Musée des beaux-arts de Nice

The magnificent palace of Prince Lev Viktorovich Kotchoubeï, which houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice (Museum of Fine Arts), is located on the Avenue Des Baumettes in Nice. It preserves real treasures that we can admire!

Both the French and the Russians are involved in the idea of creating this museum. Initially the idea was «expressed» by the Emperor Napoleon III during his visit to Nice (after the annexation of Nice to France under the 1860 agreement with Piedmont-Sardinia). With the help of this application, Napoleon III wanted to get the support of citizens who have become his new subjects. Only then, he could not find a decent location for the museum and its collections were first kept in the city library and archives, and then they were exposed in buildings, not very suitable for this purpose.

In 1878, the idea of Napoleon received an unexpected development after moving the prince Lev Viktorovich Kotchoubeï (1810-1890) (frenchified in Léon Kotchoubey) with his wife, Elizabeth Vassilievna Kotchoubey (Ielizaveta Vasilievna Kotchoubeï (1821-1897)) for residence in Nice. Having purchased some land, the princess began to build a palace, but she was tired of the slow pace of construction. In 1883, the American industrialist James Thompson bought an unfinished building. In 1925, the city of Nice bought the villa of his heirs.

The Palais des Arts (Palace of Arts), where the museum dedicated to the work of Jules Cheret was created, was installed there. Year after year - due to the donations of many collectors - the museum's collection has gradually increased. (Thus, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice (Museum of Fine Arts) has appeared in Nice).

The collection currently occupies two floors. Upon entering the palace, the visitors pass through the patio (which has formerly housed the winter garden), and may start to discover the primitive art exhibition of the Provencal artists of the sixteenth - eighteenth centuries.

There are works of painters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Agnolo Bronzino, Jean Honoré Fragonard and Abraham Bloemaert in this first series of rooms. Either one can still see the room, which is dedicated to the works of Carle Van Loo and his family – the whole dynasty of painters.

The monumental staircase allows the visitors to access the first floor, where they continue their "journey" in the world of beauty. Here, one can admire a unique collection of sculptures and academic paintings of the nineteenth century, of the impressionist and postimpressionists. (The painting on this floor presents works of Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet, Eugène Boudin, Edouard Vuillard and Alexandre Cabanel, and the sculpture is presented with works by Auguste Rodin, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and François Rude. The tourists also admire an elegant building of the Kotchoubeï Palace with magnificent ceremonial rooms, which itself looks like a beautiful museum exhibit.