Musée Fabre, Art museum in central Montpellier, France.
Musée Fabre occupies the 18th-century Hôtel de Massilian on rue Montpelliéret, east of Montpellier's old town. Its cream stone facade rises four storeys to a pediment with a round clock and carved reliefs; a wooden glazed double door sits below a stone plaque. The entrance is now through the former Jesuit college behind the hotel, where a Daniel Buren mosaic decorates the hall.
Montpellier received thirty paintings from the state in 1802, the nucleus of a small municipal museum that moved between temporary sites. In 1825 the city council accepted François-Xavier Fabre's donation on condition that a museum be built, and bought the 18th-century Hôtel de Massillian for 140,000 francs. After three years of works by architects Fovis and Boué, it opened on 3 December 1828, with Fabre as first director; his 1837 legacy added over a hundred pictures and drawings.
Named after François-Xavier Fabre, a local painter who donated his collection to the city, the institution honors his contribution to the arts. Today visitors come to see everything from northern European old masters to French paintings of the 1800s, reflecting the founder's wide taste.
The museum stands a short walk from Place de la Comédie and opens Tuesday through Sunday during morning and afternoon hours. Multiple floors with stairs and elevators connect the galleries.
A major renovation between 2003 and 2007 transformed the building into a modern exhibition venue. The project nearly doubled the available space and created brighter galleries for the collection.
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