Description
The Bemberg Foundation
The Hôtel d'Assézat is a Renaissance palace, or “hôtel particulier” in French, of the 16th century which houses the Bemberg Foundation since 1994, one of the largest private art galleries in Europe. Georges Bemberg, who past away in 2011, was an artist and writer himself and lived out his love of art by taking many pieces from all over Europe in his gallery.
Gallery
The gallery mostly contains paintings, works made out of bronze and Venetian sculptures from the 15th up until the 20th century. Moreover, antique books and pieces of furniture can be found here. Bemberg created the foundation to make these highlights of art visible for the public through art exhibitions.
The museum includes many works from famous artists such as Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso or Henri Matisse. There even is a little Café in the inner courtyard that surely invites one to stay. With the exhibition of these art works in the special premises of the Hôtel d'Assézat the organizers created a truly special museum within Toulouse that grew to become one of the most successful regional museums of France.
Historical Information
The building in which the Foundation is now fell into oblivion since the 19th century and was very deteriorated before the construction process of the museum. However, this created many opportunities for the architects to make proper exhibition rooms within the Hôtel d'Assézat.
Interesting facts
- The day pass at Hôtel d'Assézat is €14 making it one of the 15 cheapest tourist Attractions in France.
How to get there
With public transportation
You can reach the Hôtel d'Assézat and the Foundation Bemberg easily with the metro line A, whilst getting off at the Esquirol station.
By foot
For the fans of walking the Hôtel d'Assézat isn't hard to reach either. Cross the Pont Neuf to reach the eastern side of the Garonne river and walk straight forward to directly reach the Foundation Bemberg.