Musée des Beaux-Arts de Béziers

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Béziers is an art museum in Béziers, a city in the Hérault department of southern France. Founded in 1859 by the town's archaeological, scientific and literary society, it holds the status of Musée de France under the law of 4 January 2002. The museum is distributed across two historic hôtels particuliers in the city center, the Hôtel Fabrégat and the Hôtel Fayet, and is currently preparing for a major relocation to the former episcopal palace by 2030.

The museum opened to the public in 1859 in the Hôtel de ville, founded by Béziers's archaeological, scientific and literary society. In 1879 Auguste Fabrégat bequeathed his hôtel particulier to the town, though the museum did not move there until 1903. A second major expansion came in 1966 when the family of Gustave Fayet donated their hôtel particulier at 9 rue du Capus to the town; this building became a museum annexe in the early 1980s. The Hôtel Fayet was built in the 17th century and expanded in the 19th, and is regarded as one of the city's outstanding historic monuments. The museum has held the official status of Musée de France since 2002. Looking forward, by 2030 an art and history museum is scheduled to occupy the former episcopal palace, once vacated by the Palais de Justice.

The museum's collections span from the 15th century to the present day, with particular concentrations in 19th-century French painting and sculpture, 18th- and 19th-century drawings, and modern art. The Hôtel Fayet focuses on 19th-century painting and sculpture, including works by major French artists, and houses the studio collection of the sculptor Jean-Antoine Injalbert. The Hôtel Fabrégat, before its closure in 2018, displayed paintings from the 15th century to the modern era, drawings from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the modern art collection of Jean Moulin, the Resistance fighter born in Béziers, which was donated by his sister Laure Moulin in 1975. The Injalbert works were left to the town by the sculptor's widow in 1934.

The Hôtel Fabrégat held significant works before its 2018 closure, including paintings by Eugène Delacroix (Alberthe de Rubempré, the Artist's Cousin, as Catherine of Alexandria), Théodore Géricault (Portrait of a Woman or La Grosse Suzanne, 1817-1818, and Study of a Grey Horse), Camille Corot (Marsh with Five Cows), and Alexandre Cabanel (Orestes, The Druidess, 1868, Cleopatra, and a study for Cleopatra Testing Poisons). Other notable works included Giorgio de Chirico's Composition with Self-Portrait (1926), Orazio Gentileschi's The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, Guido Reni's Dido's Farewell to Aeneas and Holy Conversation, Anton Raphael Mengs's Portrait of Pope Clement XIII, and Domenichino's Portrait of Pope Gregory XV and his Nephew Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. The collection also featured works by Richard Parkes Bonington, Sébastien Bourdon, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Othon Friesz, Jan Fyt, Charles Labor, Jean-Paul Laurens, Jan Miel, Joseph Parrocel, Fernand Pelez, Jacques Stella, Léopold Survage, Joseph-Noël Sylvestre, Maurice Utrillo, Horace Vernet, and Joseph-Marie Vien, as well as pieces by Edgar Degas, Raoul Dufy, Francisco de Herrera the Elder, Eugène Isabey, Théodore Rousseau, Auguste Rodin, Ker Xavier Roussel, Chaïm Soutine, Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, Suzanne Valadon, and Odette du Bosch. The Hôtel Fayet received the subtitle Maisons des Illustres in 2019 in memory of Gustave Fayet, who was born in the house in 1865 and lived there until 1905.

The museum occupies two historic hôtels particuliers in Béz aforesaid. The Hôtel Fabrégat, bequeathed by Auguste Fabrégat in 1879, served as the main exhibition space from 1903 until its closure in 2018; it has since been converted into a conservation and restoration center. The Hôtel Fayet at 9 rue du Capus, a 17th-century building expanded in the 19th century, was donated by the Fayet family in 1966 and became a museum annexe in the early 1980s; it was designated a Maison des Illustres in 2019. The future home of the museum, the former episcopal palace, will be vacated by the Palais de Justice and is expected to open as an art and history museum by 2030.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Béziers is located in the city center of Béziers, in the Hérault department of southern France. As a Musée de France, it operates under public ownership. The Hôtel Fabrégat has been closed to the public since 2018 and now functions as a conservation and restoration center. The Hôtel Fayet remains accessible, displaying 19th-century art and the Injalbert collection. The museum's eventual relocation to the former episcopal palace, scheduled for completion by 2030, will consolidate its collections in a single, historically significant site.