10 eccentric artists’ houses from Salvador Dali to Monet’s home and gardens
See inside these famous artists' private homes
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Have you ever wanted to peek inside the private life of your favourite painter? Well, you may just be in luck. Join us on a trip around the world, as we explore 11 homes belonging to some of history's most celebrated artists. Now public museums or private homes, these properties still retain certain design elements from when their respective artists were in residence.
Click or scroll on to dive into in the worlds of these eccentric creatives, starting with Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci's perfectly preserved Italian apartment...
Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century apartment, Bologna, Italy
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When you think about iconic paintings, it's likely several of Leonardo da Vinci’s immediately spring to mind. A true Renaissance man, da Vinci not only painted 'The Last Supper' in 1498 and the 'Mona Lisa' in 1503, but he left a significant legacy in the science world, too.
Before the great artist and thinker moved to France, where he passed away in 1519, da Vinci resided in a stunning apartment in the Italian city of Bologna.
Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century apartment, Bologna, Italy
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Known as the Emilia residence, the property is part of the Palazzo Felicini, a Renaissance-style palace in the heart of the city. The building was built in the 15th century and sits on foundations that date back to the late 1200s.
Amazingly, the the property is overflowing with remarkably preserved elements from all those centuries ago.
Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century apartment, Bologna, Italy
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It’s thought that da Vinci moved into this apartment after arriving in Bologna with his patron, Giuliano de’ Medici, in around 1515. During his time here, he met the French king, Francesco I, who was the one who encouraged him to move to France.
The home was designed by architect Aristotele Fioravanti but since then has been restored to combine historic features and modern comforts. However, we're sure the home's fireplaces, parquet floors and statement ceilings were intact when da Vinci lived here.
Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century apartment, Bologna, Italy
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Despite being an apartment, the property is bigger than most detached homes. It spans an impressive 6,673 square feet and is laid out over three floors.
Everywhere you look you'll spot amazing design details and even though some modernisation has taken place, it isn't hard to picture da Vinci sitting around this table, drawing in his sketchbook.
Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century apartment, Bologna, Italy
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As well as some seriously incredible frescoes, the place also boasts rooms decorated with Renaissance-inspired murals, coffered ceilings, immaculate 17th-century wood panelling and monumental stone fireplaces. There's even a grand marble staircase in the hallway and an idyllic terracotta courtyard, where da Vinci no doubt sought inspiration.
The home hit the market in 2023 for €3.2 million (£2.7m/$3.5m); the seller was Italian footballer, Beppe Signori.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Santa Fe retreat, New Mexico, USA
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As one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century, Georgia O’Keeffe is renowned for her contribution to the world of modern art.
Celebrated for her vibrant paintings of enlarged flowers, the late artist also adorned New Mexico and created plenty of incredible landscapes that captured the beauty of the state through her eyes. So, it won't surprise you to learn that she lived in Santa Fe for many years, in a wonderfully characterful home.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Santa Fe retreat, New Mexico, USA
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The charming, Pueblo-style home is very typical of Santa Fe architecture and lies in the historic Eastside neighbourhood of the city. The residence was constructed in the 1930s and named 'Sol Y Sombra', which means sun and shade in Spanish.
It was built for a local doctor and his wife and O’Keeffe bought the place in 1984. She lived here until her death in 1986, at the age of 98.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Santa Fe retreat, New Mexico, USA
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As soon as you step inside, it's clear to see that this would have been the perfect place for O'Keeffe to live.
Colourful and filled with incredible one-of-a-kind features, the property is every bit as unique as the artist herself. Throughout the home's 9,139 square feet, you'll find stunning statement ceilings, elegant tiled floors and gorgeous kiva fireplaces.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Santa Fe retreat, New Mexico, USA
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There’s a bright entrance hall, several formal living rooms, a dining room, a library, games rooms, a chef’s kitchen, a solarium and six bedrooms. There’s even a cinema with its own kitchen.
Outside, the 20-acre garden is equipped with a wisteria-covered grill area, an aspen grove, a rose garden and three guest houses. Amazingly, the greenhouse showcases a Bodhi tree grown from a seed from the tree Buddha sat beneath to attain enlightenment – a gift from the Dalai Lama after he visited the property.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Santa Fe retreat, New Mexico, USA
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We absolutely adore the master suite, too, which is so cosy and romantic. O'Keeffe isn't the home's only famous owner, though. Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, purchased the spread in 2000 for approximately £9.7 million ($12m).
He sadly passed away in 2018, but this place wasn't listed for sale until 2021 when it was priced at £18.3 million ($22.6m), before it was discounted to £12.2 million ($15m).
Ai Weiwei’s minimalist Manhattan apartment, New York, USA
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Contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, grew up in northwest China but later moved to New York to study at the Parsons School of Design.
He soon became a highly successful artist, using mixed materials to create everything from a chandelier formed from bicycles to a faux surveillance camera carved from marble. He's also an activist and has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on human rights and democracy.
Ai Weiwei’s minimalist Manhattan apartment, New York, USA
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In 2018, Weiwei is said to have bought a cool loft apartment in the heart of Manhattan's sought-after Chelsea district.
Realtor suggests the artist paid £1.4 million ($1.7m) for the pad, which he went on to decorate in his own inimitable style.
Ai Weiwei’s minimalist Manhattan apartment, New York, USA
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Inside, the 1,409-square-foot apartment is crisp, clean and extremely minimalist, with white walls, sleek wood floors and very little in the way of furniture – yes, that is Weiwei’s artwork and sculpture in the lounge.
The building itself dates back to 1912 and thanks to this, the interior benefits from soaring 12-foot ceilings and oversized sash windows, which fill each room with plenty of natural light.
Ai Weiwei’s minimalist Manhattan apartment, New York, USA
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The cool apartment is now for sale with Compass for £1.6 million ($2m), which means Weiwei will make a small but not unwelcome profit on his initial investment.
Despite its big asking price, the property only features four rooms – the main, open-plan living area (which has a kitchen and dining space), a single bedroom and two bathrooms.
Ai Weiwei’s minimalist Manhattan apartment, New York, USA
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During his time here, Weiwei would have enjoyed access to a vast rooftop deck with amazing views of the city's skyline, a movie theatre and a gym, as well as this zen-like courtyard, where he likely sat and pondered his next project.
The artist is said to now live and work in Portugal, which is perhaps why he's finally waving goodbye to his Manhattan home.
Marc Chagall’s Catskills studio, New York, USA
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Russian-French artist Marc Chagall was an institutional early Modernist artist across a wide range of mediums, including painting, stained glass, ceramics, tapestries, book illustrations and even stage sets.
Chagall was regarded as one of the 20th century’s pre-eminent Jewish artists, but as such, he and his wife Bella were forced to flee Nazi-dominated Europe for New York during the Second World War. They lived here from 1941 until Bella’s sudden death in 1944.
Marc Chagall’s Catskills studio, New York, USA
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After Bella’s death, Chagall moved upstate to the Catskills, settling in with his housekeeper-turned-lover, Virginia Haggard McNeil, the daughter of a British diplomat and an artist in her own right.
Decades younger than Chagall, McNeil was pregnant with their son when the pair moved to the Catskills, though she was still married to another man with whom she had a five-year-old daughter. Despite their somewhat unconventional situation, however, Chagall and McNeil occupied their Catskills home happily for two years.
Marc Chagall’s Catskills studio, New York, USA
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Though Chagall’s artworks still regularly sell for millions, his tiny Catskills studio sold in 2023 for just £159,000 ($205k). The studio was once part of a larger property, which included Chagall’s house, but this was sold and subdivided after Chagall had moved.
Comprising just two bedrooms and one bathroom, the 840-square-foot home is certainly rustic, though replete with both a rich history and a rugged charm.
Marc Chagall’s Catskills studio, New York, USA
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The main floor consists of a kitchen and combined living-dining area, with the bathroom and two bedrooms on the second floor.
Original hardwood floors, exposed beams and brickwork, and a quaint woodburning stove add character throughout.
Marc Chagall’s Catskills studio, New York, USA
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The woodland retreat is nestled on a half-acre of land in the scenic High Falls region of upstate New York, with an expansive backyard stretching into a private wooded area.
With a bit of TLC, the home would make the perfect retreat for an artist or writer and with such a prolific previous occupant, the precedent for creative brilliance is excellent.
Salvador Dalí's 'Casa Dalí', Portlligat, Spain
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Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí achieved international fame during his lifetime both for his original and unusual artwork, along with his own eccentric personal flair. Inspired by a combination of Renaissance old masters, Impressionism, and Cubism, Dalí developed his own artistic style, which he dubbed ‘nuclear mysticism’, characterised by bizarre and ‘dreamlike’ imagery across numerous mediums.
Throughout a career that spanned nearly seven decades in the 20th century, Dalí created a legacy that would go on to influence other Surrealist artists, as well as the development of pop art.
Salvador Dalí's 'Casa Dalí', Portlligat, Spain
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In 1930, at the age of 26, Dalí bought a fisherman’s hut in the Spanish fishing village of Portlligat. The compact space appealed to Dalí, who hoped the cramped quarters would serve as an incubator for his creative vision.
"I wanted it good and small," he later wrote in his autobiography. "The smaller the more womb-like."
His original intent for the space was a four-square-metre room, which would serve as a dining room, studio and bedroom, with a flight of stairs leading up to a kitchen and a bedroom.
Salvador Dalí's 'Casa Dalí', Portlligat, Spain
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However, over the course of the next 40 years, as the hut became the artist’s primary residence, Dalí began accumulating the neighbouring buildings, ultimately expanding his home across four adjoining huts to create a labyrinthine seaside retreat.
It was here that Dalí painted his arguably most famous work, The Persistence of Memory, which depicts an assortment of seemingly melting pocket watches and clocks.
Salvador Dalí's 'Casa Dalí', Portlligat, Spain
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Today, the home is a museum open to the public and remains largely as Dalí left it, packed with artworks and knickknacks collected by the artist over the years. Starting in the main foyer, known as the Bear Lobby, the home expands by means of many narrow corridors and blind passageways, connecting the separate huts across multiple floors.
The house is built along a bluff overlooking the sea, so there are many slight level changes and winding staircases as you transition from one room to the next.
Salvador Dalí's 'Casa Dalí', Portlligat, Spain
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At the very top of the home, a terracotta terrace with four rectangular reflecting pools offers a spectacular view of the harbour and sea below, though the view is dominated by a large sculptural egg – one of many around the property.
The egg was a common Dalían image appearing in many of his artworks and was meant to symbolise hope and love because of its prenatal associations.
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Mexico City, Mexico
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Celebrated largely for her self-portraiture and Surrealist style, Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who used her work to explore questions of gender, class, race, Mexican culture and, above all else, her own identity.
As a child, Kahlo suffered from polio and was further injured in a bus accident at the age of 18, leaving her with medical complications and lifelong pain. Unable to do many of the things she wished, Kahlo used her art as means of coping with her own loss and suffering.
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Mexico City, Mexico
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Largely bed-bound for much of her life, Kahlo spent most of her time in La Casa Azul, or the Blue House, the family home built by her father in 1904.
Kahlo herself was born in the home in 1907 and died there in 1954. Four years later, Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera, donated the home to the nation of Mexico and the property was turned into a museum. Museo Frida Kahlo, as it is now known, has remained largely as it was at the time of Kahlo’s passing.
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Mexico City, Mexico
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The home itself is built in the traditional Mexican colonial style, constructed around a central courtyard. Rivera made several additions to the house, which included enclosing the courtyard entirely and adding a wing, which became Kahlo’s sanctuary and convalescing space.
The large two-storey home includes this brightly-coloured kitchen, several bedrooms, large communal areas and separate studio spaces for both artists. It is decorated throughout with the works of local and international artists, as well as many archaeological artefacts.
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Mexico City, Mexico
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During her life, Kahlo was passionately involved in politics and was an outspoken member of the Mexican Communist Party, through which she met Rivera. Casa Azul became a haven for many intellectuals and political exiles, including Russian Marxist, Leon Trotsky.
Paintings of her two idols, Mao and Lenin, can still be found hanging over Kahlo’s bed, while her wheelchair remains by an unfinished portrait of Stalin that she was working on at the time of her death.
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Mexico City, Mexico
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The house was transitioned into a museum under the careful supervision of Kahlo and Rivera’s friend, museographer and poet Carlos Pellicer, who received strict instructions to leave the property as it was.
With Kahlo’s clothes still hanging in her wardrobe, and her paints and brushes laid out as though waiting for the artist to pick them up at any minute, the museum is a unique opportunity for admirers to immerse themselves in Kahlo’s life and work. Even her ashes are on display in an urn, for guests wishing to pay their respects.
Frederic Leighton's home, London, UK
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Frederic Leighton was a celebrated 19th-century painter, sculptor and draughtsman. His paintings, which were largely biblical, historical and classical in theme, were hugely popular and expensive during his lifetime but fell out of critical favour in the 20th century.
Though Leighton’s career included professional successes, such as becoming President of the Royal Academy, representing Britain at the 1900 Paris Exhibition and receiving a knighthood, it was also punctuated with scandalous rumours of supposed homosexuality and illegitimate children.
Frederic Leighton's home, London, UK
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Originally constructed in the 1860s, Leighton’s studio-house on the edge of Holland Park in London was a passion project that absorbed much of the artist’s time and attention until his death in 1896.
Leighton designed the house to serve multiple functions – studio space, entertaining venue, living quarters and showplace for his many collections and spared no expense in its construction. The property was regularly featured in the press and came to be synonymous with public perception of ‘how a great artist should live.’
Frederic Leighton's home, London, UK
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Having made his acquaintance in Rome in the early 1850s, Leighton contracted architect George Aitchison to build the property, even though he had no experience with residential architecture.
Over the course of a career-altering 30-year period, Aitchison was responsible not only for Leighton house’s exterior design but its interior and much of its furniture design as well. As a result, Aitchison was subsequently employed by numerous wealthy and artistically inclined London homeowners as an interior designer.
Frederic Leighton's home, London, UK
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The most iconic feature of the property is the Arab Hall, an extension added between 1877 and 1881. Leighton was a great world traveller and – on a series of trips to Turkey, Egypt and Syria between 1867 and 1873 – he collected a wide array of pottery, textiles and objets d’art, including the collection of tiles from Damascus, which adorn the walls of the Arab Hall.
The Hall was inspired predominantly by the interior of a 12th-century Sicilio-Norman palace called La Zisa at Palermo in Sicily.
Frederic Leighton's home, London, UK
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Despite his many artistic accomplishments, Leighton’s Holland Park home is likely his most enduring masterpiece. In an 1899 letter to The Times, one of Leighton’s sisters explained: "He built the house as it now stands for his own artistic delight. Every stone of it had been the object of his loving care."
After an £8 million renovation, Leighton House reopened to the public as a museum, where visitors can view the artist’s studio, artwork and spectacular collections he assembled with such passion.
Claude Monet's home and garden, Giverny, France
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Known as the Father of Impressionism, Claude Monet was a French painter renowned for his breathtaking depictions of the natural world. Born and raised in Le Havre, Normandy, Monet harboured an abiding love for the French countryside, which he strove to capture in his work, with particular emphasis on the more intangible details, such as the changing of light or the passing of seasons.
Though Monet enjoyed great success during his own lifetime, his fame skyrocketed during the later 20th century, inspiring the rise of Modernism.
Claude Monet's home and garden, Giverny, France
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In 1883, Monet rented a house and gardens in Giverny, where he moved with his wife and two sons in the hope that the change would provide some domestic stability. The house included a large barn, which Monet used as a painting studio, as well as an orchard and a small garden, which the family keenly cultivated.
Financially bolstered by his increasing success, Monet purchased the house in 1890 and would continue to live there until his death in 1926.
Claude Monet's home and garden, Giverny, France
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Over that 40-year period, the gardens would serve as Monet’s greatest source of artistic inspiration resulting in his most celebrated works, including his world-famous ‘Water Lilies’ series.
During the 1890s, Monet expanded the property, adding a greenhouse and a large second studio. He continued to lovingly cultivate the gardens himself, hiring a fleet of gardeners to carry out his instructions, and purchasing nearby land and a water meadow to continue the expansion.
Claude Monet's home and garden, Giverny, France
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Not to be outdone by its sumptuous surroundings, the house itself is a riot of colour, with rosy pink exterior walls, vivid green shutters and sun-drenched rooms in brilliant blues and yellows.
During his time in Giverny, Monet’s home was a frequent gathering place for countless artists, writers, politicians and intellectuals from around the world. These included John Singer Sargent, who became an intimate colleague and friend, the pair influencing each other’s work for several decades.
Claude Monet's home and garden, Giverny, France
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Today, the home and gardens are a museum open to the public. Guests can wander through the family kitchen, dining room and ‘blue sitting room’, explore the bedrooms that once belonged to Monet, Alice and their sons, and visit Monet’s first studio, now hung with reproductions of his work to evoke the cluttered, active space the studio once was.
Throughout the rest of the house, the furniture and artwork remain nearly exactly as they did at the time of the artist’s death.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's house and studio, New York, USA
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In 1945, Jackson Pollock, ground-breaking artist and father of the Abstract Expressionist movement, married fellow artist Lee Krasner and moved from New York City to East Hampton, USA.
Krasner hoped that the move would help Pollock, a struggling alcoholic, focus on his work. With a loan from famed art dealer and patron Peggy Guggenheim, the couple purchased a small cottage with a barn that would serve as their shared studio.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's house and studio, New York, USA
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When the couple first moved in, the Second World War was still raging and the house had no fuel supply, running water or even a bathroom. Lee described it as nothing short of 'hell, to put it mildly.'
Although the artists immediately began renovations to turn the property into a functioning home and studio, no heating or electric light was installed until 1953.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's house and studio, New York, USA
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Despite its rough-and-ready nature, the house served the couple’s needs and they continued to live and work there until Pollock’s death in a car crash in 1956, after which Krasner stayed on until her own passing in 1984.
Today, the house and studio have been turned into a museum, open to the public for tours. The house still contains many of the couple’s personal effects, including Pollock’s jazz collection, record player and private library.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's house and studio, New York, USA
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The house itself is a very traditional farmhouse with a generous wraparound porch and this surprisingly serene bedroom.
The studio out back was once a barn for livestock, which Pollock and Krasner converted as their very first renovation project. It was there that Pollock developed his famous 'spattering' technique, which would become his calling card in later years.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's house and studio, New York, USA
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The studio is still packed with relics from the artists’ various projects, including tubes of paint, pieces of coloured glass and even a pair of Krasner’s paint-splattered work shoes.
Indeed, the floor of the studio is covered in paint splatters left by some of both Pollock’s and Krasner’s most famous works, and visitors to the museum are required to remove their shoes before entering the studio to preserve the paint.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's summer home, Essoyes, France
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading French Impressionist painter, best known for his artistic celebrations of female beauty and sensuality. Renoir specialised in portraiture, though his most famous works feature bustling crowd scenes, such as his 'Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette’ and ‘Luncheon at the Boating Party.’
Though Renoir enjoyed reasonable success during his lifetime, his popularity and renown, like that of many Impressionist painters, has increased significantly since the late 20th century.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's summer home, Essoyes, France
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From 1896 until his death in 1919, Renoir and his wife, Aline Charigot, spent their summers in this charming country house in Essoyes, a quaint village in the Champagne-Ardennes region of France. Renoir was a stout Parisian, moving to the countryside grudgingly at the behest of his wife.
However, he quickly fell in love with the beautiful rural surroundings, which came to inspire his work, motivating him to paint ‘almost daily.’
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's summer home, Essoyes, France
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Until he could afford to build a studio, Renoir painted in the upstairs of his home, turning his modest bedroom into a cluttered workspace.
Eventually, he was able to afford to add a small studio at the bottom of his garden and today guests can visit this paint-spattered oasis where the artist immortalised his new favourite subjects: his children, their nanny and even the local laundresses at work, washing out clothes in the stream.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's summer home, Essoyes, France
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The interior of the home is quite rustic, reflecting the artist’s modest means when he and his family occupied it, though still warm in the characteristically French country style. Visitors can explore the kitchen, living room, dining room and three bedrooms belonging to Renoir, Aline and the children respectively.
Also on display is Renoir’s wheelchair, into which the artist was confined when he began to struggle with acute arthritis, declaring that he would rather give up walking than painting.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's summer home, Essoyes, France
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The Essoyes summer house continued to be owned by the Renoir family until 2012, at which point the artist’s great-granddaughter, Sophie Renoir, sold the property to the Essoyes village council.
After a nearly £880,000 ($1.1m) renovation project, which equates to €1 million in the local currency, the home was reopened to the public as a museum in June 2017.
Albrecht Dürer's house, Nuremberg, Germany
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Perhaps Germany's most celebrated artist, Albrecht Dürer was a shining star of the German Renaissance. Born in May 1471, Dürer was born and worked in Nuremberg, which was one of Europe's most important artistic and commercial cities at the time.
He's best known for works including a large-scale oil called The Feast of the Rosary and a watercolour of a young hare, as well as a series of haunting self-portraits. His work is so beloved that his medieval home has been opent o the public since 1871. Let's take tour...
Albrecht Dürer's house, Nuremberg, Germany
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Dürer moved into the impressive half-timbered sandstone house in 1509, at the height of his career. It stands in a square next to the Tiergartnertor, a gate in the city wall which dates back to the 13th century. The house and square have long been a popular tourist destination; English painter JMW Turner sketched them in 1835.
Amazingly, the home and the gate both survived the allied bombing of Nuremberg's old town in 1945. Intriguingly, the square also houses a Second World War 'art bunker', where historic treasures were hidden from air raids in a network of secret cellars.
Albrecht Dürer's house, Nuremberg, Germany
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Built around 1420, the house was renovated just before the Dürers bought it. Albrecht lived in the home with his wife Agnes and his mother, as well as some of his pupils and apprentices. They may have received notable guests in this living room, which was refurnished in 1880 to replicate the style of Dürer's time.
Note the bullseye-glass window panes and medieval cross-frame armchairs. The room is remarkably similar to one depicted in Dürer's 1514 engraving of Saint Jerome in His Study and may give us an idea of the objects and furniture Albrecht had in his home.
Albrecht Dürer's house, Nuremberg, Germany
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On the first floor of the historic home, the kitchen still contains the original hearth that the Dürer's servants would have cooked the family's meals on.
It may look like a simple affair to us but it offers a rare glimpse into the everyday life of wealthy citizens at the beginning of the 16th century.
Albrecht Dürer's house, Nuremberg, Germany
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On the second floor, this artist's studio was created in the 19th century by knocking together a bedroom and sitting room. It contains all the tools of Dürer's trade, while an adjoining room holds a reproduction of a full-size copperplate printing press based on a drawing of one by the artist.
Dürer made his greatest impact on the history of art with his printmaking. He took woodcuts to new heights of "technical virtuosity, intellectual scope and psychological depth", according to the Met Museum, New York.
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