Add a review about the Museum of Fine Arts in Marseille

The Marseilles Museum of Fine Arts has a very interesting collection for the Russian lover of museums: there are a lot of paintings by artists widely known in France but hardly known in Russia. A curious tourist, he promises and many unexpected discoveries, and meet with familiar names.

And the history of the museum began dramatically. The Museum of Fine Arts of Marseille is one of those 5 museums that were created in the largest cities of France after the French Revolution by the new government. These museums placed art objects requisitioned from the state and the executed aristocracy, and it happened in 1801. Since then, the collection has been constantly replenished, several private collections joined it, it was transferred to another building, and it costs to go there, especially since the museum is good, but not very large.

The museum's special pride is the collection of the works of Pierre Puger (one of the best masters of "pure" baroque in the world), one of the largest in France

Collection

The largest part of the exposition - Expectedly French. A beautiful, detailed collection in which you can find the canvases of Claude Vernet (including his famous seascapes), Jean Millet, Gustave Courbet and many other painters. This includes the world's best collection of paintings by representatives of the Provencal School of Painting - one of the most interesting and serious in France.

The second major section of the collection is Italian painting of the 16th and 18th centuries. There are pictures of Perugino, Vasari, Tiepolo, Canaletto and many others. This section is not very large, but there are many rare paintings in it.

Two more parts of the collection of paintings are the "Golden Age of Spanish Painting" and a selection of paintings by Flemish painters. Spain is represented by only two masters - the works of Antonio Pereda and José de Ribeira, but the Flemish collection is large. Here you can see, among others, the canvases of Rubens, Jan Breughel Jr. and Frans Snyders

There is also a small collection of sculptures, the most famous work in which is one of the works of Auguste Rodin (he, by the way, presented it to the museum as a recognition of high quality collection.)

The special pride of the museum is a collection of works by Pierre Puger, one of the largest in France. The abundance is explained simply: Puget lived in Marseilles for many years. And since he was considered one of the best baroque masters in the world - this is perhaps the most interesting part of the exposition. Here you can find his paintings, drawings and sculptures.

In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are still temporary exhibitions devoted to French art, usually good. Some of them are from the museum's own collection, and some are imported, often from the best museums in France.

Building and park

The museum is located in a remarkable ancient building - the Lonshan Palace (and there is another curious Museum - Natural History Museum). The palace was built in the middle of the 19th century by one of the leading French architects, it retains original interiors. But the most interesting thing here is not the building, but the park with it. Park Longchamp is included in the Leaf of the Best Gardens of France. It is divided into two parts - the French regular garden and the English landscaped garden, both absolutely wonderful.

The museum is worth a visit if you want to see something unfamiliar before. But the park is worth a look, even if you do not particularly like both parks and museums, because the Leaf of the Best Gardens of France is very serious, this is the highest status for parks from all possible in France. There are no bad objects in it, believe me, it's worth seeing.
Palace and park Lonshan

Practical information

Address: Marseille, Palais Longchamp, Musee des Beaux-Arts. Nearby is the Longchamp metro station.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, Monday to the weekend.

Ticket price: 5 EUR (for winter 2014), on Sundays, admission is free until 13:00.