Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Utrillo-Valadon Museum was inaugurated in 1995 in the former Sannois Town Hall, Villa Rozee. It initially housed 34 paintings by Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955) and five works by his mother, Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938), as well as a reconstruction of the workshop of Utrillo. These works were exhibited thanks to a conmodat with a private collector, supplemented by three paintings of Utrillo and five of Valadon belonging to the city.

In 2010, a conflict broke out between Jean Fabris, legatee of moral law of Utrillo, and Mayor Yanick Paternotte. Fabris recovers 18,000 documents (photographs, artist's diary) and terminates the loan of 31 exposed canvases. The municipality then redirects the museum towards contemporary art, organizing exhibitions such as prestigious Signatures (2010) with artists such as Jean Hulin or Hervé Loilier, then Contemporary Signatures (2012) with Wojtek Siudmak or Christian Broutin.

Despite this new orientation, the building closed in 2014 due to structural problems. The remaining works, including those of Utrillo, Valadon and André Utter (second husband of Valadon), as well as the donations of exhibited artists, are evacuated. The Espace Utrillo, opened by Jean Fabris in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine in 2009, has been a part of the artist's heritage, including 15,000 photographs and 15 paintings.

The museum was accessible via the Sannois train station (Transilien Paris Saint-Lazare line). His legacy remains marked by his initial role in valuing the works of Utrillo and Valadon, before his transformation into a space dedicated to contemporary art and its permanent closure.

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