Disclaimer: The bequest of Yvan and Hélène Amez-Droz room is currently being renovated. 

The Department of Fine Arts is primarily devoted to supporting creative work in the local region but – thanks in particular to many major donations – it has also opened its doors to foreign schools of art. The bequest of Yvan and Hélène Amez-Droz (welcomed to the Museum in 1979) is a perfect example of how the collections have been able to grow to international stature.

A native of Neuchâtel, Yvan Amez-Droz (1888-1976) became a French industrialist and spent most of his life in Paris. In commemoration of his affection for the canton and to establish a link with the name of his sister Hélène, he left the Museum part of the collection which he is known to have assembled between 1930 and 1960.

The Yvan and Hélène Amez-Droz Bequest comprises 45 paintings, 18 drawings, 2 prints and 4 sculptures*. Although this is an eclectic collection, it focuses on various aspects of French art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, from Pre-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism to the Nabis, the Fauves and the School of Paris. The collection's showpieces are the Impressionist works that form its core, including important canvases by Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet (represented by his renowned Studio Boat).

Only one part of the collection assembled by Yvan Amez-Droz has come to us, but it reveals much about the predominant tastes of his time and demonstrates a selective reading of art history. Thus, it seems to reflect the "family tree" of Impressionism that was widely accepted in the mid-20th century, giving the movement the status of a textbook example of modernism, together with its forerunners and sequels.

*All paintings and sculptures are permanently on display. For reasons related to conservation, drawings and prints are presented in the display cabinets in rotation.