Le Musée – Arts & Figures des Pyrénées Centrales (Arts and the People of the Central Pyrenees)

Located in the heart of the Pyrenean mountains, in the centre of the ancient town of Saint Gaudens, the museum is housed in a neo-classical building that dates from 1875. Built within the former ramparts, the museum offers an overview of the foothills region of the central Pyrenees featuring the people, events and remarkable achievements that it is known for.

The Saint-Gaudens Museum sheds light on a special geographic environment that is the plateau overlooking the Garonne which was instrumental in the local economic and social development as well as the history of this central part of the Pyrenean mountains.
The Garonne River is a major waterway along the length of which a thriving textile industry and the production of porcelain and ceramics were developed. These activities supported the economy of Saint-Gaudens in the nineteenth century.

The museum holds the largest public collection of the locally produced ceramic called Saint-Gaudens/Valentine. The artist André Rixens (1848-1925) is also represented through a collection of his paintings.

A special room is reserved for local central Pyrenean personalities whose life and work are honored through a series of temporary exhibitions.

The museum mounts two to three temporary exhibits annually