Art Museum Fabre in Montpellier

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Description

The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault département.

The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 million euro renovation, which was completed in January 2007. It is one of the main sights of Montpellier and close to the city's main square, the Place de la Comédie. The museum's national importance is recognised by it being classified as a Musée de France by the French Ministry of Culture.

History

The town of Montpellier was given thirty paintings in 1802 which formed the basis of a modest municipal museum under the Empire, moving between various temporary sites. In 1825, the town council accepted a large donation of works from Fabre and the museum was installed in the refurbished Hôtel de Massillian, officially opened on 3 December 1828. Fabre's generosity led others to follow his example, notably Antoine Valedau who donated his collection of Dutch and Flemish masters to the city. On the death of Fabre in 1837, a legacy of more than a hundred pictures and drawings completed the collection.

In 1864, Jules Bonnet-Mel, an art collector from Pézenas, bequeathed 400 drawings and 28 paintings. In 1868, Alfred Bruyas offered the works from his private gallery to the city. He is credited with having moved the museum collection into the modern era. In 1870, Jules Canonge, from Nîmes, gave a collection of more than 350 drawings. A legacy of Bruyas of more than 200 works completed his gift in 1877.

In 1968, Mme Sabatier d'Espeyran in accordance with the will of her husband, a diplomat and great bibliophile, gave to the city their hôtel particulier, built under the Third Republic along with its contents.

Around 2001, the Library moved out of the complex, freeing a sizeable area and offering the chance to carry out a major modernisation and enhancement of the building. This took four years and included a whole new wing. The building re-opened in February 2007.

Collection

On display are ceramics from Greece and the rest of Europe. Furthermore, the museum has a large collection of paintings from the 17th until the 19th century, with a large representation of the luminophiles movement. There is also sculpture.

Painting from 15th to 18th century

Here are some of the most famous painters featured in the museum.

French :

  • Sébastien Bourdon
  • Nicolas Poussin (Venus and Adonis)
  • Simon Vouet
  • Gaspard Dughet
  • Charles Le Brun
  • Nicolas de Largillière
  • Hyacinthe Rigaud
  • Jean-Baptiste Oudry
  • Carle Van Loo
  • Claude Joseph Vernet
  • Jean-Baptiste Greuze : 9 paintings including Le Petit Paresseux, Twelfth Night Cake
  • Hubert Robert
  • Jacques-Louis David 5 paintings including Hector, Portrait of Doctor Alphonse Leroy

Outside of France :

  • Italy :
    • Jacopo Bassano
    • Paolo Veronese
    • Annibale Carracci
    • Alessandro Allori : 3 paintings including Venus and Cupid image
    • Federico Zuccari
    • Bernini
    • Il Guercino : 2 paintings
    • Domenichino : 2 paintings
    • Salvator Rosa
    • Luca Giordano
    • Mattia Preti
    • Francesco Guardi
    • Giovanni Pannini
  • Flanders and Holland :
    • Pieter Brueghel the Younger : 2 paintings
    • Peter Paul Rubens : 3 paintings
    • Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael : 3 paintings
    • Gerrit Dou
    • Gabriel Metsu : 2 paintings
    • Gerard ter Borch
    • Jan Steen : 2 paintings
    • Adriaen van Ostade
    • David Teniers the Younger : 8 paintings
  • Spain :
    • Francisco Zurbarán : 2 paintings including The Angel Gabriel
    • Jusepe Ribera
  • Other :
    • Anton Raphael Mengs
    • Joshua Reynolds

Painting from the 19th and 20th century, with a number of Fauvist painters

  • Frédéric Bazille (Vue de village, Aigues-Mortes, La Toilette, Atelier de la rue Furstenberg)
  • François-Léon Benouville (The Wrath of Achilles)
  • Gustave Courbet 15 paintings including The Bathers or Les Baigneuses, Bonjour Monsieur Courbet
  • Eugène Delacroix (Fantasia, Algerian women in their room)
  • Kees van Dongen (Portrait of Fernande Olivier)
  • Raoul Dufy
  • Jean Hugo
  • Albert Marquet
  • Pierre Soulages
  • Nicolas de Staël
  • Claude Viallat
  • Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

  • Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet (Gustave Courbet)

  • Vue de village (Frédéric Bazille)

  • Frédéric Bazille (Pierre-Auguste Renoir)

  • Saint Agatha (Francisco de Zurbarán)

  • Venus and Cupid (Alessandro Allori)

Sculpture

  • Antoine Bourdelle
  • Jean-Antoine Houdon (Summer, Winter)
  • René Iché
  • Aristide Maillol
  • Germaine Richier

Street view

Reviews

09.10.2021 Anthony
Beautiful Museum. Lots of French artists of course. Parking is difficult but we found a spot on the street. Lovely large park across the street from Museum.
09.10.2021 Suzy
Bazille exhibition was absolutely fantastic. Beautifully layed out and all encompassing. Air- conditioning quite cold so take a second layer to wear.
Lovely shop and the reading room was a delight.
09.10.2021 Viivi
I heard from my local friends that one day isn't enough to see everything in Fabre and they were right. The museum is room after room full of amazing master pieces from known and not so popular artists.

I recommend the place for all art lovers and for me it was one of Montpellier's main attractions.
09.10.2021 Melie
Essential of Montpellier. To play again and again. I frequent it regularly and it's always a pleasure.
09.10.2021 Alexander
Big collection of art and beautiful paintings, saw some masterpieces worth seeing. I hated the contemporary art exhibitions, but well I love only REAL art.
09.10.2021 Rachael
I really enjoy visiting museums, however there were not many people there and had the most unpleasant experience as the security guard followed me from room to room and was looking at me as I was looking at paintings, as if I were going to damage something. It was so unpleasant I had to leave.
09.10.2021 Cajus
Overrated and too expensive. There are much better museums in other French cities that are "gratuit".
09.10.2021 Fabrice
Attention, the museum is closed on Mondays, exceptional opening some Mondays for the temporary exhibition only. Welcome unlikable and pretentious-province regrettable.
09.10.2021 Mathieu
Wonderful museum with several dozens of classrooms. Mostly painting, but the presence of a light sculpture. It's free for students ( permanent exhibition ). Allow time if you want to enjoy the place
09.10.2021 Michele
A modern museum where the flow is smooth and enjoyable. The staff is friendly and does not hesitate to help you and guide you. In addition to the temporary exhibitions, the permanent collection offers beautiful nuggets that everyone will enjoy according to his taste. There is also a very nice series of the painter Relieves for lovers of contemporary of the impressionists, or of Courbet. We will also be able to discover the painter Bazille in the short life but the work fruitful.
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