Amandine Guruceaga explores fire as destructive and regenerative through burned textiles, oxidized metals, and seed-like sculptures in dialogue with the Jardin des Méditerranées.

Amandine Guruceaga’s practice combines vital energy with ecological sensitivity: recycled materials, surgical interventions on matter, painterly gestures, and ancestral techniques coexist to create a universe where attention to the Earth and to living beings lies at the heart of the work.

The Var region takes centre stage in this group exhibition, which explores the influence of this territory on artistic creation from the late 19th century to the present day. Its landscapes, light and colours have profoundly shaped the history of modern art, inspiring major figures such as Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce, Henri Manguin, Louis Valtat, Charles Camoin and Théo Van Rysselberghe.

Through a dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation, the exhibition also brings together works by Bernard Buffet, Patrice Giorda, Bertrand de Miollis, Pascale Hemery, Serge Plagnol, Olivier Lavorel, Solange Triger, Marie Astoin, Jean-Pierre Maltèse and Caroline Vicquenault.

A major retrospective is dedicated to Bruno Barbey, highlighting his work during the second half of the 20th century with more than 200 prints.

Bruno Barbey holds a major place in the history of humanist photography and international photojournalism. A member of Magnum Photos since 1966, he travelled the world for more than fifty years, documenting the political, social, and cultural upheavals of his time. Very early on, he embraced colour as a language in its own right, subtly revealing the atmospheres, tensions, and poetry of reality.

A tribute to the vitality of the 1960s and 1970s, the exhibition unfolds a sun-drenched imaginary shaped by desire, the sea, and freedom, where leading figures of Pop Art — Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Evelyne Axell and Martial Raysse — dialogue with contemporary artists such as Théo Mercier, Judy Chicago, Tracey Emin, and Tschabalala Self. Between celebration and critical reflection, nearly 80 works explore the legacy of a pop spirit as vibrant as ever.

/ This exhibition highlights the relationship that may have existed between colour and abstraction in the second half of the 20th century. Colour struggled to make its mark in post-war abstract art, which was largely resistant to the use of bright hues.

Some artists still managed to impose their colourful vision, through geometric expression, such as Jean Dewasne, or through lyrical power, such as Georges Mathieu, Gérard Schneider, Serge Poliakoff, Hans Hartung and, today, Fabienne Verdier; or even through colour itself as the central element of the work, such as Simon Hantaï. Across the Atlantic, artists claimed the legacy of Matisse and made colour the key component of their abstract work whilst reinventing painting. Among them were Shirley Jaffe, Sam Francis, Kimber Smith, James Bishop. A feeling, even a language emerged – one that could be described as ‘colour abstraction’

The exhibition retraces the journey of a free-spirited painter moving through a 19th century in full transformation. From foundational landscapes to springs and rivers, from the animal world to seascapes, and from portraits to biting caricatures, it reveals the full breadth of Courbet’s universe. It highlights an artist who bestowed dignity and monumentality upon workers, peasants and craftsmen. His involvement in the Paris Commune, the Vendôme Column affair and his subsequent exile in Switzerland underscore his political dimension. Through his direct, modern gaze on reality, Courbet overturned academic conventions and paved the way for artistic modernity.

In partnership with the Institut Gustave Courbet, Ornans.