To Monet, it was like “swimming in blue air.” To Braque, a “joyful revelation.” Derain compared its cerulean hues to “sticks of dynamite….primed to discharge light.”

The radiance of the French Riviera left an indelible mark on artists. It roused the imaginations not only of the 19th and 20th centuries’ greatest painters – among them Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Klein – but giants of literature, cinema and fashion, whose works helped define the carefree glamour and eternal romance of the Côte d’Azur.

From the 1870s, the azure seas and sapphire skies of the French Riviera beckoned artists, writers, intellectuals and aristocrats searching for an escape from their drab and crowded industrial cities. What they discovered was the landscape of their dreams – one that propelled the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and Modernists to new creative heights.

This exhibition looks at how the French Riviera supported the rise of modern art – and later became a travel destination and film location that epitomised midcentury sophistication.

The story will come alive through more than 160 works, including paintings, sculpture, travel posters and film, from the 1870s to the 1960s.

Immerse yourself, just as these artists did, in a Mediterranean paradise.

Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Our Friends preview days take place 29 September, 10am-9pm, 30 September, 10am-6pm, and 1 October, 10am-6pm.