The Musée des beaux-arts d'Angers is a museum of art located in a mansion, the "logis Barrault", place Saint-Éloi near the historic city of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

Building

The museum is part of the Toussaint complex, which includes the garden of Fine Arts, the David d'Angers gallery, the city library and the canteen. It displays a rich collection of art works acquired over the centuries on a total area of distributed as follows: * for permanent collections * for temporary exhibitions * for the public reception areas: lobbies, passing museums, auditorium, video room, coffee shop ... * for technical buildings Thanks to recent restoration the site combines history and development with the most modern presentation. The museum has been classified by the Journal des Arts Museum on 2010 as the best of western France and fourth museum in France (outside Paris). This ranking is due to a redesign of the museum's website and the richness and diversity of the exhibitions.

History

After the French Revolution, the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network' ...

founded "Ecole Centrales" (central schools), and that of Maine-et-Loire was transferred to the Logis Barrault mansion. In May 1801, the museum of the Ecole Centrale de Maine-et-Loire opened its doors, modeled on the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

. In 1803, the Central Schools were closed, but the municipality of Angers decided to preserve the museum of painting. The natural history museum and municipal library opened in 1805. The museum is considered to be one of the richest in all the neighboring departments, and after that of Paris it would be one of the finest in France. In the two centuries that followed the museum came to have a critical lack of space and obsolete facilities, but this did not prevent the museum from receiving regular bequests and prestigious gifts, including those of Pierre-Jean David, called David d'Angers. In 1839 the David d'Angers Gallery was inaugurated in the former refectory of the museum (where it remained until 1984). In 1859, Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé enriched the museum's collection with a considerable legacy: Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiques, ancient bronzes, Greek vases, glasses, enamels and pottery, as well as many paintings including some by

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the a ...

(Paolo and Francesca) and some primitives including a triptych of the School of Avignon. He had built up a collection that reflected the eclectic tastes of the Restoration, with an estimated total value of nearly one million francs at the time. In 1861 the painter Guillaume Bodinier offered the city the hôtel Pincé - musée Pincé - to house the objects of the Turpin de Crissé collection. In 1887 the Beaurepaire gallery was inaugurated, built perpendicularly to the David d'Angers gallery and designed by city architect Charles Demoget. Works presented included ''The Dance'', a controversial sculpture by

Charles Gumery Charles-Alphonse-Achille Guméry (14 June 1827 – 19 January 1871) was a French sculptor working in an academic realist manner in Paris. Several of his figures ornament the Opéra Garnier most notoriously the group ''La Danse'', which was com ...

, and ''The Death of Priam'' by

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 March 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter born in Paris. Background A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, he carried off one of the three ''grands prix'' offered in 1796, in consequence of the competitio ...

. At the beginning of twentieth century expansion projects were initiated. A new public entrance appeared in order to make the museum more visible. But the project fails. In 1944 the museum is devastated by the war and was placed, two years later, on the list of classified provincial museums. From 1949 the museum was hastily reorganized, and reopened in 1950. The Conservators had to adapt to the constraints of the site without being able to really enhance the collections. In 1977 the City foresaw a redevelopment of the Museum of Fine Arts. In 1980 it was decided to first move the library, and then to transfer the David d'Angers gallery to the Church of All Saints Abbey of Angers. In 1984 François Mitterrand inaugurated the new David d'Angers gallery. In 1998 the City approved the scientific and cultural project presented by Patrick Nouëne, Director and Chief Curator of the Museums of Angers. Between 1999 and 2004 massive renovations, transformation and enlargement were orchestrated by two famous architects: *Gabor Mester de Parajd, Chief Architect of Historic Monuments, had already completed several major projects in Maine-et-Loire, the Cathedral of St. Maurice d'Angers and the Abbey of Fontevraud. He took charge of the restoration of the heritage listed logis Barrault and the old parts, in the purest respect of architectural and historical references. "The Museum of Fine Arts is a jumble of styles and constructions. Our aim was to enhance the identity of every age and harmonize all the buildings. On the facades, we wanted to preserve the authentic rather than hiring a new restoration. Intramural, some tinkering done over the centuries led us to conduct historical studies and many soundings. We had to takeaccount of discoveries made at the site. For example, we replaced the vaulted loggia, one of the peculiarities of the house Barrault." *

Antoine Stinco Antoine Stinco (born 1934) is a French architect who specializes in construction and renovation of museums and exhibition rooms. Early years Stinco was born in Tunis, Tunisia, and studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in ...

(museographer architect) who participated in the creation of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

and the National Gallery of Jeu de Paume in Paris. For the Museum of Fine Arts in Angers, he devoted himself to the renovation of the most recent additions, to create entirely new spaces. "My first goal was to stage a lively place that facilitates the discovery and fosters curiosity of audiences. I'm not trying to copy the past using the same architectural style. My mission was to create new spaces in relation to their function." In 2003 the city of Angers received, by bequest of its last owner and contributor, Mr. Daniel Duclaux, the Villevêque castle and the extensive collection of art objects it contains. Among this rich collection of over 900 works, hundreds of pieces of antique furniture, some sixty old books, manuscripts and incunabula, Italian ceramics and Hispano-Moorish enamels of Limousin, 70 works of art, sculptures in stone or polychrome wood from the Middle Ageas, tapestries from Flanders in the Renaissance period. The same year the Musée-Château de Villevêque was opened to the public, attached to the Angers Museum of Fine Arts.

Permanent collections

Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Works from many gifts, bequests, deposits or acquisitions are located in the historic rooms of the museum. 900 of them are exposed on the 1700 account as the Museum of Fine Arts. About 150 underwent fundamental restoration during construction. They are divided into two separate permanent tours:

The "fine art" tour

This tour presents a rich collection of paintings punctuated by artwork and sculptures that tells chronologically the different artistic movements from the fourteenth to the twenty first centuries. Two rooms on the first floor, restored by the Historic Buildings society, are devoted to 14th-century Primitives (French, Italian and Flemish) and objects of art from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, but also to Northern, French and Italian schools of the 16th and 17th centuries. These rooms hold works of

Segna di Bonaventura Segna di Bonaventura, also known as Segna de Bonaventura, and as Segna di Buonaventura, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School. He was active from about 1298 to 1331. In 1306 he painted a panel for the office of the Biccherna in the Pala ...

Benvenuto Tisi Benvenuto Tisi (or Il Garofalo) (1481September 6, 1559) was a Late-Renaissance-Mannerist Italian painter of the School of Ferrara. Garofalo's career began attached to the court of the Duke d'Este. His early works have been described as "idyllic ...

Jehan Bellegambe Jehan Bellegambe or Jean Bellegambe (sometimes Belgamb or Belganb) (c. 1470c. June 1535/March 1536) was a French-speaking Flemish painter of religious paintings, triptychs and polyptychs, the most important of which are now held at Douai, Arras ...

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborat ...

Hendrick van Balen Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I (c. 1573–1575 in Antwerp – 17 July 1632 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper ...

, Frans Franken,

Jacob Jordaens Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading ...

(Self Portrait),

Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre ...

Jan Asselijn Jan Asselijn (c.1610 – October 1, 1652) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Asselijn was born at Dieppe from a French Huguenot family as ''Jean Asselin''. He received instruction from Esaias van de Velde (1587–1630), and distingu ...

, Jan van Kessel,

Willem van Mieris Willem van Mieris (3 June 166226 January 1747) was an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands. Biography Willem van Mieris was a painter, sculptor and etcher active in Leiden. He was born in Leiden and studied under his father Frans ...

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural ach ...

Theodoor van Thulden Theodoor van Thulden (1606–12 July 1669) was a painter, draughtsman and engraver from 's-Hertogenbosch. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, mythological subjects, allegorical works and portraits. He was active in Antwerp, where he had tra ...

, Jacob Foppens van Es,

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile ar ...

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Brabançon-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art ...

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

Charles de La Fosse Charles de La Fosse (or Lafosse; 15 June 1636 – 13 December 1716) was a French painter born in Paris. Life He was one of the most noted and least servile pupils of Le Brun, under whose direction he shared in the chief of the great decorativ ...

Jacques Stella Jacques Stella (1596 – 29 April 1657) was a French painter, a leading exponent of the neoclassical style of Parisian Atticism. Life Stella was born in Lyon. His father was François Stella, a painter and merchant of Flemish origin, but ...

Pierre Mignard Pierre Mignard or Pierre Mignard I (17 November 1612 – 30 May 1695), called "Mignard le Romain" to distinguish him from his brother Nicolas Mignard, was a French painter known for his religious and mythological scenes and portraits. He was a ...

Antoine Coypel Antoine Coypel (11 April 16617 January 1722) was a French painter, pastellist, engraver, decorative designer and draughtsman.Sisto Badalocchio Sisto Badalocchio Rosa (28 June 1585 – ) was an Italian painter and engraver of the Bolognese School. Born in Parma, he worked first under Agostino Carracci in Bologna, then Annibale Carracci, in Rome. He worked with Annibale till 1609, the ...

, Pier Francesco Mola,

Giovanni Battista Vanni Biography Giovanni Battista Vanni was born in either Pisa or Florence around 1599; he studied successively under Jacopo da Empoli, Aurelio Lomi, and Matteo Rosselli, and then became a disciple of Cristofano Allori. He is better known as an engr ...

Lorenzo Lippi Lorenzo Lippi (3 May 1606 – 15 April 1665) was an Italian painter and poet. Biography Born in Florence, he studied painting under Matteo Rosselli. Both Baldassare Franceschini and Francesco Furini were also apprenticed with Rosselli, the ...

(Allegory of the simulation),

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Earl ...

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...

Francesco Guardi Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...

and of

Giambattista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

with his famous Apotheosis of the Pisani house, a sketch for the ceiling of the Villa Pisani at Stra in Veneto. On the second floor, visitors can discover the works of the eighteenth in the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and the large paintings of the early nineteenth century. For the eighteenth century French strong point of the museum collections, there are paintings of

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...

François Desportes François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

Carle Van Loo Carle or Carlé is a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Andrea Cosima Carle, whose stage name is Maggie Mae (1960 – 2021), German singer *Barbara Carle (born 1958), French-American poet, critic, translator and Italianist *David Ca ...

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...

(two sketches, The Hunt and The Surprise, the paintings Cephalus and Procris, Jupiter, the guise of Diana, seduced Callisto, and Coresus Callirrhoe and another sketch, The Nymph lo and Jupiter),

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

, Jean-Francois de Troy, Noel Halle,

Nicolas Lancret Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...

Jean-Baptiste Pater Jean-Baptiste Pater (December 29, 1695 – July 25, 1736) was a French rococo painter. Born in Valenciennes, Pater was the son of sculptor Antoine Pater and studied under him before becoming a student of painter Jean-Baptiste Guide. Pater then m ...

, Jean-Baptiste Chardin with his masterful still lifes,

Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Biography Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...

Hubert Robert Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux. ...

François-André Vincent François-André Vincent (; 30 December 1746 – 4 August 1816) was a French neoclassical painter. Biography Vincent was born in Paris in 1746, the son of the miniaturist François-Elie Vincent. He studied under Joseph-Marie Vien and was ...

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away f ...

and

Joseph-Marie Vien Joseph-Marie Vien (sometimes anglicised as Joseph-Mary Wien; 18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791. Biography He was born in Montpellier ...

. Among sculptures are the famous bust of Voltaire by

Jean-Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...

. The first half of the nineteenth century is represented with works of

Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the a ...

Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast o ...

Ary Scheffer Ary Scheffer (10 February 179515 June 1858) was a Dutch-French Romantic painter. He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works of Dante, Goethe, and Lord Byron, as well as religious subjects. He was al ...

Eugène Devéria Eugène François Marie Joseph Devéria (22 April 1805, in Paris – 3 February 1865, in Pau) was a French Romantic history painter, portraitist and muralist. Biography He was one of five children born to François-Marie Devéria, a Bureau C ...

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beau ...

and others. Upstairs, a large room is dedicated to modern art of the twentieth century and contemporary art, and on the ground floor the Gumery room has large canvases from the late nineteenth century and sculptures. These include works by

Henri Gervex Henri Gervex (Paris 10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929 Paris) was a French painter who studied painting under Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre-Nicolas Brisset, and Eugène Fromentin. Biography Early years He was the son of Joséphine Peltier and Félix ...

and other large academic pictures of the nineteenth century. From the second half of the century it presents works of

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summary ...

Johan Barthold Jongkind Johan Barthold Jongkind (3 June 1819 – 9 February 1891) was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He painted marine landscapes in a free manner and is regarded as a forerunner of Impressionism. Biography Jongkind was born in the town of Lattr ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

, Henri Lebasque and

Albert Lebourg Albert Lebourg (1 February 1849, in Montfort-sur-Risle – 6 January 1928, in Rouen), birth name ''Albert-Marie Lebourg'', also called ''Albert-Charles Lebourg'' and ''Charles Albert Lebourg'', was a French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist la ...

. From the twentieth century the museum includes

Maurice Denis Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...

Maxime Maufra Maxime Maufra (17 May 1861 – 23 May 1918) was a French landscape and marine painter, etcher and lithographer. Life Maufra first began painting at 18. He was encouraged to do so by two artists from Nantes such as the brothers Charles Ledu ...

Louis Valtat Louis Valtat (; 8 August 1869 – 2 January 1952) was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Fauves ("the wild beasts", so named for their wild use of color), who first exhibited together in 1905 at the Salon d'Automne. ''Les Fau ...

and Angevin Alexis Mérodack-Jeaneau, as well as contemporary works of

François Morellet François Morellet (30 April 1926 – 10 May 2016) was a French contemporary abstract painter, sculptor, and light artist. His early work prefigured minimal art and conceptual art and he played a prominent role in the development of geometrical a ...

Jean-Pierre Pincemin Jean-Pierre Pincemin (1944–2005) was a French painter and printmaker. Main exhibitions 2022: “Jean-Pierre Pincemin. Sculpture - Painting", Orangery of the Museums of Sens. 2019: Stéphane-Mallarmé Museum, Vulaines-sur-Seine. 2017: Univ ...

and Daniel Tremblay.

The "History of Angers" tour

A gallery of archaeological artifacts and works of decorative art has been created from the collections of the former Museum of Antiquities, excavations at Angers and acquisitions. It shows the development of the city of Angers from its origins to contemporary urban development projects. The old and new archaeological discoveries reveal the first traces of the site in the Neolithic and the creation of the Gallo-Roman city named Juliomagus. Fragments of stone and wood evoke the sculptural decoration of churches and wooden-walled houses. The social, economic and cultural importance is illustrated by an iconography: portraits, city views and photographs.

Exhibitions

Two or three temporary exhibitions are presented annually at the museum in the temporary exhibition hall, such as works of Niki de Saint Phalle in 2004 or

in 2006. Some exhibitions are now held in permanent collections, such as the 2008 exhibition of Agnès Thurnauer.

Past exhibitions

*Morellet 1926-2006 etc. ... Recent fantasies from June 25 to November 12, 2006 *Olivier Debré retrospective of 25 May 2007 to November 4, 2007 *"Dreams are Free" by Marie-Jo Lafontaine, 15 December 2007 to April 13, 2008 *Anthony Caro from May 24 to September 21, 2008 *Daniel Tremblay of 8 November 2008 to May 3, 2009 *Robert Malaval retrospective (1937–1980) June 13 to October 25, 2009 *Creating a portrait: Rodin and his models of 4 December 2009 to March 28, 2010 *Jean-Pierre Pincemin May 8, 2010 to September 19, 2010 *Loriot & Melia Vu-not-seen, 30 October 2010 to April 3, 2011

Gallery

Image:Beaux arts angers.jpg, Allée dans l'enceinte. Image:Beaux arts angers cathedrale.jpg, L'ancienne abbaye Toussaint. Image:Beaux arts angers tour.jpg, Le logis Barrault qui abrite le Musée des beaux-arts.

References

External links

Site officiel de la ville d'Angers

Site officiel des musées d'Angers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee des Beaux-Arts d'Angers Museums in Maine-et-Loire Buildings and structures in Angers Houses completed in 1493 1801 establishments in France Art museums and galleries in France