Information
The museum in Draguignan was created during the French Revolution—at the same time as the municipal library—from Revolutionary confiscations throughout the département of Var in southern France. The initial collection, consisting of some fifteen paintings of the northern and French schools, but also objets d’art and the ceremonial armor of the duke of Montmorency, was expanded in the second half of the nineteenth century by gifts and State deposits. The renovation of the museum between 2017 and 2023 provided an opportunity to restore and study parts of the collection.
Today, the collection comprises some sixty Old Master paintings, a quarter of which are of the Flemish or Dutch schools. Works by David Teniers (II), Thomas de Keyser, and Abraham Bloemaert stand out within this collection of modest proportions that remains little known but would benefit from further study, a pair of Rembrandtesque pastiches being among the most interesting items.
Yohan Rimaud, Director (April 2025)