<p>In this new series dedicated to exceptional venues, find out why the spectacular mansion in the South of France has been inspiring artists since 1923</p>

Soizic Pineau

Villa Noailles: 100 years of freedom


<p>The sun beats down on the white, chiseled façade of the Villa Noailles. Resembling an ocean liner made up of angular planes, the villa – which also goes by the name Clos Saint-Bernard – stands out from the Var hillside in the South of France, offering a breathtaking view of the bay of Hyères. In 2023, it will celebrate its first centenary.</p>
<p>Charles de Noailles had a flash of intuition in 1923, when he commissioned the young Robert Mallet Stevens – a little-known architect who mostly created movie sets – to design a small house that would be ‘easy to live in.’ Villa Noailles became his second home, and was especially loved by his wife Marie-Laure (née Bischoffsheim), the daughter of some of the wealthiest collectors in France.</p>


<p>Plans were drawn up to build upon the remains of the Saint Bernard convent and from these one of the most important sites of art patronage in the 20th century was born. Many of the key artistic figures of the time were guests at the Villa Noailles, including the writers Jean Cocteau, Louis Aragon, and André Breton, as well as <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6737/Alberto-Giacometti" target="_blank">Alberto Giacometti</a> and <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7171/Man-Ray" target="_blank">Man Ray</a>. Positioned to capture the sun, the building borrows from Modernism its functionality and its appreciation of sport, hygiene, and technology, all the while assuming a certain Provençal hybridity, with its local tiles and plaster rendering.</p>
<p>‘With this commission, Charles learned how to be a patron, and Robert Mallet-Stevens learned how to be an artist,’ explains Magalie Guérin, Assistant Director of Villa Noailles. </p>
<p>This was the beginning of a new era for the couple, who followed young artists throughout the rest of their lives, daring to take risks such as the production of Luis Buñuel’s film, <em>L’Âge d’or</em> (1930) – a work that was censored upon its release and on through to the 1980s, but which is now recognized as one of the filmmaker’s masterpieces.</p>

<p>As Elea Le Gangneux, a curator and historian specializing in the history of the Noailles, puts it, ‘in the 20th century, there was nowhere comparable to the Villa Noailles, where artists could have such freedom – a freedom that still animates this place which has since become a laboratory for artistic research over the last century.’</p>
<p>In 1973, three years after the death of his wife, Charles de Noailles sold the building to the town of Hyères. The villa was closed to the public for a time, and then renovation work began in the late 1980s. In 2003, an art center opened its doors with a remodeled space to accommodate the public and to highlight the site’s history. The swimming pool, now covered by a glass floor, houses exhibitions, and workshops for local schools are held in the former squash court.</p>

<p>‘I find this place as marvelous now as on the day I first arrived, 35 years ago,’ confides Jean-Pierre Blanc, Director of the Villa Noailles. Over the years, Blanc has presided over the development of events such as the International Festival of Fashion, Photography, and Fashion Accessories – which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025 – and the Design Parades in Hyères and Toulon, which spotlight object design and interior design respectively. Many big names, such as Anthony Vaccarello and Viktor & Rolf have participated in these events. And while the Clos Saint-Bernard remains the principal site, the team now manages five locations spread across Hyères and the neighboring town of Toulon.</p>
<p>‘The place is inspiring – it is outside time, nestled on top of the hill. And there is a kind of synergy between the many artists who have spent time there,’ explains Emma Bruschi, this year’s guest artist whose practice incorporates agriculture, crafts, and textiles. And Villa Noailles grows with its artists. ‘Once there is a human connection, a nascent friendship, the collaboration continues on,’ says the painter Florent Groc, who was the guest artist in 2020, and is now contributing to the centenary in a group show around the revitalization of objects from the villa’s furnishings.</p>

<p>Others, like the designer Ronan Bouroullec, have worked with the site for over 20 years. ‘Architects and artists are continually engaging with the building’s interior. At times, you might not recognize certain rooms anymore,’ says Guérin. The villa’s boutique, fashioned by interior designer François Champsaur, with plaster alcoves and sconces in the shape of agave leaves, has taken other forms in the past, such as when Vincent Darré or Pierre Yovanovitch proposed their visions for the space.</p>
<p>Even if it is imposing and rectilinear, the Villa Noailles – now classified as a historical monument – is certainly not stuck in time. This is true both in terms of its architecture, with a façade that comes alive with the play of light and shadow over the course of a day, but also in its team’s approach, which draws on the history of the place while constantly reinvigorating it.&nbsp; ‘It is a heritage we feel is legitimate,’ concludes Guérin.</p>

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<p>Soizic Pineau is a freelance writer based in Marseille.</p>
<p>English translation: Jacob Bromberg.</p>
<p>All videos and photos by Baptiste de Ville d'Avray for Paris+ par Art Basel.</p>
<p>Published on May 17, 2023.</p>
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