Musée d'Art et d'Industrie (Roubaix)
The Musée d'Art et d'Industrie (German: Museum of Art and Industry ; officially La Piscine-Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent ) also called La Piscine or Musée André Diligent , is a swimming pool that has been converted into a museum the 1920s, which is located in the northern French city of Roubaix .
The permanent exhibition features works of art by local artists and exhibits from the city's industrial history. Occasionally, small special exhibitions are organized in a side wing, which house art objects from all over the world, such as a. by Pablo Picasso .
The design of the swimming pool in the Art Deco style of the early 20th century was largely retained and creates a special atmosphere for the exhibits, as well as an impression of a bygone era of the city.
The museum's curator is Bruno Gaudichon.
history
Before the swimming pool was built, Roubaix only had a few bathing areas and a swimming school on the canal, as well as a small bathing establishment in rue Pierre Motte and rue de Rome from the late 19th century. In 1912 the city had plans drawn up for the construction of a larger bathing establishment. The project was abandoned when the First World War broke out , but after its end it was immediately taken up again by the mayor Jean-Baptiste Lebas and handed over to the architect Albert Baert from Lille . Baert, who had already built baths in Dunkirk and Lille, envisaged extensive leisure, sports and hygiene offers in his plans, especially for the working class.
The construction period lasted from 1927 to 1932. The building looked more like a church building with its entrance area, the arched roof, the artistically designed rosettes and the side aisles, but it was entirely in the Art Deco style. The opposite rosettes - sunrise and sunset - are the representative symbol of this architectural work of art.
The bathing establishment was in operation until 1985. The building had to be shut down due to the building fabric being affected by the chlorine.
It was not until 1990, when the city was considering opening a new museum - since 1940 Roubaix has not had a museum worth mentioning - the building received special attention again. The small exhibition space for local textile production in the town hall was no longer sufficient and numerous works of art had been deposited in the Musée des Baux Arts. The “Museum in the Swimming Pool” was designed by the architect Jean-Paul Philippon, who was also involved in the construction of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and who had taken part in an international competition with his design.
The museum was opened in 2000 and named in 2001 under the name "Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent", after the city's mayor from 1983 to 1994.
Design and exhibition of the museum
The center of the museum is the large basin. Along its long sides, walkways were built into the pool - separated in the middle by water - on which the visitor can view two rows of sculptures. A gargoyle is located at one end of the pool, which is surrounded by an artfully designed mosaic border. Behind the rows of sculptures are the old tiled changing and shower cubicles, in which special attractions and objects are occasionally exhibited. Two more floors rise above the basin; the first consists of a continuous gallery and further changing rooms, the second consists of several balconies.
The upper floors are mainly used for the exhibition on the region's textile industry . Numerous fabrics and pieces by well-known fashion designers can be found here .
In the wings of the building branching off from the pool hall there are numerous paintings, art objects made of porcelain and other exhibits. In addition, the visitor gets an insight into the other hygienic facilities of the bathing establishment, such as B. an old bathtub from the time the building was built.
Special exhibits
- Autoportrait (self-portrait) by Eugène Leroy , oil painting (1959)
- Fillette by Marc Ronet (1970)
- Les Loisirs by Marcel Gromaire , oil painting (1936)
- Papiers découpés by Michel Delporte , collotype on paper (1957)
- Vieille femme by Jean Roulland , oil painting (1952)
literature
- Philippe Waret and Jean-Pierre Popelier: Roubaix de A à Z . Editions Alain Sutton, Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire 2006, ISBN 2-84910-459-0 .
Web links
- Official website of the Musée d'Art et d'Industrie
Coordinates: 50 ° 41 ′ 32.26 " N , 3 ° 10 ′ 4.15" E