The Musée international d'Art naïf Anatole Jakovsky (Eng.: Anatole Jakovsky International Museum of Naive Art) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, which displays 18-to-21st century works specialized in

naive art Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

. The museum was inaugurated on 5 March 1982.

History and description

The museum was housed in the Château Saint Hélène which was the former residence of perfumer

François Coty François Coty (born Joseph Marie François Spoturno in Corsica ; 3 May 1874 – 25 July 1934) was a French perfumer, businessman, newspaper publisher, politician and patron of the arts. He was the founder of the Coty perfume company, today a ...

, and is located in a large park. In 1930, his ex-wife Yvonne decide to order changes in the building by Nice architect H. Malgaud who removed the sets designed by Aaron Messiah. Her daughter Christiane Coty sold the castle to the city of Nice on 6 April 1973, and the building was eventually transformed into a museum, which opened in 1982. The works are composed of paintings, sculptures, drawings, posters by painters such as

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Séraphine Louis Séraphine Louis, known as Séraphine de Senlis (Séraphine of Senlis; 3 September 1864 – 11 December 1942), was a French painter in the naïve style. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith and by stained-glass church windows an ...

Grandma Moses Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. H ...

, O'Brady, Rimbert, Ivan and Josip Généralic, Bauchant, Vivin, Lackovic, Haddelsey, Ligabue, Vivancos, among others... The collection come from donations of Renée and

Anatole Jakovsky Anatole Jakovsky (13 August 1909 – 24 September 1983) was a French art critic who wrote substantially, collected widely, and established a museum in Nice for Naïve art, Musée international d'Art naïf Anatole Jakovsky. Atole Jakovsky was born ...

(to whom the museum owes its current name), and the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

. The giant statues in the garden were created by Frédéric Lanovsky. The museum has about 20,000 visitors per year, and 600 works from 27 countries.

References

{{France-art-display-stub Museums in Nice Musee International d'Art naif Anatole Jakovsky Art museums established in 1982 1982 establishments in France