Musée National Marc Chagall

The Chagall Museum holds the world's largest collection of work by Marc Chagall, displayed in a purpose-built museum designed with the artist's involvement and opened in 1973. The core of the collection is the Biblical Message series — 17 monumental canvases depicting scenes from Genesis and Exodus in Chagall's characteristic floating, dreamlike style, saturated with deep blue, crimson, and gold.

The museum also contains a mosaic, stained glass windows, lithographs, and gouaches. It sits north of the city centre, easily walkable from the train station and a pleasant stroll from the Cimiez neighbourhood. The garden is fragrant with Mediterranean plants and makes a good place to sit after the paintings. Admission fee applies; closed Tuesdays.

things to do museum
A story
Marc Chagall designed this museum himself — the only one he agreed to participate in during his lifetime. He chose the building's orientation so that the light from the garden would fall onto the paintings in a particular way. The 17 large canvases of the Biblical Message series took Chagall 13 years to complete and were painted specifically to hang here.