It’s rare to see an artist create a permanent record of his influences and contemporaries but that’s what Bernar Venet seems to have done in the hills outside of Nice:
Overlooking the Nartuby river that threads through the estate, Venet’s sanctuary is an idyllic spot, albeit one with an industrial heritage. A former sawmill, built in 1737, houses most of Venet’s holdings; a Roman bridge running alongside the pretty Provençal building, and a mill pond with black swans complete the vision.
The hub of Le Muy, meanwhile, is a 2,000 sq metre hangar-like venue that once churned out switching regulator systems for railway tracks, and was the backbone of a flourishing manufacturing empire in the 1960s. […]
Dubbed a “total work of art” by its publicists, the site mirrors Venet’s life and career: work from his 100-strong collection of mainly minimalist art – by the likes of Judd, LeWitt, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin and others – is dotted around the complex, dovetailing with Venet’s own pieces, which fill the pristine, manicured grounds. […]
But there is another attraction at Le Muy. The US artist Frank Stella has designed a “chapel” fitted with six of his own large composite reliefs (2001). […] Stella’s intervention is the latest addition to the sculpture park, complementing an imposing bridge in Corten steel designed by Venet. “Le pont-tube”, an enclosed structure dotted with tiny viewing holes, straddles the Nartuby. A nearby gallery rendered in stainless steel, which opened in 2005, houses works by LeWitt, Andre, Daniel Buren and François Morellet.
