In my nostalgic saga of my family visits to wonderful places in my belle France, we found one sublime City, Take your time to visit Rouen, it is sublime to say the least and of course , a must to visit, The gorgeous city in the Seine-Maritime dept 76 of the region of Normandie. We have come here often many times, and glad to finally be back again, this time from the Morbihan breton ! . I have my wonderful memories with family visits ; the memories lingered forever, I like to update an older post with new text and the new pictures taken last week on my latest visit to Rouen. Therefore, here is my new take on the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Rouen ,Hope you enjoy the post as I
The Musée des Beaux-Arts is in a wonderful building from 1877 ,located at the Esplanade Marcel-Duchamp in Rouen. It has about 60 rooms full of wonderful fine arts ,one of the principal museums in France. Opened in 1801 and noted as a main museum in France by 1878 with painting, tapestries, sculptures, and objects d’arts from the 15C. Including work by Monet, Sisley, Modigliani, etc. Awesome a must to see in Rouen. I took more time to see it this time concentrating on the Impressionists section which is sublime !!
The Fine Arts Museum today it still has a collection of wealth and breadth considered exceptional. The graphic arts cabinet and its eight thousand works, in particular, enjoys an international reputation. Online resources; educational files and young audience booklet help prepare you for the visit. Its permanent collections are displayed in sixty rooms, the 17C and 19C being particularly well represented.
The Fine Arts Museum was built in two stages: a first wing was built from 1877 to 1880 along rue Thiers ,and now rue Jean-Lecanuet,(my hotel was here) ; the second wing as well as the central building and the library having been built from 1884 to 1888. The main entrance to the museum is framed by two sculptures of Joseph Tournois representing Nicolas Poussin and Michel Anguier, two famous artists born in Normandy.
The Fine Arts Museum brings together a collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and works of art from the 15C to the present day, including a rare collection of Russian icons from the 16C to the beginning of the 19C. Among its treasures, the museum has in particular an exceptional set of paintings from the François Depeaux donation of 1909, which places it at the forefront of French provincial museums for impressionism. The cabinet of drawings, meanwhile, keeps more 8,000 pieces from the Renaissance to the 20C.
The breakdown by period of the paintings works are as follows
15-16C : Italian Renaissance painting is illustrated by a few big names like that of the Perugino. For painting in French, Flemish and Dutch schools, works by Gérard David, Louis Bréa, François Clouet, Pieter Aertsen, Maarten stand out. de Vos and Abraham Bloemaert.
17C painting is one of the strong points of the collection as much by the number, the quality and the diversity of the works presented which reflect the production of all the great European schools of painting of the century . The painting of the golden century Spanish is present with a masterpiece by Vélasquez whose paintings are so rare in France, and paintings by Jusepe de Ribera and Francisco de Herrera el Viejo among others. Italian painting is well illustrated with here yet another masterpiece, that of Caravaggio. French painting is amply represented, notably with famous painters from Normandy like Nicolas Poussin. Flemish and Dutch painting of the Golden Age is in the spotlight with many works of the different genres practiced at the time (Flemish religious paintings, Dutch still lifes, genre scenes, landscapes, portraits) with Pierre-Paul Rubens per example. Finally a rare example of English painting from the 17C is preserved in the museum with the painting by John Michael Wright representing Henry Arundel and his wife Cecily at the foot of the Cross.
18C-19C French painting, then predominant on the European scene by its influence and innovations, is the other high point of the collections of the Fine Arts Museum , especially for the Impressionist period, when Normandy and Rouen attracted many avant-garde painters:. The developments of impressionist painting, symbolism and then so-called post-impressionist trends are illustrated with the biggest names and major works. Claude Monet, who painted in his life from the Seine valley to Giverny to Le Havre, is present with no less than eleven paintings including La Cathédrale de Rouen. This is a must to see !! A detail from the museum on the Impressionists :https://mbarouen.fr/fr/collections/l-impressionnisme
20C painting is rich with works by French painters but also foreign ones. The Duchamp family of artists is well represented Post-impressionist painters from the Rouen School are present in large numbers in the collections.
The sculpture is present with works by Pierre Puget, Antoine Étex, Théodore Géricault, David d’Angers, Antoine Bourdelle, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Alexandre Archipenko, Jacques Lipchitz, etc. The graphic arts cabinet is rich with more than 8,000 pieces including 5,000 drawings that make its reputation. There are drawings by Antoine Watteau, Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Moreau, Vouet, Tiepolo, Ingres, Degas or Amedeo Modigliani. Among the works of art, one can admire an 18C Neapolitan Crèche as well as a 16C model of the Saint-Maclou Church in Rouen and pieces of furniture and goldsmithery. The museum also presents a large collection of Russian icons from the 16C to the early 19C.
The current temp exhibit at the Fine Arts museum (musée des Beaux-Arts) with the links with the northmen or vikings in Normandy with about 350 works shown from the great times of the Normands, The exhibit is name Normands, Migrants, conquérants, innovateurs, The story will go from their arrival in the empire of the Franks and particularly in the dukedom of Normandy, The story goes that after many attempts to adapt them to the Frankish kingdom, finally the king Charles gives the Normandy to Rollon a viking chief in 911 at Saint Clair sur Epte, He was made his vassal and this is how the duchy of Normandy was born,This exhibition last until August 13 2023, There will be also, Northern lights with three Norwegians artists Terje Adusdal, Marius Joergensen, and Marie Sjovold, Official fine arts museum info on the exhibit: https://mbarouen.fr/fr/agenda/normands-migrants-conquerants-innovateurs
The official Fine Arts museum of Rouen: https://mbarouen.fr/en
The Rouen tourist office on the Fine Arts Museum: https://en.visiterouen.com/offers/musee-des-beaux-arts-rouen-en-3941103/
Just for a reminder March 22nd to September 22nd 2024 will the celebration of the 150 years of the Impressionist movement, and Normandy will be on top, Keep up with the news at official webpage : https://www.normandie-impressionniste.fr/fr
There you go folks, a dandy beautiful must visit Musée des Beaux Arts of Rouen or Fine Arts Museum, one to be visit for sure. one of the places to see in wonderful Rouen. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 