Mougins Museum of Classical Art

Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins
Established 2011
Location 32, Rue Commandeur/>06250 Mougins, France
Coordinates 43°36′05″N 6°59′41″E / 43.601316°N 6.994850°E / 43.601316; 6.994850
Type Art museum
Website Official site

The Mougins Museum of Classical Art (Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins) is an art museum located in Mougins, France. Established by Christian Levett, a British businessman and collector, it opened in April 2011.[1] Levett decided to put the objects on display because his collection was mounting up in storage and he realised that many of them were of interest to the public.[2]

Egyptian Gallery

Levett bought a 400m2 medieval residence and had it remodelled to house his collection, naming it the Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins – MACM. The interior was entirely renovated to display the collection and the façade remains in its original style. The collection includes works by artists who spent time in Mougins such as Francis Picabia, Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso.[3]

Concept

Although the majority of objects on display are antiquities, the museum embraces a concept of displaying ancient, neo-classical, modern and contemporary art side by side to show the pervasive and lasting influence of the ancient world. Thus works by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Damien Hirst and others are included in the museum.

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Collection

The MACM is spread over four floors chronologically from the crypt to the second floor as follows: The Egyptian Gallery, in the crypt, depicts the theme of the afterlife with funerary masks, numerous other ancient artefacts and two sarcophagi, punctuated with works from Chagall, Calder and Cocteau. The People and Personalities Gallery on the ground floor presents busts and statues of historical figures from ancient Greece and Rome, their influence highlighted by sculptures of Sosno, Arman, Quinn and Hirst. The Gods and Goddesses Gallery, on the first floor displays Greek and Roman bronze and marble statues, heads and busts, pottery, glass and silverware, an extensive collection of coins and an antique jewellery display case. Neo-classical and modern artists such as Rubens, Rodin, Klein, Warhol, Picasso, Modigliani, Braque and Dali are integrated. The Armoury on the second floor displays the largest private collection of Greek and Roman arms and armour in the world.

MACM'S Facade
Museum's Facade
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Publications

The Classical Archaeologist Mark Merrony is director/curator of the MACM and is editor-in-chief of the international magazine of ancient art and archaeology, Minerva. The MACM guidebook, edited by Merrony gives a detailed description and photos of the collection. It features articles by experts such as John Boardman on Greek Art and Peter Clayton on Ancient Egypt.[4]

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Exhibitions

The collection at the MACM is an evolving permanent exhibition.

"Picasso a Mougins" exhibition This year commemorates the 40th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death at Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins. The last twelve years of his life here are celebrated in the temporary exhibition ‘PICASSO A MOUGINS’, organised by the City of Mougins and the Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins. The focus of the exhibition includes a splendid linoleum cut, L’Homme barbu, produced at the home of the great master in 1962, several of his renowned Vollard Suite drawings, complemented by an extraordinary biographical display of photographs by his confident and renowned photographer, Lucien Clergue. These capture different aspects of Picasso’s last years of work and leisure time with his great friends and iconic personalities in his famous residence here in Mougins.

File:Picasso à mougins.pdf
Picasso à mougins exhibition

Open every day from 10am-12.30pm and 2pm-6pm Free admission Visitors to the exhibition are offered a reduced admission to the MACM Enquiries: Ville de Mougins : Affaires culturelles : 04 92 92 37 20 – www.mougins.fr Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins : 04 93 75 18 65 - www.mouginsmusee.com

Click on images to enlarge
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References

2. "Collection Privée." Connaissance des Arts, Juillet-Août 2012 :[1]

3. "J'ai fait une rêve... : Zibeline Magazine - juin 2012 [2]

4. "The Acquisitive Gene." Apollo Magazine, 1st Febeuary 2012 : [3]

5. "The French Collection " The financial Time, 30 December 2011 : [4]

6. "Museum Opening of the Year 2011." Apollo Magazine, 1 December 2011 : opening of the Year Appolo Magazine

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Last modified on 11 May 2013, at 21:24