Fondation de l’Hermitage

About the museum

The villa “L’Hermitage” on a hill above the city was built between 1850 and 1853 for the Lausanne banker Charles-Juste Bugnion. On the plot acquired in 1841, the park was laid out first, before the neoclassical main house was built. Who exactly designed the building is not certain.

In 1976, the Bugnion family donated the house to the city. At the same time, a foundation was established to restore, preserve and promote the building and to organise two to three art exhibitions a year. The founding director was the art historian François Daulte. The first exhibition in 1984 showed Impressionism in collections of French-speaking Switzerland. Since then, more than two million visitors have seen around 80 exhibitions, including solo shows on Bonnard, Giacometti, Hopper, Magritte, Miró and Monet.

In the basement, alongside a modern extension, is the permanently displayed collection of Chinese ceramics of the Collection Vergottis, with around 400 objects from the 12th to the 19th century. The foundation also owns its own collection of around 600 works, which is shown in exhibitions or lent out. The museum has been closed since 10 November 2025 for renovation work; reopening has been announced for autumn 2027.

Highlights

• Neoclassical villa with a park and views of the Old Town, the lake and the Alps
• Major art exhibitions with international appeal
• Permanent exhibition of Chinese ceramics (Collection Vergottis)
• Own collection of around 600 works

Operated by

Fondation de l’Hermitage

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