Famous artists from around the world have their works displayed at museums that tourists flock too. Art and culture enthusiasts enjoy a day out at an art museum admiring masterpieces these artists have so painstakingly created. But have you ever wished you could enter the space where these artists envisioned their art? Places that have inspired them to create work the world remembers much after their death? Look no further, here’s a list of the homes of famous artists from around the world!
Also Read: 22 Magnificent Museums You Have To See Before You Die
Their homes became spaces that fuelled their creativity and are now open to visitors. Step into the worlds these artists inhabited and understand their art better!
Claude Monet
Home: Giverny, France
Master impressionist Claude Monet has left an indelible mark in the world of art. His fairy tale home in Giverny is open to visitors. Right in front of his home is the inspiration for ‘Water Lily Pond’, his most famous artwork. Imagine watching the painting come alive right in front of your eyes!
Monet lived here for 43 years towards the end of the 19th century. The highlight of the house is the two gardens. The first one is called the Clos Normand. It is filled with a variety of blooms, cypresses and oriental cherry trees. The artist personally picked shades of green and pastel pink for the house with shuttered windows. The interiors are studded with Japanese woodblocks and engravings. It houses the painter’s extensive collection as well as other art from around the world.
Vincent Van Gogh
Home: Mons, Belgium
A small home in a melancholic mining town is where iconic artist Vincent Van Gogh was inspired to take up painting. Mons was the centre of heavy mining during the Industrial Revolution. Van Gogh came to the town in 1878 as a Calvinist preacher and left two years later as an artist. The miseries of the mining community had a deep emotional impact on Van Gogh. His anguish translated into creative inspiration. Van Gogh’s evocative painting “Potato Eaters” was inspired by the mining communities of Mons.
The iconic artist’s home had almost succumbed to the ruins of time but was resurrected by a group of activists in the seventies. Visitors can witness an exhibition that begins at the garden and continues through the quaint little house.
Rembrandt
Home: Amsterdam, Netherlands
The building Rembrandt lived in was restored and opened to visitors thanks to art enthusiasts. The 17th-century abode was bought by the artist in 1639 for his wife Saskia. Tragically, the purchase directly contributed to his bankruptcy later in life. It also drove him to sell the property and then auction his vast collection of artefacts.
Thankfully, the home was restored and the same auction inventory was used as a guide to revamping it. The home, which is now a museum, has furniture, art and objects all from the 17th century. It has an almost complete collection of Rembrandt’s etchings. Additionally, visitors can also look at artwork by artists that were inspired by Rembrandt himself.
Jackson Pollock
Home: New York, USA
Jackson Pollock was an important artistic figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was most renowned for the ‘drip technique’. It involved the pouring or splashing of a liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface. This enabled him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. As you enter his tiny home in East Hampton, the paint-splattered floors will immediately catch your attention. It continues to remain a dazzling reminder of his revolutionary art.
Pollock bought his home in 1945 with his wife, Lee Krasner, an abstract artist herself. He converted his barn into a studio where he created some his most famous drip-paintings. His home now also functions as a study centre where you can see the artists’ original supplies and solidified paint buckets. Additionally, it also exhibits ‘Composition With Red Arc and Horses’, his only painting on permanent display.
Frida Kahlo
Home: Mexico City, Mexico
Frida Kahlo, one of the most notable artists of the 20th century was born in a charming suburb in Mexico City. Her three-winged cobalt blue house is locally known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House). The house was converted into a museum in 1958. She lived in the house with her husband, the famous painter and muralist Diego Riviera.
Today, her home is one of the most visited museums in the world. With ten rooms, it remains in the same condition as it was when the couple lived there. It is adorned with Kahlo’s personal art collection and a large collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts. Additionally, it has Mexican folk-art as well as photographs, postcards, letters and artwork by other artists including Riviera.
Salvador Dali
Home: Portlligat, Spain
Eccentric artist Salvador Dali purchased a fisherman’s hut in the tiny village of Portlligat. He envisioned a room four-metres-square that would serve as the dining room, studio and bedroom. It would also have some steps leading up to a tiny kitchen and bathroom. In his autobiography he wrote, “I wanted it all good and small.”
However, his plan changed over the next 40 years. Once the village became his principal residence, his house grew in size to include four more huts. The house remains largely untouched to this day. It has his artworks and other oddities treasured by him all on display.
Barbara Hepworth
Home: Cornwall, UK
Hepworth considered her home in Cornwall a ‘spiritual home.’ She first lived in it with her husband Ben Nicholson and their family at the outbreak of war in 1939. 10 years later she returned to the residence alone and never left. She lived and worked at Trewyn Studios until her death in 1975. Barbara was famed for perfecting the modern sculpture and was one of the few female artists of her generation to achieve international prominence.
The site continues to remain true to the artist’s time – the gardens laid out as she designed them, punctuated by her large-scale bronzes. The studio is filled with tools and her unfinished projects. It is also tragically the site where she died in an accidental fire at the age of 72.
Are there any homes of famous artists that we’ve missed? If so, be sure to share them in the comments below.
Monet’s garden is just a piece of art. It is absolutely worth it to visit this place. Helps to feel the inspiration that Monet used for creating his outstanding paintings.