Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée d'Art moderne André-Malraux (MuMa) du Havre was founded in 1845 with the founding of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which was destroyed during the 1944 bombings. The 1,500 paintings were preserved, but most of the sculptures disappeared. This museum was the first to be rebuilt after the war, symbolizing the city's cultural renaissance.

In 1951, the municipality launched the construction of a new building, carried by Georges Salles and Reynold Arnould, which wanted to break with traditional models. The project, entrusted to Guy Lamb and his associates, included multi-purpose spaces (exhibitions, concerts, conferences) and transparent architecture, with a notable collaboration of Jean Prouvé for aluminum elements. Inaugurated in 1961 by André Malraux, he became a model of "museum-house of culture".

The collections, initially eclectic (Renaissance in the 20th century), specialized in Impressionism and Fauvism thanks to major gifts. In 1936, Charles-Auguste Marande bequeathed 89 works, followed in 1963 by the legacy of the widow of Raoul Dufy (70 works). In 2004, Hélène Senn-Foulds offered 206 pieces, including Monet, Renoir, and Matisse, strengthening her reputation. The museum was rehabilitated in 1999 to preserve its identity in the face of marine erosion.

The architecture of the MuMa, glazed on five sides, plays with natural light thanks to innovative devices (aluminium paralum, silkscreened glasses). The sculpture The Signal d'Henri-Georges Adam, commissioned in 1956, marks his entry and dialogue with the port. A symbol of modernity, the museum combines space flexibility and multidisciplinarity, inspiring the Pompidou Centre later.

The Circle of Modern Art (founded in 1906 by Dufy, Friesz, and Braque) played a key role in enriching the collections, promoting the avant-gardes. The bequests of Boudin (1900), Marande (1936), and Senn-Foulds (2004) are one of the most important provincial museums for modern art. Today, it combines temporary exhibitions and varied cultural programming, while questioning the hauvre contemporary landscape.

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