Calais Museum of fine arts

The Calais Museum of Fine Arts located in front of the Richelieu Park is a creation of architect Paul Pamart. Its bright and light spaces bring together on two levels more than 1600 m² of paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs from the 16th to the 21st century.

Rodin, from Paris to Calais

On the ground floor, the Rodin room, from Paris to Calais is devoted to the works of the famous sculptor, with studies and variations around the Monument of The Burghers of Calais . A large loan of works from the Rodin Museum in Paris enriches the collection, with a renewal of this deposit to be discovered from 2020.

This introductory room shows the spaces of Calais and offers visitors an opportunity to discover the city, its artists and its territory with 150 works from the collection confronting the history of art and local history. There are works by Louis-Antoine Barye, Antoine Bourdelle, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Jean Fautrier, Charles Gadenne, Théodore Géricault, Henri Laurens, Germaine Richier, as well as paintings, drawings and photographs by artists from Calais, Louis and Alexandre Francia, Jean Roulland, Henry Lhotellier, Franck Bernard or Frédéric Lefever.

Alice, her mirror and her wonders

On the first floor, the space houses works from the permanent collection under the title ‘Alice, her mirror and her wonders’. Contemporary works by artists such as Pierre Alechinsky, Jean-Luc Moerman, Philippe Ramette or Richard Wentworth are confronted and associated with older paintings and sculptures by Albert Carrier-Belleuse, André Derain, Balthasar Van der Ast or Jean Dubuffet for better to bring out the whimsical and quirky universe of two tales by the English writer Lewis Carroll: and

Each year, the museum organizes a large-scale temporary exhibition dedicated to audiences curious about all art forms. It is accompanied by shows, events, tours, workshops for aspiring audiences. The 2016 exhibition, ‘Extraordinaires machines’, was dedicated to the performances and street art shows of the Compagnie La Machine.