Faure Museum

The Faure Museum is an art museum in Aix-les-Bains, a spa town in the department of Savoie in southeastern France. Founded in 1949, it holds official status as a Museum of France under law n°2002-5 of January 4, 2002. The institution is distinguished by possessing the second largest collection of works by Auguste Rodin in France and the second largest collection of Impressionist paintings in the country. Housed in an early twentieth-century Genoese-style villa, the museum offers an intimate setting for viewing major works of nineteenth and early twentieth-century art. It is currently closed for restoration and is scheduled to reopen in early 2027 under the new name La Villa-Collection d'art.

The museum originated in the collecting activity of Doctor Jean Faure (1862-1942), a pharmacist of Gascon origin who moved to Aix-les-Bains at the beginning of the twentieth century. Having made his fortune through the manufacture of Élixir Bonjean, a paramedical product developed in association with Dr. Paul Dussuel, Faure devoted himself to art collecting from 1885 onward. He assembled his collection through regular visits to Paris, where he was advised by the art dealer André Schoeller. His acquisitions were eclectic, encompassing Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, sculptures, netsuke, medical boxes, and rare faïences. Upon his death in 1942, Faure bequeathed 220 works to the city of Aix-les-Bains. The city acquired the Villa des Chimères, which had been built in 1902 and was owned until 1947 by Henri de Ricqlès. After adaptations to accommodate the public, the museum opened in 1949. The building was renovated in the 1980s to improve safety and presentation. André Liatard served as curator from 1988 to 2018, succeeded by Delphine Miège. In December 2024, the museum closed for extensive restoration in partnership with the Fondation du patrimoine, with reopening planned for early 2027 under the new identity La Villa-Collection d'art, including an extension and the addition of an orangerie.

The sculpture collection features 33 works and studies by Auguste Rodin, making it the second largest Rodin holding in France after the Musée Rodin in Paris. Notable Rodin pieces include Le Baiser, L'Homme au nez cassé, La Pensée, L'Homme qui marche, and L'Âge d'airain. The collection also includes sculptures by Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Jules Desbois, and Alfred Boucher. In painting, the museum holds significant Impressionist and related works including Judith Gautier by John Singer Sargent, Paysage à Montgeron by Camille Corot, Vue de Bonnières by Paul Cézanne, Plage à Trouville and La Seine à Rouen by Eugène Boudin, Pommier sous le soleil and Paysanne à la manne by Camille Pissarro, L'Écuyère by Pierre Bonnard, Danseuses mauves by Edgar Degas, La Seine à Argenteuil (1872) by Alfred Sisley, and Vue de Paris by Albert Marquet. Two works by Claude-Max Lochu, Aix les Bains depuis le Boulevard des Anglais and Portrait d'Auguste Rodin, are also held. The collection extends to works by artists including Jongkind, Ravier, Puy, Vuillard, Lebourg, Lebasque, Robert Louis Antral, Charles Cottet, Edmond Aman-Jean, Victor Vignon, Constant Troyon, Stanislas Lépine, Adolphe Monticelli, Georges Michel, Jean Victor Bertin, Foujita, Fantin-Latour, and Hayez. The museum has also organized temporary exhibitions featuring artists such as Jean-Michel Alberola (1987), Julien Bouvier (1999), Claude-Max Lochu (2000), Catherine Viollet (2001), Henriette Deloras (2004), and in 2007 an exhibition around Guernica with preparatory drawings by Picasso.

The museum is installed in the Villa des Chimères (Villa of the Pipe Dreams), a building of Genoese style constructed in 1902, though some sources indicate 1906. The villa features an entrance surrounded by two columns and a facade decorated with a painted frieze of stylized chimeras. The architectural style reflects nineteenth-century Genoese influence, with large luminous windows, original woodwork and moldings, and solid wood staircases. The building is fully wheelchair-accessible, with a cloakroom and facilities meeting handicap standards, and has been awarded the Tourisme et Handicap label. The museum grounds include a freely accessible garden open to the public, where several artworks are displayed including a statue by Alfred Boucher and Mars Vallett's Enfants sous la neige. Benches line the pathway through this modestly sized outdoor space. The villa's original function as a private residence contributes to the intimate atmosphere of the museum experience.

The Faure Museum is located at 12 Boulevard Barrier, 73100 Aix-les-Bains, France. It is currently closed for restoration with planned reopening in early 2027. When open, the museum typically operated Tuesday through Sunday, with seasonal variations in hours. Admission was priced at approximately 5.50 to 8 euros for adults, with reduced rates of 3.50 to 4 euros for eligible visitors, and free entry for children under 18. The museum is accessible by car with nearby public parking on Boulevard Barrier, or by bus lines 1 and 3. The institution is owned by the city of Aix-les-Bains and serves as a major cultural attraction in the region, drawing visitors with its high-quality collections in an intimate, uncrowded setting. The museum organizes approximately five temporary exhibitions annually in dedicated exhibition halls. In 2000, attendance was recorded at 10,782 visitors, rising to 15,437 by 2003. The museum has been the target of art theft; in November 1981, works by Pissarro and Renoir were stolen, and in 2003 a stolen Pissarro monotype, Le marché aux poissons, was identified at Sotheby's New York through the Art Loss Register and subsequently recovered through legal proceedings, with restitution completed in January 2012.