The département of the Aveyron is better known for its wonderful scenery and dramatic valleys than high-brow culture. True, “high” art appeared a few years ago with the magnificent Millau Viaduct, designed by Norman Foster. But now the town of Rodez (12 Aveyron, Occitanie) has a new art gallery/museum – Musée Soulages:
Musee Soulages, RodezLeading figure of abstract art, Pierre Soulages is the most renowned French contemporary artist in the world. With exhibits in some 90 museums, he has created more than 1,500 works of art and held countless exhibitions around the globe.
It is to Rodez, his birthplace, that he, along with his wife Colette, has made two donations comprising nearly 500 paintings representing all of his work, from post-war oil paintings to his phase of work called Outrenoir. The colour black defines Soulages’ world but the Rodez museum will prove that his world is not just confined to black.
Opened in May 2014, the building comprises a dramatic row of giant boxes in rust-patina sheet steel on the top of a grassy slope overlooking the southern approaches to the town.
For more info on Rodez see http://tourisme.grand-rodez.com