Donations of Graphic Art
Ten Years of Acquisitions (2015–2025)

Alongside the exhibition *The Art of Passing On: The Antoine Béal Collection*, the museum pays tribute to the many art lovers who have significantly enriched its collection of graphic arts over the past ten years. Since 2015, the museum has received no fewer than 128 works donated by private individuals, bringing the number of drawings in its collection to 11,543. Their generosity continues a tradition that dates back to the museum’s very founding in 1823. It was by encouraging collectors and families in Orléans to donate works of art to the museum that the Count of Bizemont, its first director, established the original core of the municipal collection. From the moment it opened to the public, the drawings were prominently displayed on the gallery walls alongside the paintings. The drawing collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans is now among the most substantial in the region’s public collections. Art lovers, curators, dealers, and art historians all contribute to this virtuous cycle of enrichment, driven by a passion for museums and in tribute to the work carried out there. These drawings—many of which are being unveiled to the public for the first time—span all periods of art history from the Renaissance to the present day.