Fantin-Latour, Corot, Jongkind, Pissarro, Cézanne, Sisley, Degas, Sargent... the incredible collection of the Faure museum in Aix les Bains nestles behind the walls of an elegant building built in 1907 by the mayor of the city Joseph Mottet.
Doctor of pharmacy, Jean Faure (1862-1942), constituted at the beginning of the 20th century a unique collection which he bequeathed by will on May 11, 1942 to the city of Aix les Bains. To house these treasures, the municipality acquired in 1946 the villa "Les Chimères", in the Genoese style.
It is in this discreet setting that the public can admire some of the most masterful works of the 19th century.
Born in 1862 into a family near Bordeaux, Jean Faure (not to be confused with his almost homonymous Jean-Baptiste Faure, baritone and great lover of paintings by Claude Monet, among others), obtained in Paris his doctor's degree in pharmacy. But his real passion is works of art. From 1885, he became a member of the French exhibition committee, befriended André Schoeller, and acquired, on his advice, sculptures by Rodin and Impressionist paintings.
While continuing his activity as a collector and organizer of exhibitions like that of Brussels in 1910, Jean Faure devoted himself to pharmacy and created the Faure & Dussel laboratory, whose star drug was "the elixir of health of Dr. Bonjean".
Before the war, Jean Faure took the precaution of putting his paintings away in a safe at Barclay's. In accordance with his last wishes, the city of Aix les Bains buys the "Villa des Chimères" to exhibit his collection there.
A wink of fate, this residence had been the property of Baron Henri de Ricqlès since 1920, famous for his mint alcohol!
10 boulevard des Côtes
73100 Aix-les-Bains
Tél: 04 79 61 06 57
In his art history lectures, Fabrice Roy combines the past with the present, in a poetic and playful evocation of the French 19th century...
