--- title: "Musée Zervos, Vézelay: Picasso, Calder and Miró" description: "Modern art from the Zervos collection in Romain Rolland's last home on Vézelay's main street. Allow an hour, 1 h 30 from Beaune by private driver." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-zervos-vezelay lang: en updated: 2026-09-30 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/musee-zervos-vezelay.png --- # Zervos Museum of Modern Art (Musée départemental d’art moderne, collection Zervos) > Zervos Museum of Modern Art: Picasso, Calder and Miró in the Vézelay house where the writer Romain Rolland spent his last years. Zervos Museum of Modern Art is in Vézelay (Yonne), 1 h 28 by road (125 km) from Beaune. Allow 1 hour · Private driver from Beaune: €320 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. On the main street of Vézelay, a small museum of modern art fills the house where the writer Romain Rolland lived from 1938. It shows the collection of Christian Zervos, the publisher who knew many of the great artists of the 20th century. Works by Picasso, Calder, Kandinsky and Miró hang in calm, pared-back rooms. ## Key facts - Type: Museums - Where: Vézelay · Yonne - Location: 95 km north-west of Beaune · Yonne - Coordinates: 47.4639, 3.7433 - 1 h 28 from Beaune - Allow 1 hour - Vézelay - Official website: [mdam-zervos.fr](https://www.mdam-zervos.fr/) - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h 28 · 125 km - €320 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h 28 by road (125 km), €320 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History Christian Zervos was an art critic and publisher. He founded the review Cahiers d'art, published from 1926 to 1960, and in 1932, at Picasso's request, began the catalogue of all his works. In 1970 Zervos left his collection to the town of Vézelay. The museum opened in 2006 in the house of Romain Rolland, the Nobel Prize-winning writer who died there in 1944. The collection covers modern art from about 1925 to 1965. It includes sculptures by Henri Laurens and Alberto Giacometti, a large mobile by Alexander Calder, and paintings by Kandinsky, Max Ernst, Miró, Nicolas de Staël and Serge Poliakoff. Zervos also collected ancient objects from the Mediterranean world, such as Cycladic idols. The museum is run by the Yonne department and also stages temporary exhibitions. ## What you will see The ground floor mixes small sculptures and a great cast-iron relief by Laurens with Calder's mobile, and a room where works by Picasso and Julio González hang side by side. Upstairs are Giacometti sculptures and paintings by Kandinsky, Ernst and Miró. Romain Rolland's study, with his desk and piano, is preserved. Under the roof, displays on Cahiers d'art and ancient Mediterranean figures show the breadth of Zervos's taste. A terrace looks out towards the Morvan. ## Planning your visit Allow about an hour, and combine it with the basilica higher up the same street. Vézelay is about 1 hour 30 minutes from Beaune. The museum is open from early April to early November, and closes on Tuesdays except in July and August. Guided tours and children's workshops are offered. Please check the official website for opening times. ## Did you know? Christian Zervos began the catalogue of Picasso's complete works in 1932, at the artist's own request. Volumes of it are displayed under the roof of the museum. ## Around Zervos Museum of Modern Art What to combine with Zervos Museum of Modern Art on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Irancy](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/irancy) (28 km away): The red wine village of the Yonne, set in a bowl of vines and cherry trees. ### Châteaux - [Château de Vault-de-Lugny](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-vault-de-lugny) (9 km away): A moated castle with a tall square keep near Avallon, now an intimate five-star hotel. - [Château de Bazoches](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-bazoches) (10 km away): The castle Vauban bought with a royal reward, and turned into a workshop for his military engineers. - [Château de Chastellux](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-chastellux) (14 km away): A towered fortress at the gateway to the Morvan, still lived in by the family of its name. ### Things to do - [Maison Jules-Roy](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-jules-roy-vezelay) (1 km away): The writer Jules Roy's last home in Vézelay, with his study kept as he left it and terraced gardens facing the basilica. - [Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, Vézelay (Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/basilique-de-vezelay), 1 km away: A Romanesque masterpiece crowning a hill, where Saint Bernard preached the Second Crusade. - [Église Notre-Dame de Saint-Père](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/eglise-notre-dame-saint-pere) (2 km away): A luminous Gothic church at the foot of Vézelay hill, with a 50-metre bell tower and a carved porch restored after Viollet-le-Duc. ### Restaurants - [Le Valucien](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/le-valucien-vault-de-lugny) (9 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred table with Mauritian accents inside a moated castle near Avallon. ## Questions about Zervos Museum of Modern Art ### How far is Zervos Museum of Modern Art from Beaune? Zervos Museum of Modern Art is about 1 h 28 from Beaune by road (125 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €320 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Zervos Museum of Modern Art take? For the visit, allow 1 hour. ### When is Zervos Museum of Modern Art open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (mdam-zervos.fr) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Can a private driver take us to Zervos Museum of Modern Art? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:zervos): €320 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - --- Canonical page: