At the Musée Ingres Bourdelle in Montauban in the Tarn-et-Garonne department of south-west France, recently reopened after a three year renovation, for two excellent exhibitions.

‘Constellation Ingres Bourdelle’ displays paintings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, born in Montauban in 1780, and sculptures by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, a pupil of Ingres, who was born in the town in 1861. The exhibition also includes works by students of Ingres, as well as twentieth-century artists, such as Pablo Picasso, who were influenced by him. Bourdelle’s works are compared to those of Rodin and the presence of paintings by Edgar Degas, Maurice Denis and others provides a context for artistic creation during this period. The second exhibition, ‘Dans l’atelier d’Ingres’, displays the museum’s incredible collection of Ingres drawings – 4,507 works, the largest collection in the world.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘The Dream of Ossian’ (1813)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘Christ Delivering the Keys of Heaven to St. Peter’ (1820)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘Portrait of Ferdinand-Philppe d’Orléans’ (1842)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘Portrait of Madame Gonse’ (1852)

Émile-Antoine Bourdelle ‘Head of Apollo’ (1900 – 09)

Émile-Antoine Bourdelle ‘Grand Warrior of Montauban’ (1898 – 1900, cast 1956),    flanked by Edouard Vuillard ‘Lucien Rosengart at his Desk’ (1930) and Edgar Degas ‘Portrait of the Artist with Evariste de Valernes’ (c.1865)

Auguste Rodin ‘Eve’ (1907)

Pablo Picasso ‘La Petite Corrida’ (1922)

Pablo Picasso ‘Paul, as Harlequin’ (1924)

The museum also has a permanent collection of paintings from the Renaissance to the modern era, formerly the collection of the bishops of Montauban, including the recently identified ‘Portrait of a Monk’ by Jan van Eyck:

At La Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, for a superb performance of Mahler’s Symphony no. 2, the ‘Resurrection’, by the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Tugan Sokhiev. The choir, ‘Orfeón Donostiarra’, were excellent, as were the soloists, mezzo-soprano Christa Mayer and soprano Jeanine de Bique.

In Agen, in the Lot-et-Garonne region of south-west France, for the exhibition ‘Goya: avant-garde genius. The master and his school’.

The exhibition followed the career of Goya from his time as a designer of tapestries and as a portrait artist whilst at the courts of Kings Charles III and IV in Madrid in the 1770s and 1780s, through his ‘Caprichos’, published in 1799, his ‘Disasters of War’ etchings from 1810 – 20, and the ‘Majas’ paintings, as well as a variety of works concerned with witches, fantastical creatures and religious and political corruption.

Francisco Goya ‘Self-Portrait’ (1783)

Francisco Goya ‘Mariana de Waldstein, Marquesa de Santa Cruz’ (c.1798)

Francisco Goya ‘Cannibals’ (c.1800)

Francisco Goya ‘And they are like wild beasts’ (1812 – 15)

Francisco Goya ‘The Balloon’ (c.1816 – 24)

Francisco Goya ‘Capricho with flying animals’ (c.1818 -19)