The Montpellier School of Fine Arts: a unique history
SOL! The regional biennial #3
In partnership with the Fabre Museum

Since 2021, SOL! The regional biennial has been highlighting the vitality of contemporary creation in Occitanie. For this third edition, MO.CO. and the Fabre Museum have formed an exceptional partnership to pay tribute to a major player in Montpellier’s artistic life: the School of Fine Arts. This exhibition will explore a rich, long, and sometimes little-known history, combining academic heritage, radical experimentation, and international openness.

Featuring in particular:

Soufiane Ababri, Nicolas Aguirre, Tjeerd Alkema, Marc Aurelle, Émilie Aussel, Jean Azemard, Geoffrey Badel, Suzanne Ballivet, Ekiem Barbier, Abdelkader Benchamma, Jean-Jaques Bestieu, Vincent Bioulès, Nicolas Boillot, Jules Boilly, Belkacem Boudjellouli, Frédérique Bourguet, Bobby Brim, Alexandre Cabanel, Jo Carbi, Ava Carrère, Alexandre Eugène Castelnau, Guilhem Causse, Cyril Chartier-Poyet, Aude Chevalier-Beaumel, Alain Clément, Robert Combas, Gabriel Couderc, Julien Crépieux, René-Jérome Demoulin, Camille Descossy, Julien Descossy, Daniel Dezeuze, François Dezeuze, Georges Dezeuze, Albert Dubout, Paul Dubois, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Sébastien Duranté, Toma Dutter, Yoann Estevenin, Emmanuelle Étienne, François-Xavier Fabre, Nicolas Fenouillat, Agnès Fornells, Bernard Frize, Jacques Gamelin, Pablo Garcia, Dominique Gauthier, Joëlle Gay, Mark Geffriaud, Hadrien Gérenton, Noé Grenier, Toni Grand, Grout/Mazéas, Miles Hall, Marie Havel, Vir Andres Hera, Ninon Hivert, Rodolphe Huguet, Yongkwan Joo, Mona Young-eun Kim, Quentin L’Helgoualc’h, Alain Lapierre, Jules Joseph Augustin Laurens, Nicolas Lebrun, Max Leenhardt, Lucas Mancione, Gabrielle Manglou, Édouard-Antoine Marsal, Michel Martin, Charles Matet, Ganaëlle Maury, Mehdi Melhaoui, Ernest Michel, Jean Milhau, Gilles Miquelis, Joachim Mogarra, Jacques Moulinier, Caroline Muheim, Marie-Charlotte Nouza, Bruno Peinado, Lucien Pelen, Pierre Peres, Bruno Persat, Clément Philippe, Aurélie Piau, Émilie Plateau, Henriette Pous-Viallat, Benoît Pype, Joël Renard, Jimmy Richer, Germaine Richier, Clara Rivault, François Rouan, Alba Sagols, Gwendoline Samidoust, Patrick Saytour, Valentine Schlegel, Pierre Soulages, Samuel Spone, Didier Tallagrand, Cédric Torne, Gaétan Vaguelsy, Claude Viallat, Andrée Vilar, Chloé Viton.

Heir to the Montpellier Society of Fine Arts founded in 1779, the school was integrated into the Fabre Museum from its inception. Reformed as a municipal (1872) then regional (1882) school of fine arts, it left the museum in 1955 and became the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Montpellier in 1977. It moved to its current premises in 1984 and, since 2018, has been part of the MO.CO public institution. Over the course of these 250 years, despite profound changes, the school has managed to cultivate its uniqueness, training several generations of artists with the ambition of providing them with both a local anchor and a springboard to national and international recognition. Its history is marked by the fruitful tension between transmission and creative freedom.

Inspired by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and the spirit of free art schools, the school was initially the result of a civic and collective commitment to supporting artists. From its inception, it facilitated their mobility and exchanges between Montpellier and Paris. Promising young artists from Montpellier were thus able to pursue prestigious careers, such as Alexandre Cabanel and Ernest Michel, who became director of the school for more than thirty years. At the beginning of the 20th century, this momentum continued thanks to the teaching of Camille Descossy, Georges Dezeuze, and Louis Guigues, and the success of Germaine Richier, Valentine Schlegel, Suzanne Ballivet, and Pierre Soulages.

In the second half of the 20th century, affinities formed groups, and the emergence of Supports/Surfaces ushered in a period of radical emancipation. The 1970s and the following decades saw the development of a thriving southern scene with international influence, embodied by Vincent Bioulès, Robert Combas, Daniel Dezeuze, Bernard Frize, François Rouan, and Claude Viallat.

Today, the school has become a veritable laboratory integrated into the MO.CO., which promotes cross-disciplinary work, autonomy, and openness. The elders are leading the way to recognition in France and internationally, following in the footsteps of Abdelkader Benchamma and César Award-winning filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Durand.

To reflect this rich history, the exhibition brings together works by former students, from the school’s origins to 2019. Combining a chronological and thematic approach, it highlights connections, practices, and affinities across generations.

The exhibition also brings together an expanded regional network: significant loans come from the MRAC Occitanie in Sérignan, the Carré d’Art – Museum of Contemporary Art in Nîmes, and the FRAC Occitanie Montpellier. Artistic partnerships have also been established with the FRAC Occitanie Montpellier, the Musée Paul Valéry in Sète, and the city’s associative galleries, which will present artists from the school.

Under the direction of Numa Hambursin, Director General of MO.CO., and Juliette Trey, Director of the Musée Fabre.

Curators: Caroline Chabrand, Pauline Faure, curators, Julie Chateignon, conservation officer, Deniz Yoruc, exhibition assistant at MO.CO.
Matthieu Fantoni, curator in charge of ancient art collections at the Musée Fabre.

In partnership with the Musée Fabre.