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Origin and history

The Hébert Museum was created in 1934 by Gabrielle Hébert, widow of the painter Ernest Hébert, to preserve the memory of her husband. Located in the family property acquired in 1821 by the artist's mother in La Tronche, this place became the secondary residence of Ernest Hébert between his Italian stays. When he died in 1908, his widow transformed the home into a private museum, before their heir, René Patris-d'Uckermann, left it in 1979 to the Isère General Council.

The house, classified as a historical monument in 1942, preserves the reconstructed painter's workshop, his major works and those of his Dauphinese contemporaries such as Jean Achard or Théodore Ravanat. The two-hectare park, labeled a remarkable Garden since 2004, houses the neoclassical tomb of Hébert, adorned with a bas-relief evoking the Medici villa. Water sources supplying fountains, acquired in 1649, come from the Chartreuse massif.

Since 2001, the museum has been renovated by the Isère department, revealing 1,600 photographic plates of Gabrielle Hébert in the attices. In 2012, a space dedicated to contemporary art, On the other side, opened as an annex. The museum organizes annual temporary exhibitions, such as those dedicated to Johan Barthold Jongkind (2019) or Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (2020-2021). In 2023, the theft of the jewels of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte marked her news.

The Hébert Museum illustrates both 19th century academicism, through the works of Hébert and his links with Princess Mathilde or Theophile Gautier, and an opening on contemporary creation. Its park, seventeenth-century frescoes and collections enriched with national depots (Louvre, Marseille museums) make it a hybrid place, between historical memory and cultural dynamism.

Labeled Maisons des Illustres since 2012, the museum attracts a growing audience, from 2,658 visitors in 2003 to over 40,000 in 2017. Accessible by Grenoblois public transport (line B of the tram), it remains a living testimony of the life of an artist between Dauphiné and Italy, while being part of the current cultural landscape.

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