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Origin and history

The Raoul Dastrac Museum is housed in the former Notre-Dame-du-Lot chapel in Aiguillon, New Aquitaine. Inaugurated in 1991, he paid tribute to the painter Raoul Dastrac, born and dead in this city (1891-1969). The establishment preserves about twenty of its paintings, including self-portraits and local landscapes, illustrating its journey between Parisian intimateness and international travel.

Raoul Dastrac, trained at the Beaux-Arts de Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens and Paul Albert Laurens, first inspired by the rooftops of Paris and masters such as Rembrandt or Cézanne. Engaged during the First World War, he then resumed his artistic career, exhibiting in 1922 at the Salon des artistes français. In 1927, the purchase of his works by an Australian collector and family heritage allowed him to travel and paint in France, Italy or the United States.

From 1939 Dastrac abandoned painting to devote himself to his art collection, acquiring works by Watteau, Hubert Robert or Van Ruysdael. The Aiguillon Museum, located on Rue de la République, perpetuates its memory through thematic exhibitions, such as that of 2007 dedicated to local painters, including Fernand Sabatté and Louis Lamarque.

The ancient chapel that houses the museum, reassigned to cultural space, symbolizes the link between Dastrac and his hometown. His works exhibited, such as Aiguillon under the snow or Nature morte au pichet vert, reflect both his attachment to the terroir and his openness to the world.

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