Musée Cantini

The Musée Cantini is a museum of modern art located in the 6th arrondissement of Marseille, France. Opened to the public in 1936, it houses one of the largest public collections in France covering the period from 1900 to 1980, with particular strength in paintings from the first half of the 20th century. The museum's collection traces the major movements of modern art from Pointillism and Fauvism through Cubism, Surrealism, and the post-World War II period, making it a significant institution for the study and appreciation of modern art outside Paris.

The museum owes its existence to the sculptor and prominent marble merchant Jules Cantini (1826-1916), who acquired the building in 1888. Upon his death in 1916, Cantini bequeathed both his art collection and his residence to the City of Marseille, stipulating that the property become a museum. The city was required to establish a museum of decorative arts, though the institution that eventually opened in 1936 evolved into a museum of modern art. The collections have since been considerably expanded through purchases and donations. The museum's holdings initially included works from the 17th to the 19th centuries, particularly painters of the Provençal school, before specializing more specifically in modern art.

The Musée Cantini today specializes in modern art, with one of the most important public collections in provincial France spanning the period 1900-1980, comparable to those in Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Grenoble, and Strasbourg. The collection encompasses the major historical movements of modern art, with particular attention to works connected to the Mediterranean landscape and the city of Marseille itself. The museum holds paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, and photographs. Its holdings include significant works of Pointillism, Fauvism, Cubism, abstract art, Dada, Art Deco, Purism, Surrealism, and post-war art through to 1980. The collection also includes a sculpture holdings that extends to the 19th century.

The museum's collection features major works across multiple movements. From early modernism, it holds Henri Matisse's Académie d'homme (1900-1901), Paul Signac's La Corne d'or, Matin (1907) and L'Entrée du port de Marseille (1911), and André Derain's Pinède, Cassis (1907). Raoul Dufy is represented by nine paintings including four from 1908 depicting L'Estaque. The interwar period includes Oskar Kokoschka's Le Port de Marseille (1925), Amédée Ozenfant's Grande composition puriste (1926), František Kupka's L'Acier boit no 2 (1927-1928), Wassily Kandinsky's Développement en brun (1933), and Alberto Magnelli's Pierres no 2 (1932). Surrealist holdings are especially strong, reflecting the gathering of Surrealist artists in Marseille during their exile in 1940-1941, with works including Max Ernst's Monument aux oiseaux (1927), Joan Miró's Peinture (1930), André Masson's Antille (1943) and Le Terrier (1946), Jacques Hérold's Les Têtes (1939), Jean Arp's Genèse (1944), Joseph Cornell's Flat sand box (c. 1950), and Roberto Matta's Contra vosotros asesinos de palomas (1950). The museum holds 21 paintings by Victor Brauner. Post-war works include Pablo Picasso's Tête de femme souriante (1943), Fernand Léger's Nature morte au couteau (1945), Jean Dubuffet's Vénus du trottoir (1946) and Brouette en surplomb I (1964), Nicolas de Staël's Harmonie rouge, bleue et noire (1951), Alberto Giacometti's Portrait de Diego (1957), Balthus's Nature morte à la lampe (1958) and Le Baigneur (1960), and Francis Bacon's Autoportrait (1976). The drawing collection includes works by André Derain, Pierre Bonnard, Mark Rothko, and Edward Hopper.

The museum occupies a hôtel particulier at 19 rue Grignan in Marseille's 6th arrondissement, constructed in 1694 for the Compagnie du Cap Nègre, a company specializing in coral fishing off the northern coasts of Tunisia and trade in wool, wax, and leather. Financial difficulties forced the company's sale of the building on 1 June 1709 to Dominique de Montgrand, great-grandfather of Jean-Baptiste-Jacques-Guy-Thérèse de Montgrand, who later became Mayor of Marseille. The property passed through several owners: Louis Joseph Chaudoin purchased it in 1801, followed by Dieudonné Bernadac in 1816. Jules Cantini acquired it in 1888. After Cantini's death, the building was converted for museum use and opened in 1936.

The Musée Cantini is located in Marseille, France, in the 6th arrondissement. It is owned by the City of Marseille and operates as a public museum. The museum's website is maintained through the municipal museums portal of Marseille.