The Agen Museum of Fine Arts is being restructured

Agen (Lot-et-Garonne). “It has to be a museum of the 21ste century, capable of welcoming visitors comfortably and efficiently”, declared Jean Dionis du Séjour, the mayor (MoDem) of the city, in the preamble to the municipal council which was held at the beginning of December. Two years after the appointment of architect Adelfo Scaranello to direct its redevelopment, the Agen Museum of Fine Arts is closing in order to continue its renovation. “The museum has never really benefited from a rehabilitation, the last major works dating back to the 1970s and mainly concerning the scenography. Today, the four private mansions in which it is installed are aging,” underlines Adrien Enfedaque, the director of the museum. In 2020, the museum launched a first campaign to deal with the most urgent matters: sanitation, roofs, rainwater networks, etc. Work completed for the first two hotels, which will continue on the third at the start of the year while a larger-scale project is being prepared.

Since April 2025, the collections have been gradually leaving the site with a view to carrying out a radical architectural gesture: that of demolishing the Aunac wing (not protected as historic monuments), built in the 19th century perpendicular to the hotels, some of the stones of which would be reused to build a new modern reception hall equipped with a shop and a conference room. “Currently, the reception is minimal at the entrance to the museum. There is no real visibility or suitable signage,” regrets Adrien Enfedaque, estimating the use of the site between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors per year. “Replacing it with a lower reception pavilion will also reveal the facade of the Vergès hotel which is hidden behind. » Carried out over the last few months by scraping the interior coatings, the stripping work has revealed a Renaissance facade, reworked subsequently. Once the Aunac wing has been deconstructed – an operation which should be launched in the fall of 2026 – all that remains is to restore its facades, change the joinery, the windows, etc. That is at least three years of work which should lead to a reopening of the museum at the end of 2029 or beginning of 2030, with a completely new route.

“The route was disjointed, inherited from that thought out at the time of the creation of the museumspecifies Adrien Enfedaque. Our goal is really to have a guiding thread, a real chronological journey. » An ambition which is materialized by a redistribution of circulation: the route will begin on the third floor with a prehistory section set up in the attic (currently not in use) then will continue in the other two levels, integrating “cabinet of curiosity” spaces. The Montluc hotel will present a specific tour dedicated to the art of living in Agen between the Renaissance and the 19th century. The removal of the Aunac wing, which hosted works, also involves rethinking their hanging. “We are losing a fairly large exhibition space, but which was poorly used. It will be necessary to redistribute the works along the route, with the aim of exhibiting as many as today (around 3,000). Some will be sent to reserve, others will come out and be restored,” explains Adrien Enfedaque.

An area of ​​uncertainty remains regarding the construction of a glass elevator within the interior courtyard (classified as a historic monument), which will serve the three levels. Although its location can hardly be modified, discussions are still underway to define its volume. A parameter which could vary the cost of the project, currently estimated between 15 and 17 million euros (supported by the City and subsidized by the State, the Region and the Department).