MUSEE FABRE

Musee Fabre. Image published under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

The Musee Fabre is the principal museum of art in Montpellier and is generally considered to be one of the top five art museums in France.

The museum, founded by the painter Francois-Xavier Fabre, opened in 1828. It is located in the hotel de Massilian on the Esplanade, one of the city's main thoroughfares. It lies a short distance from the main square, the Place de la Comedie.

The museum has been extended several times and now incorporates a former 17th century Jesuit College. The museum possesses a separate annex, the Pavillion du musee Fabre, also located on the Esplanade.

The museum was closed between 2003 and 2007 for renovation work. It was reopened on 3 February 2007.

The renovation increased the exhibition space from 3,000 to 9,000 square metres. A hall dedicated to temporary exhibitions  and a new wing for contemporary art were also added.

The new layout of the museum enables the visitor to view areas of the Hotel de Massilian formerly closed to the public such as the splendid grand staircase and the salle de Griffons with its neo-Etruscan frieze, painted ceilings and chandeliers.

Entry to the museum is now through the former Jesuit college. The entrance hall is decorated with a mosaic by Daniel Buren.

The museum's collection comprises 1800 paintings, 4100 drawings, 1600 etchings and several hundred sculptures.

Bonjour Monsieur by Gustav Courbet, Musee Fabre

Vue de village by Frederic Bazille, Musee Fabre

The core of the collection was donated by Fabre (1766-1837), a former student of the Societies des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier, later apprenticed to Jacques-Louis David.

Fabre donated his own collection of renaissance pictures to the museum and purchased a considerable number of additional paintings as its first director.

Other prominent citizens followed his example. Antoine Valedau donated a collection of Dutch and Flemish masters, Alfred Bruyas added major canvasses by Courbet and Delacroix, and local artist Frederic Bazille (1841-1870)donated a considerable body of work.

This trend continued into 20th century. The local modern sculptors Germaine Richier, Rene Iche and Aristide Maillol also donated many pieces while two entire halls are dedicated to the work of Pierre Soulages, who gifted thirty-one sculptures and twenty-two canvasses.

The museum also houses many works by artists belonging to the supports/surfaces movement of the fifties and sixties.

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