In a renovated villa dating back to 1962, the Niel museum enjoys a favoured natural setting on the Giens peninsula. Overlooking the port of Niel, the 300m2 exhibition space opens up to the light between the landscape outside and the interior landscapes of the works of art. Dedicated to painting from the second half of the 20th century, the Niel museum puts on a new exhibition with a different theme each season to reveal the particularly innovative currents that still influence contemporary creation today. It is clear that at the very beginning of the 50s, with Paris as the undeniable centre and art capital of the era, non-figurative painting radiated throughout Europe and unfolded into multiple experimental paths, each one standing in contrast to the other such as lyrical to geometric abstraction or the CoBrA movement to that of the Supports-Surfaces. The artists, impelled by unprecedented momentum, broke with the past and lay a claim to the power of re-creating the world. They explored new pictorial languages and wrote an extraordinary chapter in the history of art. Amongst the successive layers of instruction, influence and inspiration, one concept remained predominant: that of abandoning the subject in favour of signs, gestures, sensations and light. In the end, the multiple array of paths converged at the escaping of limitations and at living art in unfettered freedom.

Jean-Michel Atlan, Olivier Debré, Jean Degottex, Jean Dewasne, Maurice Estève, Hans Hartung, André Marfaing, Jean Messagier, Jean Miotte, Gérard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Raoul Ubac, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva are among the 80 artists that have been brought together by the Niel museum.

Musée du Niel © F. Joncour, 2023
Musée du Niel © F. Joncour, 2023
Musée du Niel © F. Joncour, 2023
Musée du Niel © F. Joncour, 2023

In a renovated villa dating back to 1962, the Niel museum enjoys a favoured natural setting on the Giens peninsula. Overlooking the port of Niel, the 300m2 exhibition space opens up to the light between the landscape outside and the interior landscapes of the works of art. Dedicated to painting from the second half of the 20th century, the Niel museum puts on a new exhibition with a different theme each season to reveal the particularly innovative currents that still influence contemporary creation today. It is clear that at the very beginning of the 50s, with Paris as the undeniable centre and art capital of the era, non-figurative painting radiated throughout Europe and unfolded into multiple experimental paths, each one standing in contrast to the other such as lyrical to geometric abstraction or the CoBrA movement to that of the Supports-Surfaces. The artists, impelled by unprecedented momentum, broke with the past and lay a claim to the power of re-creating the world. They explored new pictorial languages and wrote an extraordinary chapter in the history of art. Amongst the successive layers of instruction, influence and inspiration, one concept remained predominant: that of abandoning the subject in favour of signs, gestures, sensations and light. In the end, the multiple array of paths converged at the escaping of limitations and at living art in unfettered freedom.

Jean-Michel Atlan, Olivier Debré, Jean Degottex, Jean Dewasne, Maurice Estève, Hans Hartung, André Marfaing, Jean Messagier, Jean Miotte, Gérard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Raoul Ubac, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva are among the 80 artists that have been brought together by the Niel museum.

Programme

Alfred Mannessier, Chant du matin
Alfred Mannessier, Chant du matin
Claude Viallat, 1974
Claude Viallat, 1974
Daniel Dezeuze, Claie
Daniel Dezeuze, Claie
Jean Le Moal, L'été
Jean Le Moal, L'été

Deux avant-gardes : de la Nouvelle École de Paris à Supports/Surfaces

The museum has chosen to associate two French avant-garde movements of the 20th century.

In 1941, the exhibition entitled ‘Vingt jeunes peintres de tradition française’ shattered the silence in art following the shock, despair and the resignation of defeat and surrender to the Occupation. Among them, Jean Bazaine, Jean Bertholle, Maurice Estève, Charles Lapicque, Jean Le Moal and Alfred Manessier fired by a spirit of resistance, defined a new way of painting in favour of non-figurative art.

Thirty years later, a dozen painters, brought together by a profound desire to revolutionize the art of painting, launched the Supports/Surfaces movement. They challenged all academicism with their creative works of deconstruction and innovation, making a deep impression on the history of art. The exhibition will feature works by André-Pierre Arnal, Louis Cane, Marc Devade, Daniel Dezeuze, Noël Dolla, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Patrick Saytour, Claude Viallat.

Access

Musée du Niel
6 route du Port du Niel, Giens, 83400 Hyères
04 94 91 74 22
f.denis@museeduniel.com
www.museeduniel.com

Open from May to mid-October, daily (except Tuesdays), 11am to 7pm.

Access by car to the port of Niel is very limited during the high season. It is best to go there on foot or by bicycle from the center of the village of Giens. A free shuttle bus runs from the village parking lot to the port du Niel with a stop in the center of Giens.

Locate other art venues in the vicinity on the map.

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PLACES TO DISCOVER

• Le jardin botanique du Château Noir, 333, Chemin du Casteou Negre, La Madrague
• Les sentiers du littoral à partir du Port du Niel vers la Tour Fondue (4km) ou vers la plage des Darboussières (1,7km)
• Location de bateaux, de kayaks et de paddles sur le port du Niel : XL Yachting, La petite flottille
• Plongée sous-marine : La fée plongée

Un petit train gratuit débute son trajet depuis la plage de l’Almanarre jusqu’au village de Giens en bordant les plages de la Route du Sel (en service du 1er juillet au 31 août).

PLACES TO STAY/EAT

• Le Provençal, Le Domaine de la Mer, Le Lodge des Iles d’Or, le Lido Beach.

Et la restauration sur les terrasses du musée bien sûr !