Musée des Avelines Opens Its Reserves in Saint-Cloud Exhibition

The Musée des Avelines in Saint-Cloud is staging an exhibition that turns its back-of-house operations into the main event, opening its storage reserves to visitors and detailing the work the public never sees: récolement (inventory checking), régie (art handling) and restoration. Works never before displayed are included, among them a bust of Flaubert by Clésinger that still awaits its inventory number. Several paintings are shown from the reverse, exposing labels, markings and earlier restorations, while other pieces remain in their crates, packed between tissue paper and bubble wrap. Across four rooms, the display traces how an object enters a collection and why a Flemish Vierge continues to raise questions. Two walkers concealed beneath an old restoration have reappeared in Camille Roqueplan's Les Cascades de Saint-Cloud. Édouard Dubufe's portrait of the Prince impérial, carried into exile by the Empress Eugénie, has just returned to Saint-Cloud, where the museum acquired it. The exhibition runs from 15 October 2026 to 21 February 2027 at 60 rue Gounod, 92210 Saint-Cloud, reachable via Transilien gare de Saint-Cloud and tram T2 Parc de Saint-Cloud. Opening hours are Wednesday to Saturday 12h–18h and Sunday 14h–18h, closed on public holidays and from 25 December to 1 January. Admission is free.