Musée Renoir (Les Collettes)

The Musée Renoir at Les Collettes is one of the most evocative artist's houses in France. Pierre-Auguste Renoir spent his final eleven years at this farmhouse on the hillside above Cagnes, and the house and garden survive remarkably intact: the large light-filled studio with his wheelchair still in place, his palette and paintbrushes, and the ancient olive grove he painted obsessively in his last years.

Several of Renoir's late works are displayed in the house, giving you the rare experience of seeing paintings in the exact light and landscape that inspired them. The garden, with its hundred-year-old olive trees and views down to the coast, is beautiful in its own right and worth lingering in. Open Wednesday to Monday; check current hours with the tourist office. Allow an hour to see the house and gardens properly.

things to do museum haut de cagnes
A story
Renoir came to Cagnes in 1908 suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis that had gnarled his hands almost beyond use. He had his brushes strapped to his wrists and continued to paint prolifically until the day before he died in 1919, producing some of his most luminous late works in the olive grove here.

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