The Fondation Gandur pour l'Art's future museum
Caen Horizon 2030
Set to open by 2030, the future museum of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art will be an exceptional place dedicated to showcasing the Fondation's collections, giving room to creativity in the present day, and opening up the world of art to young people.
A museum open to all
In May 2024, Jean Claude Gandur announced his project of building in Caen by 2030 a museum to permanently present the Fondation's five collections:
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Archaeology, with almost 1,250 objects of Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Near Eastern art;
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Fine art, with over 1,350 European paintings, mainly post-war, making it one of the most important collections for the period in private hands;
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Decorative arts with over 430 works including sculptures, furniture and objets d'art from the 12th to the 18th century;
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Ethnology, with over 400 objects from Latin America and Oceania;
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Contemporary art from Africa and the Diaspora, with almost 460 works.
Open to all, this forthcoming hub for art and culture will offer a diverse programme of activities and educational initiatives, particularly aimed at the young people of the city and region. It will be located on a 51,000 m² site in Caen, close to the Memorial, which attracts 400,000 visitors annually. This exceptional venue will present an innovative approach, combining academic excellence, technological advancements, as well as educational and social dimensions – all in perfect harmony with the natural surroundings.
The programming mission
In February 2025, the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art took a further step towards realising its museum project in Caen by entrusting the programming and project management mission to AP'CULTURE, which will be working in collaboration with VOGT Landscape Architects, VERTICAL SEA and INNOVISION.
In the words of Jean Claude Gandur, chairman and founder of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art: "The arrival of AP'Culture and its partners marks a decisive stage in our project. Their multidisciplinary approach and sensitivity to the values espoused by the Fondation will enable us to give in-depth consideration to the architectural, scenographic and landscaping challenges facing the future museum, in perfect harmony with our ambition: to make this site a place for transmission, sharing and dialogue between cultures and generations."
Initially, AP'Culture will be responsible for drawing up a detailed programme ahead of an invitation-based call for projects, taking into account the Fondation's technical, organisational and cultural engineering requirements, and then coordinating the evaluation of the architectural proposals with the jury.
News
2 January 2025 The Fondation's 15th anniversary
Le Musée rêvé
commission to Ivan Messac
To celebrate the Fondation's 15th anniversary, artist Ivan Messac agreed to create the artwork Le Musée rêvé [The Dreamt Museum], a prelude to the opening of a cultural and artistic space in Caen (Normandy), which will welcome Jean Claude Gandur's collections.
Caen CIty Hall, Caen 25 October 2024 Conference
Jean Claude Gandur presents his collections to the people of Caen
Following the announcement that the future museum of the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art will be built in Caen, Jean Claude Gandur visited the city of Normandy on October 18 to present his collections and his vision for a cultural, artistic, and lively space that contributes to the city’s dynamism.
Caen, France 24 May 2024 Announcement
The city of Caen will welcome the collections of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art
Jean Claude Gandur announces choosing the city of Caen to make accessible and visible to all the artworks he collected, which now form the World-Class collections that the Fondation aspires to preserve and showcase. The future museum, a beacon of cross-generational interactions, will serve as a hub for diverse public engagement. It will be a space where people of all ages and backgrounds can meet, learn, and share through the five main fields of the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art.
