Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Provence (MAHP) is a municipal museum in Grasse, France. It is housed in the Hotel Clapiers-Cabris, a residence built between 1772 and 1774 by architect Jean Orello for the Marquis Jean-Paul Clapiers de Cabris and his wife Louise Riquetti, sister of the revolutionary Mirabeau. Revolutionary unrest and family conflicts prevented the couple from fully residing there. In 1813 their daughter, Pauline de Navailles, sold the hotel to the Bruery brothers, who were perfumers, because of family debts.

In 1919, the hotel was rented and bought in 1925 by the Fragonard Society, founded by François Carnot, son of former president Sadi Carnot and son-in-law of the Fatsois industrialist Léon Chiris. In 1921, Carnot created a museum dedicated to Provençal heritage, originally named Musée Fragonard in tribute to the painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The museum was renamed the Museum of Art and History of Provence in 1977 by the city of Grasse, after the Fragonard Society donated it in 1952.

The museum's collections cover archaeology, fine arts, ethnography and decorative arts, with an emphasis on Eastern Provence. There are paintings by masters such as Maurice Denis, François Marius Granet or Charles Nègre, as well as a rich collection of Provencal faiences (Apt, Moustiers, Marseille, Varages). These objects illustrate the daily, religious and artistic life of the region, from Prehistory to the twentieth century.

The Hotel Clapiers-Cabris, an architectural masterpiece of the 18th century, embodies the elegance of the Fatasian mansions of the time. Its history reflects the political and social upheavals of the French Revolution, as well as the economic boom associated with perfumery, Grasse's key sector. The museum, through its multidisciplinary approach, offers a complete panorama of the Provence cultural identity.

François Carnot, the central figure of this project, structured the collections around donations and acquisitions aimed at preserving the local heritage. Its commitment, coupled with that of the Fragonard Society, allowed to build a unique documentary and artistic fund, now managed by the city. The museum remains a living testimony of the art of living in Provence, between tradition and modernity.

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