The Fannerie – the restoration of a historic building
The building called the Fannerie, at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, was chosen to house the future museum. Located in the main courtyard at the entrance to the site, it is one of the first buildings visitors see when they enter the abbey.
“Centered around the dialogue of forms, the museum invite the visitor to discover the collectors’ “museum without walls” and to enjoy a completely unique visual experience.”
Dominique Gagneux, Director of Fontevraud modern Art museum
The architectural and exhibition design project
The project, carried out by ACMH architect Christophe Batard from Agence 2BDM and the Constance Guisset Studio responsible for the exhibition design, took inspiration from the site of the Abbey. A unique public entrance dispatch the visitor either to, with the abbey on one side and to the Modern Art Museum on the other.
The project extends over 1,726 m², in addition to 170 m² of external courtyard dedicated to the exhibition. The exhibition spaces alone represent 1,205 m², 455 m² of which is for the temporary exhibitions.
A journey inside a collection
A private collection is the result of personal choices and strong commitment, which reveal the aesthetic world of its collectors. The museum established at Fontevraud to house the Martine and Léon Cligman donation unveil to as many people as possible a world of forms and an artistic imaginary where all connections are possible.
The museography of the permanent collections plays on the juxtaposition of the collected pieces, from the perspective of cultural and formal dialogues between all forms of art, from a wide variety of sources (Antiquity, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and western art). The exhibition parcours highlights how these art lovers sought eclecticism, an intuitive quest that would lead them to identify fascinating connections between the works.
The Fannerie
Built in 1786, it is one of the most recent buildings from the monastic period. Marking the boundary of the northern part of the front courtyard, it is carefully positioned in line with the abbess’ quarters which face it and which you imagine to be completed by it. Along with the nave of the abbey church of Grand Moûtier, it is one of the Abbey of Fontevraud’s most impressive buildings.
At the end of the 18th century it was home to the Fontevraud mother abbesses’ stables. Before long it was used as a prison, starting from the beginning of the 19th century. The Fannerie (so called because it was intended for storing hay, among other things) has been modified and adapted, with a raised ground floor put in, all while maintaining its external size and original elegance.