Denys-Puech Museum of Fine Arts

This is a building you simply can’t miss. The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1910 thanks to the determination of its creator, Denys Puech, a sculptor from Rodez who dreamed of giving his hometown a true sanctuary dedicated to the art of Aveyron. With the support of his artist friends Maurice Bompard and Eugène Viala, he brought together the first collections that would bring the museum to life.

Architect André Boyer then designed a bright, airy building, with wide windows on the ground floor to showcase the sculptures. Even today, the museum preserves the complete studio collection of Denys Puech—drawings, models, plaster casts, and marble works that let visitors follow the step-by-step creation of an artwork. You can admire his graceful female figures, his official busts, and his portraits of leading figures of the French Third Republic. The collection also features the orientalist paintings of Maurice Bompard, inspired by his travels around the Mediterranean, and the engravings of Eugène Viala, an artist from Lévézou whose dramatic landscapes evoke a dreamlike, almost fantastical vision of nature.

But the museum doesn’t stop at 19th-century Fine Arts—it has also embraced contemporary art, with public commissions and site-specific works. On the façade, you’ll notice pieces by François Morellet and the striking yellow dogs of Aurèle, adding a bold modern touch. Temporary exhibitions and contemporary creations often enter into dialogue with the permanent collections, keeping the museum alive and dynamic.

With free admission, the Denys-Puech Museum offers an intimate encounter with sculpture and artistic creation in Aveyron, while staying open to the most contemporary forms. It’s a museum on a human scale, a true showcase for understanding both the region’s artistic history and its universal reach.