The Nantes museum of art (Musée d'arts de Nantes)

Built in 1893 near the castle of the Dukes of Brittany (Château des ducs de Bretagne) and the Botanical Garden (jardin des Plantes), the Musée d'arts de Nantes offers a fine array of the history of art, but is still invested in contemporary art, with one of the country’s finest collections, plus installations, videos, photos and more. Though not centred on a theme, the museum tries via the permanent or temporary collections to make connections to the Americas, thereby staying true to the city’s history.

Take the train to Nantes to explore the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes

• A museum on an international scale
• Big names, both French and international
• 2,000 m² dedicated to contemporary art
• A living museum

The Museum, completely renovated and extended by 30% of its exhibition space and with a (slight) name change, became known as the Musée d’arts de Nantes. It is a museum that now freely expresses its wish to swing between past and present and draw parallels between different art forms. It is a building that’s commensurate with the cultural ambitions of Nantes.

The permanent collection

Works dating back to before 1900 account for half of the museum’s vast collection of 13,000 works. The masterpieces are there — from classic to modern, by painters ranging from Georges de La Tour to Eugène Delacroix, Claude Monet and Vassily Kandinsky.

Pick of pieces to seek out

• Le Vielleur by Georges de La Tour, first half of the 17th century (ancient art collection)
• Les Cribleuses de blé by Gustave Courbet, 1854 (19th century collection)
• Nu jaune by Sonia Delaunay, 1908 (modern art collection)
• Flea Market Lady by Duane Hanson, 1990 (contemporary art collection)

Le Cube is the museum’s recent extension. Bright, spanning 2,000 m² and completely dedicated to contemporary art, it is connected to the Palace by an upper gallery. There too, the collection is impressive. It is among those with the most works on loan from the Fonds national d’art contemporain foundation. There you’ll find works by Gerhard Richter, Martial Raysse, Duane Hanson and more.

The approach here is resolutely modern, with cutting-edge digital tools that add value and fun to your tour of the permanent collection.

“L’œuvre à la loupe” is a touchscreen tablet placed in front of a given exhibit for interactive exploration of the painting, artist and context in which it was painted, with a zoom function, games and features.

The “My Visit” smartphone app allows you to design your own tour with lots of extra information (text, videos, audio, etc.) on the exhibits and artists.

A variety of cultural offerings fills the rest of the events calendar, with conferences, music and dance.

• Every Thursday at 12:30, you can spend an hour at the museum for a tour, debates, concerts and more.
• On Thursdays at 7:15 pm and Fridays at 3:30 pm, take the chronological tour, a 90-minute guided tour on the history of art from the 13th century to the present day.
• Sunday tours at 11:15 (except July-August) may be themed ones.