National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers

The Musee national des beaux-arts opened in 1930 on a terrace above the Jardin d'Essai, in a long building looking down over the garden and the bay, and it is usually described as the largest fine arts museum in Africa. The collection runs to several thousand works: European painting and sculpture from the Renaissance onward, a substantial holding of nineteenth-century French and Orientalist painting, prints and drawings, and the work of Algerian artists of the twentieth century, including the generation that shaped modern painting here. Part of the collection was removed at independence and later returned. The galleries are spacious and quiet, and the terrace view is worth the climb on its own.

History

The city of Algiers first kept its works of art in the run-down rooms of the Société des beaux-arts, founded by Hippolyte Lazerges in 1875, then in a museum of 1897 housed in a teachers' college, and from 30 May 1908 in a former army barracks, which closed in 1928 after twenty years. For the centenary of French Algeria the architect Paul Guion designed a new museum in the Hamma district, opposite the Jardin d'Essai, with furniture by Louis Fernez; work began in 1928, it was inaugurated on 5 May 1930 and opened to the public in April 1931, with thirty-five painting rooms, sculpture and cast galleries, a library and a print room. On 14 May 1962 more than 300 works were taken from the museum to the Louvre in Paris (Wikipedia, National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers).

The main sights

• Nineteenth-century Orientalist painting - a large holding of the genre.
• Twentieth-century Algerian artists - the modern painting collection.
• European painting and sculpture - the older part of the holdings.
• The terrace over the garden - the view down to the Jardin d'Essai and the bay.

When to go

Year round. Two to three hours. Closed on some days; check locally. The climb from the garden is steep, so a taxi to the door is easier.

Good to know

Only part of the collection is displayed and rooms close without notice. Labelling is limited and mostly in French and Arabic. Photography is often restricted. The approach on foot from the garden is a hard climb.

Nearby

The Jardin d'Essai is directly below; central Algiers lies west.

Key facts