Contemporary · Architecture

Collection Lambert

Avignon

Collection Lambert is a collection of contemporary art assembled by the Parisian gallery owner Yvon Lambert since the 1960s. It is installed in Avignon in the Hôtel de Caumont, at 8 rue Violette. The Hôtel de Caumont is a museum open to the public since 2000. The building was started in 1720 by Jean-Baptiste Franque and completed by François Franque after 1751. It was acquired by the conseil général de Vaucluse in 1878 and later used for the école normale d’instituteurs and the gendarmerie nationale. The collection includes works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Ryman, Brice Marden, Miquel Barceló, Carl André, Gordon Matta-Clark, Anselm Kiefer, Christian Boltanski, Andres Serrano, and Douglas Gordon. It also represents artists absent from national collections, such as Cy Twombly and Nan Goldin. In France, the private collection comprises more than 1,000 works and reflects a long-standing relationship between the collector and his artists.

Map showing the location of Collection Lambert in Avignon
Location of Collection Lambert in Avignon

Nearby Objects

Collection Lambert in Avignon

Collection Lambert is a collection of contemporary art assembled by the Parisian gallery owner Yvon Lambert since the 1960s. It is installed in Avignon in the Hotel de Caumont, a museum that has been open to the public since 2000. The setting gives the collection a public cultural presence within a historic museum location.

Htel de Caumont History

Collection Lambert is associated with Yvon Lambert's personal collection opening at the hotel de Caumont in 2000. The hotel de Caumont is located at 8 rue Violette. Its construction was started in 1720 by Jean-Baptiste Franque and completed by Francois Franque after 1751. The building was acquired by the conseil general de Vaucluse in 1878 and later used for the ecole normale d'instituteurs and the gendarmerie nationale.

Collection Structure and Public Transfer

Collection Lambert is based on a private collection in France that now comprises more than 1,000 works. Its holdings include works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Ryman, Brice Marden, Miquel Barcelo, Carl Andre, Gordon Matta-Clark, Anselm Kiefer, Christian Boltanski, Andres Serrano, and Douglas Gordon. The collection also represents artists absent from national collections, including Cy Twombly and Nan Goldin. It is marked by a long-standing relationship between the collector and the artists.

In 2006, an expansion of the collection was considered with the municipality of Avignon under Marie-Josee Roig. The proposed plan included using the hotel de Montfaucon, which housed the Ecole superieure d'art d'Avignon, and it also involved a projected donation of 300 works to the city for a contemporary art center. The project was later realized through a donation of 450 inalienable works to the French State in 2010. These works are conserved at the hotel de Caumont, with the condition that exhibition space be expanded at the hotel de Montfaucon.

The restructuring of the collection was entrusted to Berger and Berger architects and Christiane Schmuckle-Mollard. The auditorium, with 200 seats, was scenographically designed by dUCKS sceno. The new building was inaugurated in 2014.

The 2007 Cy Twombly Exhibition Controversy

In summer 2007, Collection Lambert featured a Cy Twombly exhibition that included a triptych dedicated to Plato's Phaedrus. The show became the focus of a major controversy after Rindy Sam left a lipstick mark on one canvas of the triptych. Sam said the canvas looked more beautiful with the lipstick mark, but the incident drew strong public attention and was treated as vandalism by the gallery. Collection Lambert, through Yvon Lambert, filed a lawsuit against Sam and requested 2 million euros in damages. The Avignon court later fined Sam and sentenced her to community service, and on appeal she was also ordered to pay restoration costs. The court additionally imposed a fine for moral damages to the painter and to Yvon Lambert.

Controversy Around the Exhibitions

Collection Lambert was the site of controversy during the exhibition Je crois aux miracles, which featured two works by Andres Serrano. Expositions noted that a print of Piss Christ was shown there; the work had already been exhibited worldwide for 25 years and had previously caused controversies. The display prompted protests and harassment by integrist Catholics targeted at the Caumont Hotel, where the exhibition was held. The Archbishop of Avignon demanded that the Piss Christ artwork be removed and described it as odious and disrespectful to Christ's image.

Expositions also recorded a direct attack on Serrano's works by a group of young men using hammers and blunt objects. After the attack, threats including death threats were directed at the collection's managers, and police protection was requested for the reopening of the exhibition.