In the heart of Montpellier, in the Beaux-Arts district, this cultural space of more than 800 m² — complete with a Mediterranean garden — is home to a remarkable collection of Art Brut and Outsider Art. With a fund of around two thousand works, it offers a sweeping overview of brut, singular, visionary, and surrealist creators of every horizon, from the "historic" period of the early 20th century right through to today's international Outsider Art.
The museum grew out of an artist's studio. It was created more than fifty years ago by Fernand Michel (1913–1999), a resolutely unconventional figure at the frontier of Art Brut, celebrated for his highly original works on naturally oxidised zinc. To preserve their father's work and keep his memory alive, his sons Patrick and Denys set out to showcase the family's place of creation — "l'Atelier Musée" — with a simple guiding idea: to seek out and gather as many works as possible by these world-renowned creative geniuses, all under one roof. It took over a decade of patient searching to bring the collection together, a part of which is on display at any one time. The institution is now run by the ADABS association, which continues to enrich the collection with the support of a few patrons.
The museum celebrates the work of self-taught creators "untouched by any artistic culture" — inspired, sometimes ill-at-ease with society, occasionally rebellious, and often deeply poetic, driven by the need to express themselves through paintings, drawings, and objects, conjuring up worlds that are intensely personal, moving, and astonishing. Across its walls you'll find hundreds of works by internationally recognised creators, including several of the movement's defining figures, while visitors can also explore Fernand Michel's own zinc creations, along with the house and studio where he worked. Throughout the year, the museum also stages rotating temporary exhibitions devoted to individual outsider and singular artists, and a specialised bookshop offers the fascinating volumes published by ADABS on the artists on display — a rich way to better understand their singular work.
Moving, surprising, and quite unlike any other museum in the city, the Musée d'Art Brut, Singulier is a fascinating window onto the world of outsider creation, right in the centre of Montpellier.