Gift of Antoine Béal to the Musée des Beaux-Arts

Belgian artist François-Joseph Navez's masterpiece L'Obole de la veuve, painted by this pupil of David in 1840, has just been donated to the Musée d'Orléans under reserve of usufruct by Antoine Béal, a generous donor to French museums, well known to the Musée d'Orléans, to whom he has already donated under reserve of usufruct a painting by Couder and one by Picot. This monumental painting reappeared on the art market in 2015 and was immediately acquired by the collector from Galerie Descours. The public can discover it in the exhibition L'art de transmettre. The Antoine Béal Collection, which runs from November 15, 2025 to March 29, 2026 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans.

A donation subject to usufruct enables an owner to donate a work of art and keep it in his home until he decides to relinquish usufruct. More than a third of Antoine Béal's collection has already been donated to the Louvre, Amiens, Rennes, Montpellier, Lyon, Strasbourg, Montargis and Orléans.