The creation of the collection

The collection was initiated right from the museum's beginnings with purchases and donations of works by artists from Lyon (Joseph Chinard, Clémence Sophie de Sermézy, Jean François Legendre-Héral, Jean Marie Bonnassieux and Joseph Fabisch). Following a financial bequest from François Grognard, the museum even founded a gallery of "Lyonnais worthy of remembrance", in conjunction with regular commissions of portraits of local personalities. In 1839, a dedicated room was inaugurated to display modern marble sculptures, along with works sent by the State (Antoine Étex and James Pradier) and copies of antique statues. From the mid-19th century, bronzes were installed in the garden. In the years 1880-1890, at the instigation of Édouard Aynard and Jean-Baptiste Giraud, then in the 1930s at the instigation of René Jullian, the museum acquired major works from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (The Juggler of Berry, the Sienese Annunciation group).

The 20th century

The early 20th century opened the collection to modernity. The Auguste Rodin collection, the largest outside the capital, is distinctive in that the works (marble, bronze and plaster statues) were acquired directly from the artist, who was on friendly terms with Raymond Tripier, the chairman of the museum committee. At the instigation of its curators Léon Rosenthal and then René Jullian, the museum subsequently pursued an active policy of purchases, usually buying directly from the sculptors themselves, who included Antoine Bourdelle, Aristide Maillol and Joseph Bernard.