A collector's drawings: two hundred years of the Musée Atger

Exhibition organized by the University Medical Library

Date:September 14to October 31, 2013
Opening hours:
Location:Exhibitionroomsat the Medical Library and Atger Museum
Contact:biu-patrimoine-bumedecine@umontpellier.fr
Tel:04 34 43 35 80

Poster
Catalog

Dess(e)ins d’un collectionneur: les deux cents ans du musée Atger(Drawings of a collector: two hundred years of the Atger Museum), 2013, 57 pages, €7

The exhibition "Dess(e)ins d'un collectionneur: les deux cents ans du Musée Atger" (Drawings by a collector: two hundred years of the Atger Museum) traced the history of the Atger donation.
Xavier Atger (1758-1833), a collector from Montpellier, wanted to share his drawings and prints with his fellow citizens, particularly medical students. Academies, portraits, and landscapes were intended to help them develop their aesthetic sense, relax their minds, and exercise their powers of observation.

The exhibition took place in two locations within the historic Faculty of Medicine building:
It began in the library's exhibition rooms (on the ground floor), dedicated to Xavier Atger and the context of his donation, from 1813 to 1833, based on archival documents, albums, and drawings. The collection was presented through the three major French, Italian, and Nordic art schools, as well as thematic tours (which continued upstairs).

The Atger Museum (on the first floor of the Faculty) exhibited around 500 drawings, fifty of which are highlighted in four different sections:
1. Images of the body: representations of the body are an obvious link between art and medicine and appear in many forms in the collection.
2. Portraits and caricatures: a fervent supporter of physiognomist theories, Atger collected numerous portraits and caricatures intended in particular to understand and illustrate human characters.
3. Artists of the Midi: attached to his region of origin, Atger wanted to highlight the minor and major masters of the south.
4. The trip to Italy: an essential stop for all artists, Italy inspires with its models from Antiquity and the Renaissance, but also with its landscapes.

Photo credits: University of Montpellier / SCDI Montpellier – photography department