Second only to the Departmental Museum of Brittany in terms of importance and devoted principally to the history and archaeology of the Finistère department, the Musée des Beaux-Arts opened in 1864 in order to house the fabulous collection, which includes over 1,200 paintings, 2,000 drawings and 12,000 engravings, bequeathed to the city of Quimper by Jean-Marie de Silguy. 
Jean-Marie de Silguy was particularly keen on old paintings, from the 15th century to the start of the 19th century, and was not particularly interested in Breton-inspired works.
In order to fill this gap and give it a sense of regional identity, in a period where the fashion and taste for Armorican culture had been increasing for several decades, between 1880 and 1900 the Museum embarked on the annual acquisition of a significant collection of contemporary works, some of which were in very large format, specifically on Breton themes.
After a quiet period, from 1950 onwards the Musée des Beaux-Arts enjoyed a new lease of life and leapt into the 20th century thanks to the acquisition of the first collection of works by artists of the Pont-Aven School and Max Jacob, who was born in Quimper. Since then, renovated, expanded and restructured, the Museum has continued to enrich its collections of both old and more contemporary works – happily combining the expression of artistic universalism with the assertion of a regional identity – and becoming established as one of Brittany’s top museums.