The Museum of Fine Arts (Museum des Beaux-Arts) is located in the center of Reims near the Cathedral of Reims. This Museum is one of the most famous art museums in France. Here you can see interesting collections of works by impressionist artists, as well as artists of the 19th century.
The Museum of Fine arts was founded in Reims in 1794 in the buildings of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Denis. The history of the Museum dates back to 1752, when the founder of the Reims school of drawing, Antoine Ferrand Montelon, bequeathed his collection of paintings and drawings to the city. After that, the collection was supplemented with other paintings and exhibits of applied art. During the French revolution, the Museum was badly damaged. Many of the exhibits were looted or destroyed, but in general the Museum was preserved.
The most valuable paintings in the Museum of Fine arts in Reims are portraits of various people painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son, Lucas Cranach the Younger. The Museum has an extensive collection of 25 landscape paintings by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, who was one of the most famous French artists of the 19th century. The Museum also houses a collection of impressionist artists, less than Orsay museum, but interesting.
A special pride of the Museum of fine arts of Reims is the world`s largest collection of works by renowned artist Tsuguharu Foujita. He was born in Tokyo in 1886 and graduated from the Tokyo high school of fine arts. In 1913, he came to France and since then has lived here and even received French citizenship. Over time, he became a well-known artist in the world. He created his own style, combining elements of Japanese painting and European realism. Tsuguharu Foujita died in Zurich in 1968, but bequeathed to be buried in the chapel in Reims, which he painted at the age of 80.
