As people are escaping the blistering city summer heat, many are flocking to the South of France in search of quieter summers filled with vineyard visits and occasional art exhibit. Institutions scattered from Arles to Nice are opening up their doors for summer exhibits focused on sustainability, materiality, and spirituality. Venet Foundation’s “Le Plein,” Fondation Maeght’s “Barbara Hepworth Art and Life”, and Musée Matisse’s “Matisse Méditerranée(s)” honors the work of the iconic Arman, Hepworth, and Matisse. These shows present the artist journeys- how their work matures with time and the evolution of the themes they explored.
Les Rencontres d’Arles is exhibiting over forty shows in over thirty venues throughout the city allowing viewers to randomly pop in. Meanwhile, Commanderie de Peyrassol and Château La Coste is showcasing the visual arts, sculptures, and culinary art, such as wine. All together, the beauty of the South of France is highlighted in the several outdoor sculpture parks while many indoor exhibition spaces were originally old Roman buildings or former hamlets. The artwork and locations work together to highlight one another. From photographs to sculptures to paintings, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Jonathas de Andrade: L’art de ne pas être vorace
Commanderie de Peyrassol
Aix-en-Provence
Courtesy of Commanderie de Peyrassol.
At the Commanderie de Peyrassol inaugurated their new temporary exhibition space with Jonathas de Andrade’s “L’art de ne pas être vorace”. This hamlet was revived by Philippe Austruy who is sharing his passion for wine and art with the world. Both Austruy and de Andrade hail from Brazil and have a deep respect for the earth which is seen in the show’s climate and ecological themes.
This exhibition shows de Andrade’s approach not just to nature but to the emotions that affect his practice. The artist remarks that “I like how the title encourages us to recognize how our urge to devour can push us to an edge of delirium and madness”. As part of the Brazil-France 2025 Season de Andrade’s take on climate and ecology shows the various ways we are experiencing these changing opening up conservations about our different perspectives.
What we Love: Instead of a quick day visit, you can enjoy a night onsite at La Rouvière, take a bike tours around the vineyard, have a Michelin starred meal at Chez Jeannette, and explore the sculpture garden. This can be made into an experience where the agricultural, culinary, and visuals arts combine.
L’art de ne pas être vorace
April 1 – November 2, 2025
Barbara Hepworth: Art and Life
Fondation Maeght
Saint Paul de Vence
Courtesy of Fondation Maeght.
Fondation Maeght is hosting a retrospective of British artist Barbara Hepworth’s work this summer. The exhibition starts with Hepworth’s Yorkshire childhood showcasing her love for art at an early age. Those childhood studies, sculptures, and paintings are displayed alongside her later modernist carvings, iconic strung sculptures, and large scale commissions.
Hepworth may be known for her sculptures but she turned to drawing when materials were scarce in the 1940s. She notes that “my sculptures born in the disguise of two dimensions” and these sculpture-drawing pairings show her ability to pivot. Hepworth was inspired by dance, politics, science, and spirituality all of which is infused in her artwork. Curated by Eleanor Clayton, she notes that “Deeply spiritual and passionately engaged with political, social and technological debates in the 20th century, Hepworth was obsessed with how the physical encounter with sculpture could impact the viewer and alter their perception of the world.”
“Hepworth was obsessed with how the physical encounter with sculpture could impact the viewer and alter their perception of the world,”
—Eleanor Clayton
What we Love: One of Hepworth’s pieces, Carving (1932), is on display. It is rarely publicly displayed and is on a special loan from a private collection making it the only time most visitors will see it.
Barbara Hepworth Art and Life
June 28 – November 2, 2025
Claudia Comte
Domaine du Muy
Var
Claudia Comte, courtesy of Domaine du Muy.
This summer the Domaine du Muy welcomes contemporary Swiss artist Claudia Comte for the season. Comte’s work is multidisciplinary, she combines sculpture, murals, installations, and architecture to show the connection between nature, technology, and craftsmanship. The sculpture park is a perfect place to see the influence she receives from nature.
Comte does not limit herself to just the park, her work can also be found at the Silverhouse exhibition space showing her ability to pivot from small to large scale artworks. Inside, we are greeted with Comte’s marble cactus series. She uses wood cutting, 3D modeling, and robotic carving in Carrara marble to contrast the permanence of marble with technological adaptations.
What we Love: For the show, Comte specifically created Whoever Has Learned with MAZE. This is a self sustaining wall is the tenth in a series. Viewers find its white and black wall makes a stark contrast against the fauna and flora around it.
Claudia Comte
June 5 – October 5, 2025
Matisse Méditerranée(s)
Musée Matisse
Nice
Courtesy of Matisse Méditerranée.
Musée Matisse presents “Matisse Méditerranée(s)” which is part of the 2025 Nice Art and Ocean Biennale curated by Jean-Jacques Aillagon and Hélène Guenin. The museum is in a 17th century villa atop Cimiez hill and in close proximity to the artist’s former studio.
This exhibit is not a love letter to Nice but to the Mediterranean. Henri Matisse, originally from Picardy, learned to love Nice as it grew into a popular vacation destination. His artworks show the area’s transition from peaceful scenes of fauna and waves to people on beaches and at festivals. Matisse captures how he views the sea and the way it adapts to the people around. Looking at his work, we feel nostalgia for the simpler summer days.
What we Love: Cimiez is part of a former Roman city, the juxtaposition of abstract art and Roman streets reminds us that art is going through a continuous journey and it is the job of an artist to challenge our notions of art.
Matisse Méditerranée(s)
May 7 – September 8, 2025
Ralph Pucci: Pure
Château La Coste
Provence
Ralph Pucci, courtesy of Chateau Lacoste.
In Provence, luxury lighting and furniture house Ralph Pucci is celebrating their 70th anniversary at Château La Coste and 50 years of leadership under Pucci. The brand transported their New York studio full of models, plasterglass, and artists into Oscar Niemeyer’s pavilion.
“Pure” highlights plasterglass, a nod to Pucci’s mannequin industry roots. According to him the artwork on display “may be more classical, while others more modern” for the possibilities are endless for the possibilites with this material are endless. Works by Patrick Naggar, Eric Schmitt, John Kona, Paul Mathieu, Elizabeth Garouste, and other artists are on display. Each work exhibits fine craftsmanship there are some imperfections but that is the beauty of the material, its unpredictable.
What we Love: A curated jazz playlist plays in the background and the occasional live sculpting session transports us from a quiet vineyard to a bustling New York studio where the newest collection is being designed. For a moment, everyone feels like an artist.
Pure at Château La Coste
June 23 – September 21, 2025
Arles 2025 Disobedient Images
Les Rencontres d’Arles
Arles
Courtesy of Les Rencontres d’Arles.
Each summer, Arles turns into an image capital showcasing leading international photographers and emerging artists. This exhibit is known to change artists’ lives by presenting them at an international level. Exhibitions are spread across thirty historical sites turning the city into an art scavenger hunt.
One of the exhibits is “On Country: Photography from Australia” which explores the spiritual relationship between Aboriginal people and land which transcends colonial history and modernity. Photography is tool that records in the midst of political and climate disturbances that threaten the community.
The Brazil-France 2025 Season welcomes several exhibits such as “Ancestral Futures” which explores the legacy and struggle of Afro-Brazilian, indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Meanwhile “Retratistas do Morro” explores life in one of Brazil’s oldest Favelas. These exhibits reflect the reality of living in Brazil and challenge its Carnival image.
What we Love: The festival explores a wide array of themes from personal identity geometry. It is up to individuals to choose how they wish to be challenged.
Arles 2025 Disobedient Images
July 7 – October 9, 2025
Arman: Le Plein
Venet Foundation
Provence
Le Plein d’Arman à la Venet Foundation © Jerome Cavaliere / Courtesy Venet.
The Venet Foundation reopens their sculpture park for the season with “Le Plein” an exhibit honoring the work of photograph Arman who passed 20 years ago. Arman was a great friend and supporter of Bernar Venet when they met in Nice.
Venet is recreating the 1960 “Le Plein” exhibition that took place in the Galerie Iris Clert. Several years later in that gallery, Arman filled the space with an assortment of objects. Inspired by this Venet took a picture in New York that resembled this work. Arman inspired him to recreate it if the opportunity presented itself. After 25 years “The Red Dumpster” came to fruition which shows that some needs time to develop.
What we Love: The foundation has night time visits on Thursday allowing visitors to catch the sunset and see the sculptures in a different light.
Le Plein at Venet Foundation
May 22 – Speptember 30, 2025
