From September 6, 2014, to January 11, 2015, the Musée Regards de Provence presented the exhibition "Sacha Sosno and the Schools of Nice - A Special Dialogue."
The Musée Regards de Provence aims to trace the development of modern art in Nice and the surrounding region during the 1960s, through a collection of works and documents. A special tribute is paid to the sculptor, painter, and visual artist Sacha Sosno, born in Marseille in 1937, who was a witness to this artistic adventure and the formation of the Schools of Nice. This exhibition revives the special dialogue Sosno maintained with the key figures of the New Realists manifesto, who worked in Nice, as well as with more independent artists. Paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and installations by Arman, César, Christo, Hains, Klein, Raysse, Niki de Saint Phalle, Ben, Charvolen, Gilli, Farhi, Serge III, Dan, De Domenico, Villers, and other artists are showcased in the exhibition halls of the Musée Regards de Provence.
The 1960s marked the beginning of a new era in the history of art. It was a time of rapid acceleration in communication across time and space, a kind of forward rush in art. Just as New York and the East and West coasts of the United States, Paris and the French Riviera were influential in this same period. Another revolution was taking place, that of architecture and urban planning, where new materials and techniques imposed a new social space. Painting evolved in new directions, and sculptures returned to the streets and public squares.
What was being invented in Nice during these years was a form of freedom driven by a festive rage for expression. It wasn’t until the 1970s in Europe that contemporary art galleries and museums flourished and that the trend for exhibitions became widespread in societies everywhere. Many artists would not return to Paris, but instead, went to Nice. The city was seen as a place of welcome, a crossroads, offering a climate for creativity, a hub slowly built through a long process of gathering and confrontation among artists.
This exhibition has been made possible thanks to the support of the auction house Christie’s, a key patron of the Musée Regards de Provence, which helped facilitate a meeting with Mascha Sosno, Sacha Sosno’s wife, who generously lent a large number of Sosno’s works.