Richard Anacréon Museum
About Richard Anacréon Museum
The Richard Anacréon Museum of Modern Art occupies a former school building in Granville's historic Haute-Ville quarter, within the ramparts overlooking the sea. The museum opened in 1985 to house the personal collection of Richard Anacréon (1907-1992), a Granville native who became a prominent Parisian bookseller and art collector. His bookshop "L'Originale" in Saint-Germain-des-Prés attracted artists like Colette, Jean Cocteau, André Derain, and Kees Van Dongen. The collection includes 280 works by early 20th-century masters including Derain, Vlaminck, Utrillo, Signac, and Dufy, plus 550 rare first-edition books with hidden treasures inside - handwritten dedications, original drawings, and manuscript pages that Anacréon collected over decades. The museum also displays loans from the Centre Pompidou. Hours vary by season: June-September daily except Mondays 11:00-18:00; reduced hours in off-season with annual closure January-early February.
Interesting Facts
One of the museum's books contains 32 pages of a chapter that was forgotten by the publisher - handwritten by the author Colette herself in her novel "Fin de Chéri". Anacréon discovered this lost manuscript and preserved it within the book's binding.
Anacréon practiced what he called "truffes" (truffles) - secretly inserting handwritten dedications, original drawings, personal letters, and manuscript excerpts into his rare books over decades. Three-quarters of his 550 books contain these hidden treasures that visitors can discover.
In 2003, actor Jean-Paul Belmondo visited the museum to see an exhibition dedicated to his father, sculptor Paul Belmondo (1898-1982), whose works were displayed alongside the permanent collection.
Planning Your Visit
Opening Hours
Ticket Prices
General Admission
RecommendedLocation & Practical Info
Address
Place de l'Isthme, 50400 Granville, France
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