Musée Réattu

The Musée Réattu occupies a beautiful 15th-century Grand Priory of the Knights Hospitaller, right on the Rhône. The core collection consists of 800 paintings and drawings by Arles-born painter Jacques Réattu, but the museum has accumulated considerably more interesting additions since then.

Picasso's 57 donated drawings are the main draw, but the photography collection — the first in any French art museum, established in 1965 — is equally significant, with over 4,000 images including works by Richard Avedon and Man Ray. A Van Gogh letter to Gauguin, written from Arles in January 1889, is also held here.

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In 1971 Pablo Picasso donated 57 of his own drawings to this museum — apparently because he liked the city of Arles and wanted to give something back. The gift was characteristic of Picasso's impulsive generosity, and rather unexpected for a relatively small regional museum in a former Knights Hospitaller priory.

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