Carnet de Voyage: Mystery Art

First published: June 19, 2024 by Robin Heisey

Travel notes from the real France. Carnet de Voyage is a weekly personal travel story in France sent in by readers. If you’d like to write a story for Carnet de Voyage, head here for details on how to submit.

This letter originally appeared in issue 199 of France Today magazine.

First of all, I love your magazine. Beautifully written and marvellously presented! I have a little French art mystery on my hands, as I try to figure out the location of the château ruin in this drawing by the famous Fauvist painter André Derain, from perhaps 1930 or so.

It’s quite possibly in Provence, but the artist travelled all around the country, and was associated with the towns of Collioure, Cagnes, Cassis and other places during his life. I thought if anyone knows where these ruins might be, it would be the readers of France Today!