ART SQUARE - MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

As its name suggests, Le Carré d'art faces the Maison Carrée, a fabulous vestige of Nîmes' Roman past. The building that houses its collections dates back to 1993 and was designed by the famous architect Norman Foster, who was responsible for the restoration of the Reichstag in Berlin and the construction of the Millau viaduct. Made of metal and glass, it offers 2,000 square meters of exhibition space spread over two levels and crossed by a vast staircase.

The permanent collection, covering a period from the 1960s to the present day, is rich in more than 500 works, allowing visitors to grasp how the principles of European art have been shaken up over the past half-century. It is divided into three sections: a panorama of French art, a Mediterranean identity around the south of France, Spain and Italy and, finally, a presentation of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic trends.

In addition to these collections presented according to annual hangings, you can discover large temporary exhibitions dedicated to contemporary artists (Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Giuseppe Penone, Rebecca Horn,...).

The entrance of Carré d'art is decorated with two imposing works that were designed for the institution: Mud Line, a mural by Richard Long, and Gaul, sculpture by Ellsworth Kelly. Then, from room to room, creations from the New Realism, the Support/Surface and the free figuration, currents born in the south of France, follow one another. Abstraction in all its forms, narrative figuration,Arte povera, conceptual art, land art, the Düsseldorf School and other Germanic trends, the revival of Spanish art are also represented..

In the course of the exhibitions that change every year, you can see works by Robert Combas(Tokyo Joe, La Grande Bataille), Sophie Calle(Les Dormeurs), César(Compression de voitures), Hervé di Rosa(Naissance d'une civilisation : la guerre fait rage), Annette Messager(Mes caoutchoucs), Niki de Saint-Phalle(Composition à la trotinette - Tir à la carabine), Andy Warhol? At the end of the exhibition, there is a large installation by Christian Boltanski. The Carré d'Art also has an important documentation center which offers free access to more than 30,000 books and catalogs devoted to the visual arts, architecture, photography, fashion, dance, design, cultural policies and museology.