for a few days for a base in the east, include a few days in Aix, then finish with a couple in Nice.

There are very many art museums in that area. Some that aren't mentioned so often are:

Biot: Leger Museum
Cagnes-sur-Mer: Renoir Museum
Antibes: Picasso Museum
St-Paul-de-Vence: Fondation Maeght

Nice alone has at least six art museums (I'm probably forgetting some). I especially liked the Museum of Naive Art and the Asian Art Museum.

St-Remy has no rail service; it requires a bus trip from somewhere like Avignon or Arles. Not a bad thing, but this makes St-Remy not the best base for someone without a car.

If your focus is on art as opposed to cute little villages, I think you'll be fine without a car. Nice makes a very convenient base for the eastern part of the Riviera, but the train line along the coast makes scooting from town to town pretty easy. I wanted to see a lot of art museums there, as well as do some other things, so it wouldn't have made sense for me to stay elsewhere and take multiple day trips to Nice.

This webpage lists some places I wasn't aware of: https://www.iconicriviera.com/best-art-museums-french-riviera/

This one covers a much wider territory: https://perfectlyprovence.co/art-guide-where-to-see-art-in-provence/

Aix-en-Provence has Cezanne’s studio. You can see the the Mont-Sainte-Victoire that he painted 36 times. On the way from Aix to Cassis, you drive past a field and house that are familiar from his paintings. There’s a big sign pointing them out.

Unfortunately, Cezanne's studio in Aix is closed from April 1st until Spring 2025. I still plan on at least walking by it on my way up to the Field of Painters (Terrain des Peintres) to get great views of Mont-Sainte-Victoire that Bets mentioned.

From the Atelier de Cezanne website: From 1 April 2024, the atelier de Cezanne will be closed for renovation until spring 2025. The studio will be getting a facelift to welcome you back in 2025 during a major Cezanne year.

Thank you to all for your helpful tips. I have decided to keep it simple and base in Arles and Nice and take day trips out from those by train or bus. Appreciate your links and suggestions
~Jerry

I think your decision is fine. I did such a trip about 10 years ago using the book Artists and Their Museums on the Riviera by Barbara Freed. I loved it all, but a highlight for me was La Chapelle Matisse in Vence - well, along with VanGogh in Saint Remy.

Thank you, Janet, for the book reference. I will try to track it down.
By the way to everyone, I took all your recommended museums and asked ChatGPT to work them in so I now have 12 days in Provence that combines the best of Rick Steves travelers and AI !