Hubert Robert and Fragonard: nature takes centre stage in a major exhibition in Valence

From 7 March to 21 June 2026, Valence Museum is hosting a major exhibition dedicated to two leading figures of 18th-century landscape painting: Hubert Robert and Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Entitled *Le sentiment de la nature* (The Sense of Nature), it offers a fresh perspective on their artistic relationship and their role in the emergence of a new sensibility towards landscape.

A key reference point for the work of Hubert Robert, Valence Museum houses one of the world’s most extensive collections dedicated to the artist. Assembled from the early 19th century onwards thanks to several major donations, this exceptional collection forms the basis of an ambitious exhibition, bringing together nearly 80 works—including paintings, drawings and prints—and presenting the exhibition through an approach that is both scholarly and sensitive.

Curated by Sarah Catala, an art historian specialising in Robert, the exhibition explores the links between the two artists, from their shared training in Rome to the development of their careers. Here, the aim is not merely to compare their styles: the exhibition explores above all their profound relationship with nature, at a time when the landscape was becoming a field of experimentation that was as much aesthetic as it was intellectual.

Rome, Tivoli: the beginnings

The exhibition begins in Rome, where Robert and Fragonard met in 1756 at the French Academy. Encouraged to work outdoors, they refined a practice of sketching from life that would leave a lasting mark on their work. Fragonard sought above all to capture the vitality of living subjects; Robert, for his part, was already distinguished by his fascination with ruins and the manifestations of nature. Their stay in Tivoli in 1760 then emerges as a pivotal moment. This Italian landscape, with its waterfalls, lush vegetation and ancient ruins, became a veritable visual laboratory for the two painters. There, they developed a vision of landscape where observation mingled with imagination, following in the footsteps of the Italian masters, yet with an increasingly personal voice.

Back in France, their paths diverged. Hubert Robert pursued a career in the royal service and developed a body of work characterised by ruins and gardens. Fragonard, for his part, continued his travels—notably to Holland and Flanders. This exposure to the North enriched his palette and influenced his approach to landscape painting, through his contact with Dutch painters. The exhibition highlights this interplay of contrasts: on the one hand, a more architectural and meditative vision in Robert; on the other, a freer, more sensory and atmospheric style in Fragonard. Yet both share a common ambition: to revitalise landscape painting by placing it at the heart of the aesthetic and scientific debates of their time.

A sensitive approach to nature, bridging science and imagination

As you move through the galleries, nature emerges as a central figure. Sometimes observed with precision, sometimes reimagined, it becomes a space for experimentation where scientific curiosity, literary references and visual imagination intersect.

At Fragonard, the gardens exude an almost theatrical sensuality, drawing on the spirit of thegalactic parties. At Robert’s, grottoes, rocks and ruins reflect a particular focus on the forms of the mineral world, revealing an approach that at times borders on scholarly study.

Nature, a source of both pleasure and knowledge, reflects the intellectual shifts of the 18th century, a period marked by the rise of the natural sciences and a new sensitivity to emotions.

Landscape as a human experience

In the final section, the stroll becomes a central theme. The landscape is no longer merely a backdrop: it transforms into an experience, both intimate and social. The figures passing through it embody a new way of being in the world. In Robert’s work, the ruin gradually overgrown by vegetation evokes the fragility of time and the memory of civilisations. In Fragonard’s work, nature acts as a mirror for emotions, accompanying the impulses of the heart and the imagination.

Beyond the history of art, this appreciation of nature also resonates with very contemporary concerns. As early as the 18th century, Robert and Fragonard were already demonstrating a keen interest in landscapes and a desire to preserve certain ones.

By paying tribute to these two artists, Museum Valence invites us to reflect on our relationship with nature, exploring themes of contemplation, transformation and conservation.

Valence Museum, Hubert Robert and Fragonard exhibition, from 7 March to 21 June 2026.
In partnership with Museum TV