The castle

Built around 1300 by Rainier Grimaldi, Seigneur de Cagnes, this fortified castle withstood sieges and assaults before being transformed around 1620 by Baron Jean-Henri Grimaldi into a seigneurial residence combining the charm and wealth of a palace. Acquired by the town in 1937, it became a municipal museum in 1946 and was classified as a historical monument in 1948. Today, it is a marvellous showcase housing the Musée de l’Olivier, the Solidor Donation and exceptional Baroque painted ceilings.

The Grimaldis and the construction of the castle

Thanks to the consulship of several of its members, the Grimaldis are one of the largest Genoese families of the 21st century. Following numerous conflicts, the Grimaldis were forced into exile in Provence under the protection of the Count in 1270. It was during this period of exile, on January 8, 1297, that Federico Grimaldi, nicknamed “Malizia”, stormed the Genoese-controlled Rock of Monaco. In 1309, Rainier^1st received the seigneury of Cagnes from the Comte de Provence, where he had a fortress built. The medieval fort built around it initially had a military vocation: it provided a watchtower for the defense of the seigneury of Cagnes. Owned by the Grimaldi family, the château’s first lord was Admiral Rainier Grimaldi. Four centuries later, around 1625, the medieval fortress was transformed at the request of Jean-Henri Grimaldi, a distant descendant of Admiral Grimaldi, into a comfortable and richly decorated palatial residence.

The 19th century

The French Revolution drove the Grimaldis out of Cagnes, leaving the château abandoned. Many owners succeeded one another throughout the 19th century, all lacking the means to restore it. It wasn’t until 1873 that its renaissance began. The new lords, Dr. Gerecke and his wife Marie Podlineff, undertook major works that saved the building from ruin. They maintained it until 1919, notably by rebuilding the staircase and tower. Their heir, Madame Podlineff’s niece, Madame Marchovitch, was unable to continue the work due to lack of funds. The château was bought by the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1937 and opened as a museum in 1946.

The Ethnographic Olive Museum

The château’s first curator, Denis-Jean-Clergue (1906-1981) set about preserving the memory of an activity that was beginning to disappear. He therefore collected all the regional objects linked to olive and oil production, and documented the manufacturing techniques through photographic campaigns and interviews with the men and women of the olive-growing world.

Five rooms on the first floor of the château present the results of this painstaking work. Rare or common, rustic or sophisticated objects are exhibited and explained by educational panels based on the testimonies gathered. The centerpiece of the collection is the reconstitution of a “blood mill” thanks to various private donations, including that of archaeologist Léonard André-Bonnet (1879-1964). The collection, which focused on agricultural activity, later diversified to include arts and crafts made from olive wood.

The Suzy Solidor collection

The château boasts a rare and surprising collection of some forty portraits, donated in 1973 by the singer Suzy Solidor. She wanted her portraits to be on permanent display at the Château-Musée Grimaldi, in the Marquise’s boudoir, a small room in the building that she particularly liked. Since then, the works have been hung in the 19th-century style she requested, touching one another in no apparent order. This donation came a few years after the singer had settled in Cagnes, where she opened a cabaret and an antique store in the early 1960s.

The contemporary era

The U.M.A.M. association (Union Méditerranéenne pour l’Art Moderne) was founded in 1946, based on a project by Jean Cassarini, an artist from Nice and friend of the painter Henri Matisse. Its statutes, drawn up in agreement with Bernard Dorival, curator of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, were approved by Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, the Association’s Honorary Presidents. The founding fathers created the association with the aim of offering the emerging contemporary art scene greater visibility, in the absence of a museum of modern art in the region at that time.

In 1953, the U.M.A.M. was asked by the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Louis Negro, in agreement with the curator Denis-Jean Clergue, to set up a Museum of Modern Mediterranean Art at the château, which already had a Matisse room, a Chagall room and planned Dufy and Bonnard rooms. Collectors and artists, following Matisse’s example, made loans and donations to the U.M.A.M.

This historic site also hosts temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, attracting some 30,000 visitors every year.