Four Seasons Resort Provence Launches MP3 Tour Showcasing Extensive Art Collection

  • June 15, 2011
Four Seasons Resort Provence Launches MP3 Tour Showcasing Extensive Art Collection
Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche is launching an audio art tour to help guests explore and enjoy the Resort's extensive private art collection. Visitors can pick up an MP3 player from the Concierge desk and enjoy the tour in English or French. A German version will be coming soon.

The English tour has been recorded by art historian Roger Bevan, who is the Director of the London-based Exhibition Circle and senior contemporary art market correspondent to The Art Newspaper. The French tour has been recorded by journalist and TV presenter Laurence Ostolaza.

Artists have been inspired by the landscape and light of Provence for centuries, from Van Gogh's days in St. Rémy and Arles to Cézanne's studio in Aix en Provence. Such a rich artistic heritage is the inspiration behind the extensive collection of contemporary art at Four Seasons Resort Provence.

The owner's original vision was to display French artists whose work reflects the character and ambiance of Provence. This complements the Resort's aesthetic and creates a permanent collection of important works of contemporary art to which guests and visitors have exclusive access. Working closely with architect Wolfgang Neumayer, Munich-based interior designer Memo von Sachsen Gessaphe designed the Resort interior. To bring together all aspects of the design, from furniture and fabric to artwork, Memo was then asked to curate a small collection of contemporary art.

Today the collection includes important works by Jean Dubuffet, Tony Cragg, André Masson, Antony Gormley, Lynn Chadwick and Arnulf Rainer, among many others. It is now considered an important point on the art map of Provence and has increasingly evolved into a very international showcase.

There are now more than eighty sculptures and thirty significant paintings on display in the public areas, with countless more in suites and rooms. The mix is certainly eclectic but with one common thread – the pieces all feel perfectly in keeping with the ambiance of the rolling Provence countryside in which the Resort is set. Cold, minimalist works have no place here.

A small number of the pieces in the public areas have been commissioned, while the rest have been handpicked, sourced and sometimes hard won. As well as the more established artists, Memo has consciously showcased less well-known local emerging artists. Walking through the public areas of the Resort is akin to having a private view in the home of a prolific collector.
For the past three years Memo has been at Four Seasons Resort Provence weekly to hang, place and receive the artworks. The process is far from over, with seemingly endless grounds that could be furnished with installations.

Hotel Profile: Four Seasons Resort at Terre Blanche