The Fine Arts Museum of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, along with 14 other provincial museums, was created, by consular decree on 14

Fructidor Fructidor () is the twelfth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''fructus'', which means "fruit". Fructidor is the third month of the summer quarter (''mois d'été''). By the Gregorian calendar, Fr ...

in year IX (31 August 1801). Today the museum is one of the largest museums in the region. The facades, roof and stairs in the building that houses the art collections have been registered as historical monuments since 29 October 1975. On 18 December 2011 the museum closed its doors for what was initially expected to be two years at most, to carry out extension expansion work. Due to problems associate with the discovery of ground water in the foundations, which required almost four years of additional work, the reopening of the entire building (renamed the "Art Museum of Nantes") was postponed until 23 June 2013.

Overview

Founded under the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, the Fine Arts Museum of Nantes receives work purchased by state and the central museum deposits (

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 l ...

). It takes from the 19th century where it was an important place in the French public collections through the purchase by the city of Nantes in the collection of the brothers

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and

François Cacault François Cacault (1742, Nantes – 10 October 1805, Clisson) was a French diplomat of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Life François's father was a master artist in faience, road engineer and designer of a 1775 map of Nantes which se ...

. The fund, with major works, were later supplemented by several other direct or law given gifts, and a purchasing policy supported by the friends of the museum. Compounding this today adds to this rich set of deposits of work of the Regional Contemporary Art Funds of the Loire and the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

. The museum offers an overview of all the main French and European art movements, which places its collections among the largest public collections of province alongside some of Museums of Fine Arts of Valenciennes, Grenoble, Lyon, Lille and Montpellier.

Origins

It benefits in 1804 and 1809 to send to the state of 43 paintings taken from the reserves of the Central Museum. These works came from the former royal collection, from churches and convents of Paris of the revolutionary and Napoleonic conquests. But it is the purchase of the collection by the Cacault brothers by the city in 1810 that gives the museum of

its riches and variety. According to an inventory conducted in 1818, the collection Cacault was then the richest collections of painting that existed outside of Paris, since it had 1,155 paintings, 64 sculptures, and 134 collections of prints. It was not until 1830 that the collections were presented to the public on the floor of the hall with paintings (located on the street of Feltre to the sight of the old market of Feltre) This space quickly proved to be too small. In 1891, the city decided to build a designed to preserve and present them to the public in good conditions. A square plot near the

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

and the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, is chosen to host the future Palace of Fine Arts. The project was in the public competition as the “museum of paintings and sculptures.”

Architecture

Building from 1893

The winner, the original Nantes architect Clement-Marie Josso, designed the plans for Palace of Fine Arts according to the principles of recent museums of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

and

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. The plan was organized around a central courtyard covered with a glass roof. A dual circuit galleries and room surrounded it on two levels behind a monumental double staircase and a vaulted vestibule. The rooms on the bottom floor are lit by large windows, those on the floor have a modern overhead lighting made possible by the metal frame of the whole. The architectural eclecticism meets the triumph of architects at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 (inauguration year of the museum) and take their revenge on the engineers of the 1889. The small hole between the

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

s hold art

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

and architecture in the middle on top of the entry door. This monument of the late 19th century, the museum was able to fit the chronological presentation of enriched collections. Meanwhile, an ambitious temporary exhibition allows the spread of heritage and contemporary creation. From 1985 to 1990, the building also housed the bulk of the funds from municipal library of the city before it was finally installed in the new Jacques Demy-media library which was located on the .

Future Museum of Arts

In 2011, the museum was closed for a maximum of 2 years to make major expansion work to increase its area to 17,000 m2, versus 11,400 m2, and to enclosed the chapel of the Oratory (serving as a place of temporary exhibitions for the museum) nearby, constructing new buildings according to the plans of the architect, British

Stanton Williams Stanton Williams is a British architectural design practice based in Islington, London. The studio was founded by Alan Stanton and Paul Williams in 1985 and now has a team of over 85 people with four principal directors, two associate director ...

, instead of commercial constructions. This work includes: the expansion of 2,500 m2 for exhibition area (mainly dedicated to contemporary art), the development of an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

of 180 seats in the patio, improving access to the entire building, the glass roofs have been completely renovated, with the aim of using natural light; and the reception staff to more appropriate premises. However, the discovery of significant water pipes at the construction site delayed progress, forcing architects to change their plans and adding an additional cost of 10 million euros. For all the exhibition spaces, reopening of the museum will finally take place in December 2016, after 3 years of delay while the former work schedule planned to reopen in two phases: 2016 and 2018 extension for the historic building. As a result of the transformation of the

urban community A residential community is a community, usually a small town or city, that is composed mostly of residents, as opposed to commercial businesses and/or industrial facilities, all three of which are considered to be the three main types of occ ...

in the

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

, the museum became the Metropolitan on 1 January 2015.

During Jules Dupré

Location: 47 ° 13 '10 "N 1 ° 32' 52" W Jules-Dupré course is a

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway alo ...

road that connects Georges Clemenceau St. to Gambetta St. along the west side of the museum. The entry is from the beginning, limited by gates at each end to allow exclusive use by the museum. Its name, decided in 1899, is a tribute to the painter

Jules Dupré Jules Louis Dupré (April 5, 1811 – October 6, 1889) was a French painter, one of the chief members of the Barbizon school of landscape painters. If Corot stands for the lyric and Rousseau for the epic aspect of the poetry of nature, Dupré i ...

(1811-1889.) The boundary of the protected area of

goes through the middle of the road. The Fine Arts Museum is not part of the protected area

Collection

The museum gives access to a
online collections
Artworks in the collection include

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

from the 13th century to

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

by painter such as:

Ancient painting (13th century to 18th century)

Abraham Bloemaert Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving. He was initially working in the style of the "Haarlem Mannerists", but in the 16th century altered his style in line with the ...

Ambrogio Borgognone Ambrogio Borgognone (variously known as ''Ambrogio da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano'' or as ''il Bergognone'' or ''Ambrogio Egogni''

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 collaborato ...

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 ...

Pieter Claesz Pieter Claesz (c. 1597 – 1 January 1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of still lifes. Biography He was born in Berchem, Belgium, near Antwerp, where he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1620. He moved to Haarlem in 1620, where his ...

Bernardo Daddi Bernardo Daddi ( 1280 – 1348) was an early Italian Renaissance painter and the leading painter of Florence of his generation. He was one of the artists who contributed to the revolutionary art of the Renaissance, which broke away from the conven ...

Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other artists. After ...

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. Ear ...

Gerard van Honthorst Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch: ''Gerrit van Honthorst''; 4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickn ...

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 ...

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...

: 3 paintings *

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

Giovanni Battista Moroni Giovanni Battista Moroni ( – 5 February 1579) was an Italian painter of the Late Renaissance period. He also is called Giambattista Moroni. Best known for his elegantly realistic portraits of the local nobility and clergy, he is conside ...

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ear ...

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

Andrea Solario Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named ''Andre del Gobbo'', but more confusingly as ''Andrea del Bartolo'' a name shared with two other Italian painters, ...

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

* Cosme Tura * Virginia Vezzi *

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and m ...

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 ...

19th-century and 20th-century painting and sculpture

Jules Benoit-Lévy Jules Benoit-Lévy (27 February 1866 – 14 March 1952) was a French painter and printmaker. Biography Benoit-Lévy was born in Paris. He was the son of Baruch Benoit-Lévy (1821–1884) and Julie Strasburger (1826–1901). At the Paris Sc ...

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, summa ...

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...

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 ...

Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...

: ''

The Wheat Sifters ''The Wheat Sifters'' ( French: ''Les Cribleuses de Blé'') is an oil-on-canvas painting created in 1854 by the French Realist painter Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French ...

'' *

Édouard Joseph Dantan Édouard Joseph Dantan (26 August 1848 – 7 July 1897) was a French painter in the classical tradition. He was widely recognized in his day, although he was subsequently eclipsed by painters with more modern styles. Biography Édouard Joseph D ...

Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...

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 ...

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauvism, Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually ...

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what ...

Georges Dufrénoy Georges Dufrénoy (June 20, 1870December 9, 1943) was a French post-Impressionist painter associated with Fauvism. Biography He was born in Thiais, France. His family lived at 2 Place des Vosges in Paris in a historic 17th-century building in ...

* Raoul Dufy * Max Ernst * Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres * Wassily Kandinsky: 11 paintings including ''Herunter'' * Fernand Léger * Albert Marquet * Claude Monet * Giuseppe Penone * Pablo Picasso * Pierre-Auguste Renoir * Théodore Rousseau * Georges Seurat * Paul Signac * Alfred Sisley * Horace Vernet * Herbert Ward (sculptor), Herbert Ward

Gallery

File:Paul Baudry - Charlotte Corday - c 1860 - Nantes Museum of Art.jpg, Charlotte Corday (1860) by Paul Baudry File:44 -Musée d'Art de Nantes - Ulysse et les sirènes - Victor Mottez - Joconde07430004040.jpg, Ulysse et les sirènes (before 1848) by Victor Mottez File:Auguste Rodin, The three shades (Les Trois Ombres), for the top of The Gates of Hell, before 1886, plaster.jpg, "The Three Shades" (1886) by Auguste Rodin File:Musée d'arts de Nantes - 107 - Les Tricoteuses ou La Pergola, Henri Martin, 1913.jpg, "Les Tricoteuses ou La Pergola" (1913) by Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin, Henri Martin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee d Arts de Nantes 1801 establishments in France Art museums established in 1801 Art museums and galleries in France Museums in Nantes, Arts