The Dukes of Burgundy left an immense legacy
More than anywhere else in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, the Côte d'Or benefits from an impressive artistic wealth, notably thanks to the heritage left by the Dukes of Burgundy. Thus, in their time, Philip the Bold and John the Fearless created a real artistic emulation in the whole West. There was talk everywhere of a school that was both Flemish and Burgundian, and some great works remain today that can be admired. Like the Charterhouse of Champmol and its Well of Moses, at the gates of Dijon. This work brings to light new figurative processes for sculpture with an expressive style where the subjects seem to evolve as on a stage. The Well of Moses is all that remains of a Calvary. This masterpiece, made between 1395 and 1406 by the Dutch sculptor Claus Sluter, is a 7-meter high hexagonal pile of sculpted figures, namely the 6 prophets of the Old Testament: Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Jeremiah and David. Nowadays, it can be seen in the park of the hospital La Chartreuse in Dijon. The polyptych of the Last Judgment is the work of Rogier van der Weyden. Born at the end of the 14th century, Rogier van der Weyden became the official painter of the city of Brussels, and his reputation spread throughout Europe when he entered the service of the dukes. He then offered Burgundy his most beautiful work, namely this flamboyant polyptych preserved in Beaune at the heart of the Hôtel-Dieu.
The Côte-d'Or has seen the birth of many artists
Many legends of the arts were born in the Côte d'Or region. Like Hippolyte Michaud born in 1823 in Beaune. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Dijon and was appointed curator of his native town in 1864. Many of his works can be seen in the museum he directed, in the Magnin Museum and in the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts. The painter Félix Ziem was born in 1821, also in Beaune. After a dispute with the Dijon School of Fine Arts, he left the region at the age of 18. However, he is often considered as one of the precursors of impressionism. He was the first painter to have his works returned to the Louvre in his lifetime (in 1910). The famous sculptor Hippolyte Moreau (1832-1926) was born in Dijon. Most of his work is kept in the city's Fine Arts Museum. Another famous Dijon native, and not the least, Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) lived a good part of his childhood at the Château du Castel (now the Lycée Le Castel). After working at the powder factory in Châtillon-sur-Seine, he met Charles Nepveu, a Parisian entrepreneur specializing in metal construction. This decisive meeting gave us the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty in New York. Since 1981, a large metal sculpture, "The Winged Dream", has been installed on the port of the Burgundy canal in Dijon. Created by the sculptor Robert Rigot, it celebrates the artist in the neighborhood where he was born. Let's also mention François Pompon (1855-1933), a native of Saulieu, but we'll come back to that later! Finally, much closer to us, the Chinese painter and sculptor Yan Pei-Ming (born in Shanghai in 1958) has been living in Dijon for over 40 years. The Musée des Beaux Arts has dedicated a large exhibition to him when it reopens in 2019.
Museums not to be missed
The department is home to many beautiful museums that it is impossible to mention. Nevertheless, among them are some unmissable ones. Notably the Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon that we have just mentioned. Reopened in 2019 after 15 years of work, it presents more than 1,500 works. The permanent exhibition, chronological and thematic, allows visitors to move through 50 rooms tracing 8 periods from Antiquity to the 20th century. The Musée des Beaux-arts de Beaune contains a few steles and Gallo-Roman remains, and presents sculptures from the 12th to the early 20th century, including a polychrome Virgin and Child, a true treasure of medieval art. Flemish painters of the 16th and 17th centuries are also represented. Don't miss the lithographs of Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger and Le Corbusier. In total, nearly 400 paintings, 350 sculptures and 1,000 engravings are housed there. Still in Beaune, how could one not visit the superb Hospices which are the pride and joy of the whole of Burgundy? This monument, one of the most visited in the Côte-d'Or (more than 420,000 visitors per year!), owes its fame to its glazed tiles, to its prestigious sales of great wines which have been held for more than 160 years, but also to the film La Grande Vadrouille which was partly shot there. This jewel of Burgundy's medieval heritage was born in 1443, when Nicolas Rolin (chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy), Philippe le Bon and his wife, Guigone de Salins, decided to create a pious foundation. They had a hospital built for the sick and destitute. The first patient was admitted in 1452, the last in the early 1980s. Today, the Museum of the Hôtel-Dieu invites you to discover its fascinating history. And you can admire the polyptych of the Last Judgment mentioned above. But let's go back to Dijon where the Museum of Sacred Arts and the magnificent Magnin Museum, located in one of the most beautiful private mansions in the city, await you. The latter presents the impressive collection that Maurice Magnin and his sister Jeanne bequeathed to the State (along with their building). Paintings from the Flemish and Dutch schools are to be discovered, with - among others - theWinter Landscapeby Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Also on display are paintings from the Italian schools of the 16th to 18th centuries. Finally, the French school is also there, with works by Le Sueur and Géricault. It is impossible to miss the formidable Musée du pays châtillonnais, housed in the former Notre-Dame de Châtillon-sur-Seine abbey. It houses one of the most beautiful collections from the Celtic and Gallo-Roman eras in France. With, at the key, an extraordinary piece: the treasure of Vix, discovered in 1953 at the foot of the mount Lassois. This treasure is composed of the largest vase known to date: 208 kg, 1.64 m high, 1.27 m in diameter. Finally, a detour to Montbard is also necessary. To the Buffon Museum, precisely. Dedicated to the great naturalist of the 18th century (a native of the city), it is also worth visiting for its park and its 14 terraces, intimately linked to the history of the castle of the Dukes of Burgundy around which it is built. It is here that Buffon wrote a large part of the 36 volumes of his Natural History.
A paradise for the arts: new, modern and contemporary
Art Nouveau left its mark here, before modern and then contemporary art took hold. Let's return, for example, to the animal sculptor François Pompon, author of numerous works including the famous White Bear, commonly known as "Ours Pompon". A François Pompon Museum is dedicated to him in his birthplace, Saulieu, and a reproduction of his Bear can be seen at the entrance to the town and in Dijon's Jardin Darcy. Dijon, where Le Consortium promotes contemporary art throughout the Côte-d'Or region. Over the years, this association has built up a first-rate collection that has been invited to prestigious European museums (from the Centre Pompidou to Seville). There's also L'Usine, the Espace autogéré des Tanneries (a former factory turned artists' squat) in Dijon, and La Porcherie in Ménetreux-le-Pitois, a venue for exhibitions and experiments in contemporary art. And La Karrier, near Villars-Fontaine. This former quarry features 10 monumental frescoes and numerous exhibitions. Of course, there's also Art'Planète in Nuits-Saint-Georges: a festival of contemporary and outsider art, or Art Fair/Dijon, a contemporary art fair whose second edition took place in 2022. Also new is Montbard's new art gallery, created by Michel de Marmont!
The 7th art feels particularly good here!
Burgundy is home to some great writers, painters, sculptors and scientists, but it also has many admirers in the world of the 7th art! The Burgundy-Franche-Comté Film Office, created a few years ago, helps with the creation and production of films. But many feature films have always been shot in the département. In Beaune, we've already mentioned Gérard Oury's La Grande Vadrouille (1966), which also passed through Meursault, but we can also mention Claude Lelouch. Deeply rooted in the region, he directed 3 of his latest films here: Roman de gare (2007), Chacun sa vie (2017) and La Vertu des impondérables (2019). A little earlier, Cédric Klapisch proposed Ce qui nous lie, a film about the transmission of a vineyard set in the famous Beaune vineyards. In Dijon, there are Louis Malle's Les Amants (1958), Roger Vadim's Le Repos du guerrier (1962) and Claude Pinoteau's L'Etudiante (1988). In Semur-en-Auxois, La Route joyeuse by and starring Gene Kelly (1960). In Montbard and at Château de Marigny-le-Cahuet, Les Trois Mousquetaires by Bernard Borderie (1961), and at Abbaye de Fontenay Angélique, marquise des anges by the same Bernard Borderie (1964) as well as Cyrano de Bergerac by Jean-Paul Rappeneau (1990). Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (1974) played at Pont-d'Ouche. And in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, Lasse Hallström's Le Chocolat (2001) with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. But apart from these film shoots, the Côte d'Or was home for 10 years to the International Detective Film Festival in Beaune, presided over by Claude Lelouch. As for Dijon, every October it hosts the "Rencontres cinématographiques". Organized by the civil society of Authors, Directors and Producers (ARP), these events enable the public to discover numerous films, some of them previews.
