Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, France

The Musée Granet is a museum in the quartier Mazarin, Aix-en-Provence, France devoted to painting, sculpture and archeology. The museum, adjacent to the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, first opened in 1838 in buildings previously belonging to the priory of Saint-Jean-de-Malte. It still shares a common garden with the church.

It recently underwent significant restoration and reorganization, prior to the international exhibition in 2006 marking the centenary of Cézanne's death. Due to lack of space, the large archeological collection, including many recent discoveries, will be displayed in a new museum, still in the planning stages. The museum contains major paintings by Jean-Dominique Ingres (among which the monumental 'Jupiter and Thetis'), an authentic self-portrait by Rembrandt and works by Anthony van Dyck, Paul Cézanne, Alberto Giacometti and Nicolas de Staël.

Planque collection

In June 2011, the first part of the collection of the Fondation Jean et Suzanne Planque opened at the Musée Granet, containing over 180 artworks. This legacy of the Swiss painter, dealer and art collector Jean Planque, a personal friend of Pablo Picasso, has been donated to the city for an initial period of 15 years. The collection contains over 300 works of art, including paintings and drawings by Degas, Renoir. Gauguin, Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Klee, Fernand Léger, Giacometti and Dubuffet. The full collection will be housed in a specially constructed annex in the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, situated nearby: the expected opening is in 2013.

References:

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Museums in France

User Reviews

Tali Bardavid (2 years ago)
Beautiful museum. Enjoyed both the permanent and temporary expos. Located in a part of the city that is worth exploring

Kenneth Kettings (2 years ago)
Nice place to spend a few hours. Lots to see, including a plethora of statues in the lower level. There was a David Hockney exhibition on when we were there.

Gabriel Demono (2 years ago)
They have an excellent collection of sculptures. The rest of the museum didn't impress me so much (including the temporary Hockney exhibition). It's still worth a visit while in Aix.

Lauren Sterling (2 years ago)
Terrific exhibits, and an amazing collection. The location is also perfect allowing visitors to see the heart of Aix en Provence.

Angel Khong (2 years ago)
At the time of our visit, there were a few different exhibitions happening at the museum; David Hockney, Collections de Cézanne á Giacometti, Archéologie Site d’Entremont, Collections du XIVe au XVIIIe Archéologie, Collection Jean Planque (aka Picasso aka my favourite exhibition here!). The ticket included access to all the exhibitions so it was a great value.

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