Musée Paul-Valéry

About the museum

The Musée Paul Valéry is a museum of the city of Sète, built on a terrace of Mont Saint-Clair overlooking the Cimetière marin, where the poet rests, and the Mediterranean. The architect Guy Guillaume designed it in the early 1970s in concrete and glass, in the spirit of Le Corbusier’s buildings. It opened in November 1970. Major renovation work preceded its reopening on June 18, 2010, with larger public spaces and a new presentation of the collections.

The collections comprise more than 7,000 works. The fine arts include over 730 paintings and nearly 2,900 drawings, with a major emphasis on two 20th-century schools from Sète: the Montpellier-Sète group (François Desnoyer, Gabriel Couderc, Jean Hugo and others) and Figuration libre (Robert Combas, Hervé and Richard Di Rosa). There are also works by Marquet, Dufy, Marinot and Henri Martin, and a graphic arts collection from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Three specific collections complete the ensemble. The Paul Valéry collection, formed after the Second World War through two donations from his widow, brings together more than 1,000 documents and works: manuscripts, including the first manuscript of the Cimetière marin, correspondence, portraits of the poet and drawings by his hand. The Salah Stétié collection, donated in 2017, combines paintings, sculptures, manuscripts and artists’ books. Finally, a collection of folk arts and traditions preserves in particular souvenirs of the joutes nautiques specific to Sète. The gardens host literary gatherings, including the Journées Paul Valéry every September.

Highlights

• 1970s architecture inspired by Le Corbusier, facing the Cimetière marin
• Paul Valéry collection with the first manuscript of the Cimetière marin
• Painters of the Montpellier-Sète group and of Figuration libre
• Salah Stétié donation: works and artists’ books
• Folk collection on the Sète joutes nautiques
• Gardens with views of the harbor and the Mediterranean

Permanent exhibitions

• Collections de beaux-arts – More than 730 paintings and nearly 2,900 drawings, including works by the Sète artists of the Montpellier-Sète group and Figuration libre.
• Fonds Paul Valéry – Manuscripts, correspondence, portraits and drawings of the poet, including the first manuscript of the Cimetière marin.
• Arts et traditions populaires – Objects, costumes and images related to the joutes nautiques, an emblematic tradition of Sète.

Founded

1970

Operated by

Ville de Sète

Visitors per year

approx. 50,288 (2018)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: First Sunday of each month

The full and reduced rates shown apply outside the summer exhibition; they increase during the major summer exhibition. Also free for job seekers (proof issued less than three months ago) and for Friends of the Musée Paul Valéry outside temporary exhibitions.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

All floors are accessible and the museum can be visited entirely with reduced mobility, according to the Hérault tourist office. Two parking spaces are reserved for people with reduced mobility. Wheelchairs and folding stools are lent free of charge, without reservation, but they cannot leave the museum. There is no guide strip for visually impaired visitors; a guided tour in French Sign Language is organized from time to time.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The museum offers workshops for children and youth activities, especially during school holidays, by registration. Free admission for children under 10.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

The Midi là-haut restaurant-café has permanently closed. On-site shop and online shop. The temperature stays constant all year and can feel cool in summer.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit