Museum of Fine Arts

Rouen has the second largest Impressionist collection in France after Paris. The collection includes Claude Monet’s ” Vue générale de Rouen ” and ” La cathédrale de Rouen, le portail et la tour d’Albane, temps gris “, as well as Pissarro’s “Le Pont Boieldieu à Rouen, soleil couchant, temps brumeux”. by Claude Monet and ” Le Pont Boieldieu à Rouen, soleil couchant, temps brumeux ” by Pissarro, as well as works by Sisley, Caillebotte and Renoir. The museum was able to build up this collection of works of art thanks to an exceptional donation from François Depeaux in 1909. This Rouen industrialist, an enlightened art lover with close ties to artists, supported both the great Impressionist masters and the lesser-known painters of the Rouen School. The layout of the Impressionist gallery and the Depeaux room is particularly pleasing, giving visitors enough space and perspective to appreciate the masterpieces of these plein air painters.

As with all the museums of the Réunion des Musées Métropolitains Rouen Normandie, admission to the permanent exhibitions is free.

Use the Wivisites application to scan the QR code at the museum entrance and take advantage of two free tours on your mobile phone: “Masterpieces from the XVIᵉ to the XXᵉ century” and “Impressionist”.

It houses one of France’s richest public collections of painting, sculpture and decorative arts from the XVᵉ to the XXᵉ century. The most famous works are certainly those by Gérard David, Caravaggio, Rubens, Degas, the Duchamp brothers, Véronèse, Fragonard, Ingres, Modigliani, Clouet, Velasquez, Poussin and Géricault.

The museum also boasts a rare collection of Russian icons dating from the XVIᵉ to the early XIXᵉ century, and is notable for its cabinet of drawings, which holds over 8,000 pieces from the Renaissance to the XXᵉ century.

Located in Rouen’s historic city centre, opposite Square Verdrel, the museum takes up residence in a magnificent 19thᵉ century building. Inside, its permanent exhibitions are spread over some sixty rooms. At the entrance, the sculpture garden room, particularly vast and bright and renovated by the architect Andrée Putman, is in itself an invitation to relax and contemplate.

The Musée des Beaux-arts regularly presents exhibitions of international stature, with original themes and high-quality collections.

Rain and art meet at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. From the late eighteenthᵉ century to the present day, rain has inspired writers, scientists, painters, photographers and film-makers, becoming a poetic and sensitive motif that spans the ages. An exhibition that celebrates its imagination and its many faces.

Under the rain: painting, living and dreaming” exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Rouen from 11 April to 20 September 2026.