Exhibition Le Passeur de Lumière

Le Passeur de Lumière exhibition A beautiful and interesting exhibition has taken place at the Musée Chagall: Le passeur de Lumière.
Entirely dedicated to Marc Chagall's stained glass creations, this exhibition retraces the 30 years the artist devoted to the art of stained glass.
Hence the name "Passeur de Lumière".

On this tour, you'll discover the creative process behind stained glass through his work.
An interesting exhibition that will introduce you to the art of stained glass:
- How stained glass is created
- The creation of the Master Glassmaker's carton
- Setting the lead
- The glassmaker's tools
- The finishing touch

Marc Chagall with the artist Brigitte Simon and her husband Marq

To see all his drawings, models, stained glass test, ... we thought we were in his workshop, in the heart of the action with :

• preparatory drawings,
• ceramic models,
• oil on linen canvas,
• graphite and Indian ink on paper
• watercolour
• coloured and grisaille painted veneer glass
• stained glass test
• Final model for the stained glass windows...

If you're curious, take a look at the detailed data sheet for the Passeur de Lumière exhibition. Click here

The Chagall Museum in Nice is one of the most important museums in Nice. city of NiceDo not hesitate to visit it! Located in the district of Cimiez, this museum gathers more than 1.000 works of Marc Chagall.

It is one of 3 national museums of the 20th century in the region, along with the Fernand Léger in Biotand the Musée Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la Paix in Vallauris,

Discover below the details of the 2022 exhibition 

Exhibition Le Passeur de Lumière

Le Passeur de Lumière is an exhibition entirely dedicated to the stained glass creations of Marc Chagall.
The museum retraces the 30 years the artist devoted to the art of stained glass: Le Passeur de Lumière.
Discover the process of stained glass creation through his work;
The Musée Chagall presents a chronology of the artist's works:
30 years of creation, including 15 buildings in France and around the world.

THE PROCESS OF CREATING A STAINED GLASS WINDOW

The Museum shows you how a stained glass window is created, through the work of Chagall.
The process is highly complex. You go from a model drawn on paper to a material with very different properties: glass.
The museum displays the artist's models, the tools used to make them, and his master glassmaker.

For me, stained glass represents the transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world. Stained glass is exhilarating; it needs gravity, passion. It has to live through the light it perceives. Marc Chagall

PREPARATORY DRAWINGS

Before arriving at a definitive model, Marc Chagall made numerous preparatory drawings in a variety of techniques: pencil or ink drawings, color research in gouache or watercolor, collages...

THE CREATION OF THE CARDBOARD OF ITS MASTER GLASSMAKER

To be able to work to the exact scale of the architecture, the master glassmaker creates the carton.
This is a life-size enlargement of the model, on which he places a tracing paper. This layer enabled Chagall to trace the lead paths. Color numbers and shades are also indicated.

THE PALETTE OF THE MASTER GLASSMAKER

The Simon-Marq workshop in Reims became famous for its study and restoration of the stained glass windows in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims. Chagall discovers their competence and wishes to work with them.

The glassmakers' colour palette

The Museum presents the artist's 2 trusted friends and master glassmakers Brigitte Simon and Charles Marq. The latter was the first curator of the Musée Chagall in Nice.

LEAD-LINING

Once the coloured glass has been chosen, it must be cut, crimped and stiffened.

GLASSMAKER'S TOOLS

In this exhibition The Passenger of Light, the museum presents the glassmaker's tools for cutting glass and putting it in lead

- Triple-blade scissors: used to cut the cardboard template, eliminating the width of the lead core
- Glass cutting wheel: used to cut glass following the template
- Breaking pliers: used to break off the cut glass
- Notching pliers: used to refine the shape of the piece
- Lead knife: used to cut lead paths
- Lead flap: used to flatten lead paths before soldering
- Lead hammer: used to set stained-glass panels in place

The tools of the workshop Master glassmaker Simon Marq

THE FINISHING TOUCH

It consisted in the multitude of highlights of grisaille or golden yellow that Chagall applied to the stained glass to nuance the color.
In return, stained glass enabled him to transcend the material limits of painting, inscribing the changing reflections of light as an intrinsic component of the work.

THE WORKS The Passenger of Light

The Creation of the World - Marc Chagall

The Museum presents a selection of works by the artist such as :

- preparatory drawings,
- ceramic models,
- oil on linen canvas,
- graphite and India ink on paper
- watercolor
- colored and grisaille-painted veneered glass
- trial stained glass
- Final model for stained-glass windows...

The latter have allowed the creation of stained glass windows in these 15 buildings

stained glass windows of religious architecture The baptistery of the church :

- Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce, Le Plateau-d'Assy 1956-1957
- Saint-Pierre Abbey, Moissac 1962
- Hadassah Hospital Synagogue, Jerusalem 1960-1962
- Saint-Étienne Cathedral, Metz 1958-1968
- Reims Cathedral 1973-1974
- Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chichester 1978
- All Saints' Church, Tudeley 1967-1974-1978
- Pocantico Hills, Union Church 1963-1966

Stained glass windows, symbols of peace :

Fraumünster Church, Zurich 1969-1978
Church of St. Stephen, Mainz 1977-1984
Chapel of the Cordeliers, Sarrebourg 1976-1978
United Nations, New York 1963-1964
Museum stained-glass windows The Art Institute of Chicago 1976-1977
Chapelle du Saillant, Voutezac 1978-1979, 1982
Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice 1971-1972

The Nice exhibition will feature two exceptional pieces held in the Marc Chagall National Museum:

- the model of the Rose for Metz Cathedral
- La Création du Monde stained-glass windows, designed for the museum's concert hall.

In this exceptional place, visitors will have the privilege of discovering the stained glass windows illuminated with a thousand lights in the morning and then returning in the evening to be carried away by the music in the concert hall.

THE CHAGALL MUSEUM IN NICE

Located in the district of Cimiez, it is one of the 3 national museums of the 20th century in the region:

- Marc Chagall in Nice,
- Fernand Léger in Biot,
- Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la Paix in Vallauris,

More than 1,000 works by Marc Chagall are on display here, as well as those from the Passeur de Lumière exhibition.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Tour duration: 1 hour
Guided tours reservation recommended
By phone: 04.93.53.87.20
By e-mail: visitelibre-mn06@culture.gouv.fr
No reservation possible at weekends

Self-guided tours do not require a reservation.
One-way tickets without a guide can be purchased directly at the museum on the day of the visit.

EXHIBITION FEES

- Price: €10
- Reduced rate: €8
- Groups (10 people or more): €8.50
- Free admission
Under-26s (members of the European Union)
Disabled (MDPH or Cotorep card)
Teachers (current Education Pass)
Recipients of certain minimum social benefits
For all, on the 1st Sunday of the month.

OPENING HOURS

Opening hours for Le Passeur de Lumière exhibition are the same as for the Museum.
Open every day except Tuesdays,
and on public holidays January 1, May 1 and December 25.

May 1 to October 31: 10am to 6pm*
November 1 to April 30: 10am to 5pm*

*Ticket sales end 30 minutes before the museum closes.
Museum evacuation begins 15 minutes before closing time.

Year-end period
The museum closes exceptionally at 4pm, instead of 5pm, on December 24 and 31, the eves of the festive season. The ticket office is open until 3.30pm.

Find out more about the Musée Chagall in Nice > Museum Official website

ACCESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION

By plane: Nice-Côte d'Azur airport, 7 km away
By car: freeway, A8 exit, Nice Centre exit, then Mathis expressway, "Cimiez" exit
By train: Nice Ville SNCF station, then a 15-minute walk to the museum
By bus: n°5 bus or Nice Le Grand Tour bus, "Musée Chagall" stop
By streetcar: N°1, Gare Thiers stop, then a 15-minute walk to the museum
Parking: free parking for coaches and cars