Stunning Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Fondation CAB
Our last stop of the day was a marvelous dinner at fellow member Hubert Bonnet’s unmissable Fondation CAB in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
Housed in a renovated 1950s building designed by Charles Zana, the Fondation serves as a venue for showcasing its private collection of Minimalist and Conceptual art, alongside seasonal exhibitions. The Foundation also offers artist residencies in the winter, embodying its year-round dedication to serving the artistic needs of the region.
Particularly of interest was the Foundation’s Maison Prouvé, a 1944 prefabricated house by architect and designer Jean Prouvé. Hubert and his team converted the buidling into a bedroom furnished with pieces by Prouvé himself, preserving the integrity of its original design. Alongside the house, Zana crafted a bathroom inspired by Prouvé's aesthetic.
The summer, we saw two exhibitions on view at the Fondation. The first, Specific Subjects by Edith Dekyndt, blends new technologies, traditional knowledge, and contemporary issues. Dekyndt's work explores themes of matter decomposition and the interplay of brutality and fragility, inviting us to reconsider our understanding of space, memory, and temporality.
The second exhibition, by Muller Van Severen, the Belgian design duo known for their sculptural furniture, features a retrospective of their work over the past 12 years using close-up photography and the display of prototypes, drawings, and materials. Muller Van Severen's furniture blends art and design, using materials like leather, brass, and marble to create colorful, sculptural objects that interact with their environment.
That evening, Hubert hosted us for a marvellous dinner on the Fondation’s terrace.
Fondation Maeght
The next morning, we met with the director of the nearby Fondation Maeght, Nicolas Gitton, for a private tour of their exhibition "Bonnard-Matisse, a friendship.” A thoughtful exploration of the relationship between two of the 20th century’s most celebrated painters, the show goes beyond a simple comparison of styles; it traces the complex friendship between Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, as well as their connection to the Foundation's founders, Marguerite and Aimé Maeght.
Organized thematically, the exhibition juxtaposes rare works and documents to reveal how both artists approached similar subjects—like self-portraits and the play of light—through their unique perspectives.
From there, we explored the breathtaking hilltop village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, ate our lunch at the historic Colombe d’Or, and continued on our journey.