Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The National Museum of Modern Art (MNAM) finds its origins in the museum of Luxembourg, created in 1818 by Louis XVIII to exhibit the works of living artists. This museum, originally intended to host works before their transfer to the Louvre, opened to foreign schools in 1861. In 1922, an antenna dedicated to foreign artists was installed at the Jeu de Paume, becoming the "Museum of Foreign Schools" in 1932. Faced with the smallness of the place, the idea of a modern art museum emerged in the 1930s, worn by Louis Hautecoeur, curator of the Musée des Artistes Vivants.

In 1934, the state decided to build a national museum of modern art on the site of the former Savonnerie carpet factory, coupled with a museum for the city of Paris. Inaugurated partially in 1937 at the Palais de Tokyo for the Universal Exhibition, the museum officially opened in 1947, integrating the collections of the Jeu de Paume. In 1977, he was transferred to the Centre Georges-Pompidou, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, where he occupied two levels dedicated to modern and contemporary art, as well as the Brancusi workshop.

The MNAM is enriched by donations from artists (Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky) and collectors (La Roche, Maeght, Kahnweiler), as well as acquisitions. Its collection, second in the world after the MoMA, has more than 100,000 works, only part of which is displayed on a rotating basis. The museum merged in 1992 with the Centre de création industrielle (CCI), expanding its missions to include architecture, design and new media. Major renovations take place in 1997-1999 and a total closure is planned between 2024 and 2028 for major works.

The Brancusi workshop, faithfully reconstituted, was incorporated into the museum in 1977, retaining 2,571 works and objects left by the artist in 1956. The Kandinsky Library, founded in 2002, becomes a world reference for 20th century art, with 200,000 books. MNAM also plays a key role in the democratisation of art, organizing temporary exhibitions, cultural cycles and deploying its collections outside the walls, including at the Pompidou-Metz Centre and in provincial museums.

The museum reflects all the major artistic movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, from Fauvism to contemporary art, to surrealism, conceptual art and design. His encounters, renewed every two years, present a thematic or chronological selection of works. In 2013, the collection included 100,313 works of 6,396 artists, including 2,151 exhibits, illustrating the diversity and richness of modern and contemporary creation.

Collection

Il conserve l'une des trois plus importantes collections d'art moderne et contemporain au monde avec celle du Museum of Modern Art de New York et de la Tate Modern de Londres et la première d'Europe avec 100 313 oeuvres de 6 396 artistes au 1er janvier 2014.

Il abrite également d'importantes galeries d'expositions temporaires, des salles de spectacles et de cinéma, et la BPI, première bibliothèque publique de lecture en Europe.

Depuis le 12 mai 2010, la ville de Metz est dotée d'une antenne décentralisée du centre, le centre Pompidou-Metz.

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