Painting the French Riviera
- Special Exhibition
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery
About The Exhibition
Painting the French Riviera explores the rise and development of modern art on the Mediterranean coast of France from the 1870s to the 1960s. This international loan exhibition, co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, brings together more than 120 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper on loan from European and American museums and private collections. Such works explore how artists, including Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Yves Klein found endless inspiration in the brilliant light, blue skies, and luminous sea in the South of France. The Riviera came to symbolize an ideal of artistic and spiritual renewal, inspiring artists to develop bold new ways of representing their surroundings. This exhibition explores how artists translated the experience of the South of France into their work, and how the influence of the Mediterranean encouraged them to new heights of modernist experimentation. Spanning nearly 90 years, Painting the French Riviera traces the transformation of the Mediterranean coast into one of the defining landscapes of modern art.
This exhibition is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts, London. It is on view at the Royal Academy from October 3, 2026, through January 31, 2027.
Featured Art
Sponsors
Generous support is provided by Christie’s, Carl M. Jenks, the Gottlob Family in loving memory of Milford Gottlob, MD, Anne T. and Donald F. Palmer, Robin and Andrew Schachat, and the Simon Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. Additional support is provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and Richard G. and Mary Ann Stuhan.
All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, the Leigh H. Carter family, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Mary and Jim Conway, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Martha H. and Steven M. Hale, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Linda Harper, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Robert M. Kaye, Jane and Doug Kern, the late Mrs. Nancy M. Lavelle, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Mrs. Peta and the late Dr. Roland Moskowitz, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Mark and Paula Nylander, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Frank and Fran Porter, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.