Constantin Granet, Loubon, Gresy, Guigou, Cezanne, Picasso, Masson, Tal Coat, Plossu: never in his wildest dreams Bernard Plossu could not have thought of such a poster! And yet, it is real since this morning: it is the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence.
In 1989, on August 28, a fire destroyed the entire southern face of Sainte-Victoire and the upper part of the north face to the Priory and the Croix de Provence. The fire destroyed 5,000 hectares, or nearly 60% of the site. It is a shock, which is transformed into a real awareness at the origin of the creation of the Grand Site Sainte-Victoire whose mission is to prevent, maintain, equip and develop the massif.
The following summer, in 1990, the Musée Granet organized an exhibition benefiting from Cézanne masterpieces lent by the greatest museums of the world: the Musée d’Orsay, the Metropolitan, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Picasso Museum – Paris, The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, The Museum of Fine Art in San Francisco, The National Gallery in Washington, The Museum of Art in Cleveland, The National Gallery in Edinburgh, The Kunstmuseum Basel.
In 2019, 30 years after the fire, nature has definitely taken back its rights. In commemoration of this tragedy and to mark its repair, the Granet Museum wishes to evoke this emblematic site sublimated by the great artists from the 19th to the 21st century.
At the center of this evocation is Paul Cézanne with several of his views of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. Among these is the exceptional Sainte-Victoire from the former Gurlitt collection, now owned by the Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland, from which Aix obtained the exceptional deposit.
In addition to the works of the master of Aix and according to a chronological development, this event also gives to see how Constantin, Granet, Loubon, Grésy, Guigou, but also Picasso, Masson, Tal Coat and Plossu were inspired by this emblematic mountain and this extraordinary motif.
Commissioner: Bruno Ely, Chief Curator and Director of the Granet Museum
The photos of Bernard Plossu are an anthology of his works made according to his walks on the Sainte-Victoire.
Bernard Plossu – Sainte(s) -Victoire(s)
From May 18, 2019 to September 29, 2019
Granet Museum
St. John’s Square Malta
13100 Aix-en-Provence
