Montpellier renaissance
With the second largest budget for art after Paris, Montpellier is forging ahead with a multi-site arts programme, MoCo, linking new and old art spaces in the Mediterranean city. First stop for late spring visitors should be the Fabre Museum, a converted 1825 mansion that houses works amassed by its eponymous founder Francois-Xavier Fabre. Bonjour M Courbet- a portrait of Fabre meeting Gustave Courbet – is among its great treasures. Within walking distance of this outstanding collection of works spanning the 14th to 21st centuries is the vast void of the Carre Sainte-Anne, a former church and now arts space, and La Panacee, the old medical school, whose new director Nicolas Bourriaud is a former Tate Britain curator. The best way to take in the wealth of culture is through guided tours organised by the Tourist Office’s programme illuminating 1,000 years of the city’s history.
Visitor Fabre Museum Gustave Courbet Bonjour M.Courbet, 1854 | Oil on canvas
Permanent collection Fabre Museum, part of MoCo – Montpellier Contemporain www.ipmag.link/2ptMLc5
