A man of great learning, a passionate art historian, and a renowned speaker, Jacques-Édouard Berger (1945–1993) spent his life traveling the world in search of other cultures and sharing his journeys with wide audiences through lectures. With a keen sensitivity to objects and their aesthetic qualities, he set out to build a major collection, half of which comes from the Nile Valley, covering all the major chronological phases of ancient Egyptian civilization. The other half of the collection originates from much farther afield, in East Asia—primarily China, but also Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, and Tibet.

Long recognized for its richness, the Berger Collection was featured in the exhibition Jacques-Édouard Berger: Shared Perspectives, organized by the Musée Cantonal de Design et d’Arts appliqués Contemporains (MUDAC) from November 1995 to January 1996. Since 2000, the collection had been on deposit with the City of Lausanne. MUDAC dedicated a gallery to it within the Maison Gaudard, regularly renewing its display until the institution closed in 2020 ahead of its move to Plateforme 10.

Thanks to this donation, the FGA’s collections are enriched with complementary works that deepen certain periods, diversify the range of object types represented, and open up new comparative perspectives, while strengthening the overall coherence and scholarly ambition of the collection. This is particularly true of the Asian art collection, which previously consisted of only about a dozen works and is now taking on a new dimension.

“This donation from the Fondation Jacques-Édouard Berger is a wonderful opportunity for the museum we are envisioning in Caen, where I hope to make the discovery of cultures and their histories accessible. With remarkable intellectual curiosity and scholarly rigor, Jacques-Édouard Berger assembled a cohesive body of works that now makes it possible to expand the ancient Egyptian art collection I have built and to offer our future visitors a rich and generous selection of high-quality Asian art.”
— Jean Claude Gandur, Chairman and Founder of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art

“Jacques-Édouard Berger was passionate about cultures and the arts, with a particular sensitivity to the importance of sharing knowledge. The quality of the collections assembled over the years by Jean Claude Gandur, his dedication to making art accessible to the widest possible audience, and the museum project he is developing in Caen with the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art naturally guided our decision to make this donation.”
— Maître Antoine Bagi, President of the Fondation Jacques-Édouard Berger

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