The Yvan and Helène Amez-Droz Bequest (exhibition in preparation)
This prestigious holding brings together various aspects of the French school of the 19th and 20th centuries, from Pre-Impressionism to Post-Impressionism and the School of Paris. The most renowned Impressionists such as Monet, Degas, Sisley and Pissarro are represented here by major works...
In 1979, the MahN came into possession of an important bequest from a Parisian collector of Neuchâtel origin, James Adolphe Yvan Amez-Droz (1888-1976). The collection comprises 69 works, mainly paintings and drawings by major artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Forming the core of the collection, the best-known Impressionists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro and Auguste Renoir are represented, with impressive works such as Monet's famous Barque-atelier, Matisse's Corse, Sisley's Le Vallon, Gauguin's Roses in a Glass and various landscapes by Renoir. They stand alongside representatives of realism such as Gustave Courbet and Art Nouveau such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
This legacy has recently been the subject of provenance research, with substantial support from the Federal Office of Culture. The exhibition presents the results of these investigations. It invites us to take a fresh look at this collection, which is one of the jewels in the Museum's crown.