Musée d’Art moderne

Présentation

From the realism of the 1850s to the abstraction of the 1950s, paintings, sculptures and art objects present a history of art shaped by the eye of the collector.

In 1976, the collector couple Pierre and Denise Lévy donated nearly 2,000 works to the State, on condition that the collection be presented in a unique place in Troyes, their beloved city. The Episcopal Palace, in the heart of the historic centre, next to the cathedral, was then renovated to become the Troyes Museum of Modern Art. It was inaugurated in 1982 by François Mitterrand, President of the Republic, Jack Lang, Minister of Culture and Robert Galley, deputy mayor of Troyes.

In the summer of 2018, the museum closed its doors for renovation work. Over the past four years, major work has been carried out, such as the restoration and enlargement of the exhibition spaces and the provision of access for people with reduced mobility. Functional areas (auditorium, educational workshop or reception room) have been renovated, extended or created.

This “Act 1” of the reopening of the museum allows the public to see the completely redesigned presentation of the collections.

The conversion of former offices on the 2nd floor has added 400 m² of exhibition space. The beginning of the permanent exhibition on the second floor presents the art of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, from the Realists to variations on Cubism, including the so-called “Fauvist” works and the collection of sculptures from Africa and Oceania.

The graphic arts cabinet offers a rotating presentation of the graphic arts collection and artists’ books.

A prefiguration space on the ground floor traces the history of the collections, the museum’s key artists and the prefiguration of the second part of the permanent exhibition, on art from the interwar period to the end of the 1960s.

These new installations were the occasion to make the entire building accessible for people with reduced mobility (pathways and facilities).

The enlarged reception area includes a shop, toilets and changing rooms.

The museum’s garden has been completely redesigned and redeveloped with the help of the Troyes City Council’s green space department. It now offers a new walk, a path of sculptures opening onto contemporary art.