A wealthy Russian, princess Elizabeth Vassilievna Kotschoubey bought a site on the hill of Les Baumettes and began the construction of a palace in 1878. But it was an American, James Thomson, who acquired the building in 1883 and ended the construction with the help of architect Constantin Scala. The palace, with beautiful proportions, elegant and majestic, offered a rich example of Renaissance style inspired by Michel - Ange. After Thomson's death in 1897, a part of the park was divided into plots. The city of Nice acquired the palace in 1925 and transformed it into a museum of Fine Ars, inaugurated in 1928. The establishment is often called Jules Chéret because it possesses an important collection of works of this artist who died in Nice in 1932.
Steve Michel : La villa Kotschoubey, Mesclun, n° 19.
Ralph SCHOR
