The major 2025 summer exhibitions on the Côte d’Azur

<1- Destination Monaco and surrounding area

Destination Monaco from 8 July until 31 August 2025, the Grimaldi Forum Monaco opens its doors to you for an exceptional exhibition: “COULEURS! Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou“. Discover colour in all its forms through a selection of works from the Centre Pompidou’s collections. From Kandinsky to Delaunay, from Klein to Richter, a veritable artistic rainbow unfolds before your eyes. A sensory and visual journey that will invite you to rethink the perception of colour in modern art.

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Experience a space-time immersion from 26 May until 24 December 2025, as the Musée Océanographique de Monaco hosts an exhibition as striking as it is necessary: “Méditerranée 2050” a space-time immersion plunging you into the heart of the possible futures of the Mediterranean today under threat. Each room is an invitation to engage in thought-provoking reflection, but also to enjoy a sensitive experience, where the beauty of the works is in dialogue with the rigour of the data and the poetry of the imaginary. Here, art and science are not in opposition, but unite to better convey an essential message: that of responsibility, of action, and of the possibility of reinventing our relationship with the sea.

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Just a few minutes away, head for the Villa Paloma, which celebrates the free and avant-garde spirit of Gabrielle Chanel with the exhibition “Les Années folles de Coco Chanel“, to be discovered throughout the summer of 2025. More than two hundred works retrace the creative richness of the 1920s on the Côte d’Azur: textile creations, paintings, photographs and installations come together in a daring display. The dialogue between Chanel’s models and the works of Picasso, Sonia Delaunay, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray sketches the portrait of an effervescent era, when fashion and art became one.

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Plunge into the unique atmosphere of the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer for an exceptional artistic exploration with the exhibition “L’Or du Temps“. From 18 May to 21 September 2025, this mansion inspired by ancient Greece becomes the setting for a meeting between heritage and contemporary creation.

The visual artist Gabriel Léger unveils a series of never-before-seen works, specially designed to dialogue with the architecture and soul of the place. Wood, light, water, fire: so many natural elements that the artist sublimates to question the passage of time and highlight what remains, what touches us, what resists.

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2- Heading to Nice in search of iconic images

It’s in Nice that the Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre presents from 5 April to 28 September the exhibition “MERS ET MYSTÈRES” by Laurent Ballesta. Through striking photographs, the artist plunges us into the depths of the oceans, revealing never-before-seen underwater landscapes and fascinating marine behaviours. From Adélie Land to the Mediterranean, via the Pacific, each photograph is an invitation to explore a mysterious and fragile world. This exhibition, presented as part of the Year of the Sea in Nice, highlights the importance of preserving marine ecosystems.

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From 30 April to 26 September 2025, the Musée d’Archéologie de Nice invites you to a fascinating exploration with the exhibition “When the Sea Speaks to Us“. As part of the United Nations Conference on the Ocean, this exhibition offers a unique journey to the heart of the Mediterranean’s depths, discovering sunken remains and forgotten stories. In partnership with the DRASSM and supported by UNESCO, it highlights the archaeological research being carried out under the sea, the technologies being used to explore these invisible worlds and the issues involved in preserving them. This exhibition is an invitation to listen to the sea in a different way, and to discover the mysteries and wonders hidden beneath the surface of our oceans.

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On the occasion of the Biennale des Arts de Nice 2025, the city is honouring the sea and the ocean, echoing the major United Nations Conference on the Ocean, which will also be held in Nice the same year. The Biennale des Arts et de l’Océan – Année de la Mer, brings together an ambitious programme with eleven exhibitions spread across seven of the city’s museums.

This new edition also unfolds outside the walls with a trail of works in the public space, transforming Nice into a veritable open-air gallery where art dialogues with the city, its inhabitants and its landscapes.

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In the heart of Nice, the Musée Matisse unveils from 7 May to 8 September a fascinating exhibition entitled “MATISSE MÉDITERRANÉE(S)“. Henri Matisse never ceased to be inspired by the light, colours and cultures of the Mediterranean, which became an essential inspiration for him.

Through a variety of works 5 paintings, drawings, objects rarely presented in France, the exhibition highlights this intimate link between the artist and this territory that is at once real, dreamt of and symbolic.

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From 8 May to 24 August 2025, the Villa Arson, presents the exhibition Becoming Ocean – a social conversation about the Ocean. As part of the Nice Biennial of Arts and the Ocean, this group exhibition brings together more than twenty international artists around a single horizon, that of the ocean.

Becoming Ocean opens up a collective and artistic dialogue on the major contemporary oceanic issues, from the ecological crisis to geopolitical mutations, via forgotten narratives, indigenous perspectives and the myths that still populate the marine depths.

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<3- Beautiful works to discover between Nice and Cannes

At Saint-Paul-de-Vence the next stop awaits you for an unmissable rendezvous. The Fondation CAB welcomes you to an exhibition entitled “Partenaires particulaires” the exhibition brings together from 14 March to 2 November 2025 numerous artists to bring together the legacies of the Supports/Surfaces movement with the freest and boldest contemporary practices. Partenaires particulaires is an invitation to rethink the act of creating through openness, transformation and diversion, crossing forms, histories, geographies and voices in an organic, inhabited exhibition.

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From 5 April to 10 November 2025 takes place the exhibition “Karina Bisch. La tête dans le décor” in Biot at the Musée National Fernand Léger. A perfect opportunity to rediscover the singular world of the contemporary artist alongside works by Fernand Léger, in an immersive journey where the decorative becomes language and a reflection on space and time.

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<4- Art in all its forms in and around Cannes

Arriving in Cannes is bound to delight lovers of the 7th art. The 10ᵉ Musée éphémère du cinéma dedicated to the career and creative process of James Cameron allows you to climb the steps of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrèsfrom 10 July to 24 August 2025. The exhibition highlights his perpetual quest for technical and artistic perfection through interactive multimedia installations that plunge visitors into the heart of his world.

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A stone’s throw away, La Malmaison hosts Poussière d’étoiles, an exhibition by Jean-Michel Othoniel, on view from 17 May 2025 to 4 January 2026. Inspired by nature, the artist unveils a series of glass sculptures with mesmerising plays of light. A poetic journey between mathematical precision and contemplative delicacy, to be discovered on the famous Croisette.

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Set sail for Sainte-Marguerite Island, from 13 May to 31 August 2025, to discover “Marcel Pagnol and the Secret of the Iron Mask” at the Musée du Masque de fer et du Fort Royal. To mark the 130th anniversary of the writer’s birth, the exhibition unveils letters, archives and personal objects tracing his investigation into the famous prisoner. A fascinating immersion between history and mystery, in a place emblematic of the legend.

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Then head to Mougins where, from 5 April to 28 September 2025, the entire village is transformed into an open-air gallery with the exhibition “Mougins Monumental 2025” by Emmanuel Michel. Around fifteen sculptures, some of them over two metres tall, take over the alleyways in a free, open-air tour. The artist celebrates humanity in all its diversity, delivering powerful works inspired by his encounters in the four corners of the world.

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Another not-to-be-missed date in Mougins: the Centre d’Art opens its doors from 17 May to 28 September 2025 for the exhibition “Les rêveries de l’enfant Totem” by Fabien Verschaere. The artist invites us to discover an imaginary world filled with strange creatures: clowns, monsters, fairies, mermaids and characters from fairy tales, cartoons and even our everyday lives. With a style reminiscent of childhood, but also dealing with serious subjects such as illness, madness and death, Fabien Verschaere mixes dream and reality. It’s a funny, mysterious exhibition that plunges us into a unique universe.

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At the Cannet, a few kilometres away, from 22 March to 8 June 2025, the exhibition “Bonnard, la nature comme étendard” explores the intimate link between Pierre Bonnard and the natural world, as part of the “100 œuvres qui racontent le climat” initiative supported by the Musée d’Orsay. In the spotlight: La Symphonie Pastorale, an exceptional work on loan for the occasion.

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5- AN ARTISTIC SUMMER IN GRASSE AND MOUANS-SARTOUX

Take a trip to Grasse for an artistic journey to the heart of Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s birthplace. This year, the Musée International de la Parfumerie is devoting an exceptional Les Traits du Génie, organised with the Graphic Arts department of the Musée du Louvre.

From 27 June to 26 October, come and discover more than sixty rare drawings by the artist, never before exhibited in Grasse. Self-portraits, travel sketches or character studies: these works reveal all the richness of Fragonard’s eye and talent. The exhibition also explores his profound links with the world of perfumery through a fine selection of antique porcelain bottles.

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At the same time, from 3 to 5 July, Grasse will host the very first edition of Grasse Perfume Week, an event dreamt up by Nez, the olfactory cultural movement. A first-of-its-kind gathering dedicated to the world of perfume, this event for the general public celebrates the unique know-how of the Pays de Grasse, listed as an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. Exhibitions, lectures, workshops, concerts and screenings will enliven the town’s iconic venues.

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At Mouans-Sartoux, the Espace de l’Art Concret is hosting the exhibition “Mustapha Azeroual – SILLAGE” from 8 March to 31 August. In it, the artist explores light as matter, combining experimental photography and sensory perception. A poetic immersion at the crossroads of art and science, in a setting dedicated to contemporary creation.

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6- Head to Hyères and Porquerolles for an artistic journey

On the island of Porquerolles, the Fondation Carmignac presents from 26 April to 2 November 2025 the exhibition “Vertigo” at the Villa Carmignac. Curated by Matthieu Poirier, this immersive exhibition explores the links between natural phenomena and abstraction since the 1950s. Echoing the Mediterranean light, the mistral and the immensity of the island, Vertigo brings together iconic works by Botticelli, Warhol and Lichtenstein, loans from major institutions such as the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and the Tate, and new creations produced for the occasion. A sensory experience between sky, sea and art.

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In Hyères, from February 8 to June 8, 2025, head for the former Banque de France transformed into Musée des Cultures et du Paysage for a colourful plunge into the world of Andy Warhol. The exhibition Andy Warhol: Pop and Avant-Garde Universe Nearly sixty works straight from the Andy Warhol Museum in Slovakia, the artist’s country of origin, offer a rare immersion in the pop aesthetic of this giant of the XXᵉ century to which may be added exceptional loans from the Fondation Carmignac as well as private collections.