What do you do as the world’s largest and arguably most prestigious museum if you have way too many amazing artefacts to put on display in your building? Indeed, you branch out. This year the Louvre opens up a site in Abu Dhabi. And since 2012 it accommodates a superb collection in Lens, a small city 200km North of Paris and, lucky for us, not too far from the Belgian border!
Housed on a former mining wasteland, the Louvre-Lens Museum is a result of a long decision making process to decentralize art over France and away from its capital (= spread more equally). Inspired by Bilbao, an industrial town in the Basque country, which transformed itself partially as a result of the opening of the Guggenheim museum, the opening of this magnificent Louvre subsidiary should be a major boost for the city and the region.
Expat Club Brussels has arranged a 4* luxury coach with on-board toilet, TV-screens & DVD, AC and comfortable reclining seats with extra leg space. The ride is just a bit over 1,5 hours, so we don’t spend too much time on the road. Upon arrival you will receive a portable audio & video guide with which you can look up all artworks. You can even select one of several self-guided tours that will take through the museum according to a certain theme of your choice.
While of course incomparable in size to its big brother in Paris, the Louvre-Lens is definitely a mature museum in all aspects. The Louvre-Lens is surrounded by a park that pays respect to Lens’ mining history. The mine shaft has been preserved, just like the historical entrance to the premises.
The museum itself consists of several large halls made of glass and other modern materials. The contrast with the displayed art cannot be greater, but a harmonious convergence of old and new has been achieved.
The main gallery is not less than 3000m2 without any divisions as in traditional museums. “The Louvre-Lens will stress what brings civilisations together and what unites artistic practices.” Under one roof you can find here Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman,Islamic, Christian and Oriental arts and antiquities, as well as many sculptures, paintings and a range of other artifacts. It’s almost as overwhelming as the Louvre museum itself…
Besides the permanent collection in the main gallery, this is also one of the final days of the acclaimed exhibition Gold and Ivory: Paris, Pisa, Florence, Siena. 1250-1320. The additional entrance fee of €10 is included in the trip fee.
“The 2015 summer exhibition at the Louvre-Lens highlights the wealth of artistic exchanges between the capital of the Kingdom of France and what is now Tuscany in the latter half of the 13th century. Thanks to exceptional loans from around twenty prestigious European museums, the exhibition lifts the veil on the relationships between the major centres of artistic creation of the period: Paris, Florence, Siena and Pisa. The exhibition brings together more than 125 exquisite works: monumental statuary, gold background paintings, illuminated manuscripts, fine enamels and ivories. In particular, these works reveal the influence of French exponents of High Gothic style on the Tuscan sculptors and painters of the late 13th century, within a cultural area that would become the cradle of the early Renaissance. This exhibition at the Louvre-Lens will be the first to examine this phenomenon, which is of paramount importance to the history of art.”
What do you do as the world’s largest and arguably most prestigious museum if you have way too many amazing artefacts to put on display in your building? Indeed, you branch out. This year the Louvre opens up a site in Abu Dhabi. And since 2012 it accommodates a superb collection in Lens, a small city 200km North of Paris and, lucky for us, not too far from the Belgian border!
Housed on a former mining wasteland, the Louvre-Lens Museum is a result of a long decision making process to decentralize art over France and away from its capital (= spread more equally). Inspired by Bilbao, an industrial town in the Basque country, which transformed itself partially as a result of the opening of the Guggenheim museum, the opening of this magnificent Louvre subsidiary should be a major boost for the city and the region.
Expat Club Brussels has arranged a 4* luxury coach with on-board toilet, TV-screens & DVD, AC and comfortable reclining seats with extra leg space. The ride is just a bit over 1,5 hours, so we don’t spend too much time on the road. Upon arrival you will receive a portable audio & video guide with which you can look up all artworks. You can even select one of several self-guided tours that will take through the museum according to a certain theme of your choice.
While of course incomparable in size to its big brother in Paris, the Louvre-Lens is definitely a mature museum in all aspects. The Louvre-Lens is surrounded by a park that pays respect to Lens’ mining history. The mine shaft has been preserved, just like the historical entrance to the premises.
The museum itself consists of several large halls made of glass and other modern materials. The contrast with the displayed art cannot be greater, but a harmonious convergence of old and new has been achieved.
The main gallery is not less than 3000m2 without any divisions as in traditional museums. “The Louvre-Lens will stress what brings civilisations together and what unites artistic practices.” Under one roof you can find here Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman,Islamic, Christian and Oriental arts and antiquities, as well as many sculptures, paintings and a range of other artifacts. It’s almost as overwhelming as the Louvre museum itself…
Besides the permanent collection in the main gallery, this is also one of the final days of the acclaimed exhibition Gold and Ivory: Paris, Pisa, Florence, Siena. 1250-1320. The additional entrance fee of €10 is included in the trip fee.
“The 2015 summer exhibition at the Louvre-Lens highlights the wealth of artistic exchanges between the capital of the Kingdom of France and what is now Tuscany in the latter half of the 13th century. Thanks to exceptional loans from around twenty prestigious European museums, the exhibition lifts the veil on the relationships between the major centres of artistic creation of the period: Paris, Florence, Siena and Pisa. The exhibition brings together more than 125 exquisite works: monumental statuary, gold background paintings, illuminated manuscripts, fine enamels and ivories. In particular, these works reveal the influence of French exponents of High Gothic style on the Tuscan sculptors and painters of the late 13th century, within a cultural area that would become the cradle of the early Renaissance. This exhibition at the Louvre-Lens will be the first to examine this phenomenon, which is of paramount importance to the history of art.”
