Quimper’s Musée des beaux-arts is not a museum of sculpture.  Jean-Marie de Silguy’s initial collection did not contain any sculptures.  After it opened, the museum was allocated a number of works by the French state, often copies of antiques and rarely original works.

As in the majority of provincial museums, the plaster sculptures had been stored in very poor conditions, and were unsuitable for exhibiting, except for a recently restored Rodin group which until recently was thought to be a copy.  The works made of marble were in better condition.  The museum now has two fine pieces of work on show by Fourquet and Aizelin.  An important Pradier from the Lavallée collection joined the collection a short time ago and an original plaster, Les Trois Ombres (the Three Shadows), has just been restored.  A set of Breton inspired sculptures and paintings have been reunited.   The marble, plaster and granite works produced by the Bigouden sculptor René Quillivic naturally take centre stage.