The Jean Aicard - Paulin Bertrand museum comprises the poet-academician Jean Aicard's family home, a park, and the painter Paulin Bertrand's studio. The main building was renovated in 1826 by the Admiral Guès, the uncle of Madame Lonclas, who inherited it afterwards. Jean Aicard's half-sister, she accommodated him there from the age of 16. Deeply attached to the site, the poet used to say that he could write only in his «Mediterranean home, source of inspiration». As a matter of fact, he left it only for trips to Paris necessary for his career as a writer. As a youth, Jean Aicard designed and constructed the park, embellished by a wading pool and a statue of the God Saturn by the sculptor Maubert, as well as decorative pottery by the ceramicist Clément Massier de Vallauris. A friend of Jean Aicard since 1866, Paulin Bertrand, the Marine's official painter, moved in just before the First World War. He and his wife, an art critic working under the name of Léon de Saint Valéry, inherited the property and continued organizing the literary and artistic gatherings the poet so cherished. His studio is still there, waiting to be discovered. The City of Toulon inherited the property in 1961 and converted it into a museum.
Thématiques : Arts décoratifs / Littérature / Maison d'artiste /