communiqué de presse UNE COLLECTION

Direction de la Communication, Ville de Nîmes, Création : terraluna février 2011- © Succession Picasso 2011
Musée
des
Beaux–Arts
Une Collection
Particulière
Nimes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
June 2nd – October 2nd 2011
From June 2nd to October 2nd 2011, the city of
Nimes, in collaboration with La Fondation des
Treilles, will present a major exhibition entitled
Une Collection Particulière at the Musée des
Beaux-Arts.
Created in the 1960s, La Fondation des
Treilles preserves a collection built by
founder Anne Gruner-Schlumberger (19051993) with the help of her artist friends.
Une Collection Particulière comprises 120
works, carefully selected for exhibition from
the foundation’s collection of ethnographic,
graphic and modern art. The top floor of the
museum will house paintings, sculptures,
drawings and prints, through which the
public is invited to discover the works of both little-known and celebrated artists alike. The
exhibition includes works by some of the major names in 20th century modern and
contemporary art such as Arp, Braque, Brauner, Dubuffet, Ernst, Giacometti, Klee, Léger,
Matta, Picasso, Soulages and Takis.
Une Collection particulière is part of the rich cultural programme of Nimes and its Musée des
Beaux-Arts, an art museum in which modern and contemporary art occupies a particular role.
This role is part of a mission of the Musée des Beaux-Arts to bridge the gap between its antique
collections and the contemporary art world, through the discovery of modern art of the 20th
century. This exhibition is the latest in a line of modern art exhibitions at the museum : JeanMarie Granier (1983 and 2010), Picasso (1983 and 1995), Paul Klee (1984), Takis (1993),
Lucien Coutaud (2004) and Lucien Lautrec (2010).
Since 2005, several temporary exhibitions have enabled the diffusion of La Fondation des
Treilles to a wider audience, and have brought to attention the richness of its collections
(exhibitions in Marseille, Milan, Brussels, Tours and Dinan). Une Collection Particulière aims to
extend the foundation’s mission by connecting a larger audience with the modern and
contemporary art bequeathed by Anne Gruner-Schlumberger. A great friend to the artists, Anne
wanted to share with the world their unique visions and ways of seeing the world.
Far from being a mere financial investment, Anne Gruner-Schlumberger’s collection grew not out
of chance, but out of the friendships she made in New York, Athens, Paris and Basel, to name
but a few. It was as a result of these friendships that purchases and fruitful exchanges were
made, along with gifts- original works dedicated to Anne by the artists. The strong friendships
formed with Dubuffet and Giacometti, and with Ernst, Brauner and Picasso in particular,
influenced her selection of works and it is thus a personal and thoughtful collection.
Organized across seven rooms on the upper storey of the museum, the exhibition is both
chronological and monographic, with rooms dedicated to major artists such as Brauner,
Ernst and Picasso. In their use of raw materials and the combining of new and traditional
techniques, the works are a testament to the objectives of the artists of the Avant-Gardecreating new ways of thinking, new pictorial languages far removed from the art of the past
and hence a new art in itself. From the collages of Henri Laurens to the bronze structures of
Takis, via the magical landscapes of Sima,
the cosmic universes of Matta and the
Welcome to the museum
engravings of Vieillard, this exhibition reveals
to the public the fascination, passion,
Musée des Beaux-Arts
inspiration and admiration that Schlumberger
Rue Cité Foulc
30033 Nîmes Cedex 9
held for those who she referred to as the
Reception: 04 66 28 18 32
“artists of the imagination”.
The exhibition is commissioned by Danièle
Giraudy, honorary curator of Musées de
France and in charge of La Fondation des
Treilles. It is chaired by Maryvonne de Saint
Pulgent and Pascal Trarieux, curator of
heritage and director of the Musée des
Beaux-Arts in Nimes. The architect and
museographer Didier Blin, designer of
numerous
temporary
museo-graphic
exhibitions and permanent collections, is in
charge of scenography.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nimes
Upon receiving the legacy of Robert Gower’s
collection in 1869, the city of Nimes planted
the seed of a ‘museum of paintings’. The
construction which began in 1903 was then
stopped in 1907 by Nimes architect
Maximilien Raphel. The museum was
completely reorganized in 1961 by Michel
Laclotte and renovated by architect JeanMichel Wilmotte in 1987.
The chronological organization of the
collection facilitates the discovery of the
Italian, Flemish, Dutch and French schools
from the 16th through to the 19th century. The
Roman mosaic of Admetus, Andrea della
Robbia’s
Foulc
Madonna,
Bassano’s
Suzanne and the old men and the series of
paintings illustrating the story of Cleopatra
and Marc Antoine de Natoire are among the
artistic gems in the museum’s possession.
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Press
Anne CALVINI
Press attaché for city of Nimes
[email protected]
06.16.88.94.07
04.66.76.70.36
Administration: 04 66 67 38 21
[email protected]
Opening hours____
June and September : from 10 a.m to 6 p.m
July and August: from 10 a.m to 7:30 p.m
Closed on Mondays except June 13th (Whit Monday)
Nights at the museum, part of the event THURSDAYS
IN NIMES, during July and August, until 10:30 p.m
Tickets____
Full price : 8 €
Concessions : 5 €
Group ticket (min. 10 people) : 5 € / pers
Family ticket : 15€
Guided tour : 2 € (+ entrance fee)
Visitor ticket inc. performance: 10 €
Educational workshop : 5 €
Children’s workshop (3 days) : 15 €
Free admission: for conditions call : 04 66 28 18 32
Guided exhibition tours____
Everyday from Tuesday to Sunday at 2:30 p.m and 4:30
p.m
THURSDAYS IN NIMES at 6 p.m
Group exhibition tours available on request : 04 66 27
84 99
Educational workshop____
Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m to 12 p.m
3 day workshops : July and August
Informations and reservations : 04 66 27 84 99
Accès____
Accessible to everyone
TANGO bus Network, La Citadine service
Navette Nimebus
Shuttle bus Aurelia, stop Beaux-Arts
HANDIGO Transport for the physically disabled, book
the minibus from your home directly to the museum:
04 66 38 59 60
Publications____
Exhibition catalogue :Editions Trocadéro,Juin 2011,29 €
Exhibition booklet : 3 €
For more information visit :
www.nimes.fr