The war Surrealists
Ernst, Masson and Breton, when they passed through Marseille's port.
Jules Pascin — Public domain · Clémentine Hélène Dufau — Public domain · reynaudsylvain — CC BY 4.0 · Musée Cantini, Marseille — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Cantini is Marseille's treasury of modern art: in an elegant seventeenth-century private mansion given to the city by the sculptor Jules Cantini, a strong collection of art between 1900 and 1960 — the period when Marseille was France's gateway to the world and a crossroads for artists fleeing through its port. It holds works by the Surrealists who passed through in the war — Ernst, Masson, Breton — and Picasso, Dufy, Bacon and Francis Picabia, a small, tastefully chosen collection in a lovely mansion. Free (like Marseille's municipal museums) and quiet, steps from the main Canebière.
Ernst, Masson and Breton, when they passed through Marseille's port.
The elegant seventeenth-century house itself a gem.
19 rue Grignan, 13006 Marseille
Marseille History MuseumMarseille is France's oldest city — Greek sailors founded it as Massalia twenty-8 minutes walk4.4
The Old Port (Vieux-Port)This narrow inlet is the reason Marseille exists at all. Greek sailors from **Ph8 minutes walk4.7
Museum of Marseille Soap**Savon de Marseille** is the most famous thing this city has produced after bou9 minutes walk4.5
Place CastellaneA large circular square south of central Marseille where several main avenues me10 minutes walk3.9No — the MuCEM (Museum of Mediterranean Civilisations) on the port is Marseille's first cultural landmark, for its architecture and site. The Cantini is an elegant addition for modern-art lovers, free and central — but the MuCEM comes first for every visitor.