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Musee de l'Annonciade Review

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Musée de l'Annonciade

Address: Quai de l'Épi/Pl. Georges Grammont, St-Tropez
Phone: 04-94-17-84-10

Annunciation Museum

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: St-Tropez

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Fodor's Review:

Just inland from the southwest corner of the Vieux Port stands the extraordinary Musée de l'Annonciade (Annunciation Museum), where the legacy of the artists who loved St-Tropez has been lovingly preserved. The Annunciation Museum, housed in a 16th-century chapel, traces the evolution of painting from neo-Impressionism to the Fauves—many of whom painted in and around St-Tropez. It was Paul Signac who "discovered" the seductive light of this fishing village, using fine sprays of confetti dots to explore the vacillations of light and color on its pale-ocher houses and rippling water. A rich man, he had been sailing the coast in his yacht (L'Olympia, named after Manet's infamous nude), when bad weather forced him to make port. Smitten, he built La Hune (on Rue Paul-Signac) and his house parties transplanted the best from Paris's St-Germain-des-Pres. Before long, fellow artists Bonnard, Matisse, Marquet, Dufy, Derain, Vlaminck, and Van Dongen fell in love with the town. Several of Signac's port views may be on display at any given time, buttressed by those of lesser-known followers. A handful of bold Fauvist paintings includes the moody L'Estaque by Braque, painted north of Marseilles. Although there are only 50 or so paintings and a handful of sculptures, few small museums achieve such a balance of theme and concentration of quality.

Cost: EUR 5.50
Open: June-Sept., Wed.-Mon. 10-1 and 3-10; Oct. and Dec.-May, Wed.-Mon. 10-noon and 2-6

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