As France’s first independent art foundation prepared for its 60th anniversary, there was an air of excitement in the village of Saint-Paul de Vence. What could possibly go wrong on a summer day in late June? Well, for starters, President Macron—who had given the exhibition “Amitiés, Bonnard–Matisse” his high patronage—would no longer be attending: he had a snap election to deal with. And the good weather, normally a certainty in the Côte d’Azur, had turned unseasonably cold and might even include rain! Could the Lenders Dinner for 400 carefully selected guests, which cleverly amplified the idea of amitiés, go ahead in the magnificent Miró Labyrinth or would it have to be moved hastily indoors? In the end, the sun shone, the new exhibition space was blessed, and the glamorous dinner went ahead. All was well.
The Fondation was created by the art dealer Aimé Maeght and his wife, Marguerite, in 1964. Heartbroken by the loss of their son Bernard, who was 11 when he died of leukemia, they threw themselves into the project with the help of artist friends Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, and the Giacometti brothers. A dialogue between these artists and the Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert produced a building that is essentially an artwork: the immaculate modernist structure crystallizes a cultural moment as well as the Maeght family’s heartfelt belief in art.
