Musée Malraux
Encyclopedia
The Musée Malraux is a museum in Le Havre
, France
. It was designed by Atelier LWD
, an architecture studio led by Guy Lagneau
, Michel Weill and Jean Dimitrijevic. It is named after André Malraux
, who was Minister of Culture when the museum was opened in 1961. The museum contains one of the most extensive collections of impressionist paintings in France.
.
Lagneau undertook the work in collaboration with Raymond Audigier, Michel Weill and Jean Dimitrejvic.
The museum, inaugurated in 1961 by the Minister of Culture, André Malraux
, was one of the key elements of the reconstruction of Le Havre.
The museum was recently renovated by Lawrence Baldwin.
Facing the sea, the museum is a smooth and transparent assembly of glass and steel posed on a concrete pad.
Installed above the roof, the aluminum louver blades were created by the engineer Jean Prouvé
, providing control over the natural light that floods the building.
Le Signal, a concrete sculpture by Henri Georges Adam, frames a fragment of the landscape and strongly emphasizes the exceptional situation of the building at the harbor entrance.
The large windows of the Malraux museum let in the highly variable light of the Normandy
coast, a light that inspired many of the painters in the museum's collections.
The light is carefully filtered before flooding inside the building.
To the east, opal glass panes attenuate the rays of the morning sun.
The facade to the west has three levels of filtration: a wall of glass screens on which horizontal lines have been printed intersects with the vertical lines of pivoted louvers, creating a grid of variable density. When light rays enter horizontally, blinds complete this scheme.
On the ceiling, translucent square tiles filter the light reflected by the louver installed above the roof. Inclined blades break the sun and deliver a soft luminosity to the heart of the building.
and other artists who lived and worked in Normandy
. Some of the paintings are from Eugène Boudin
(with the largest collection of his works in the world), Eugène Delacroix
, Gustave Courbet
, Edgar Degas
, Édouard Manet
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
, Georges Seurat, Raoul Dufy
, Alfred Sisley
. One of the museum's latest purchases is Vague, par temps d'orage by Gustave Courbet. The collection of Olivier Senn (1864–1959), given to the museum in 2004, contains more than 205 paintings.
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It was designed by Atelier LWD
Atelier LWD
Atelier LWD was an architecture studio led by Guy Lagneau, Jean Dimitrijevic and Michel Weill that was active from 1952 to 1985.It later took the name of "Atelier d'Etudes Architecturales" with the addition of Paul Cordoliani, Henri Coulomb , Renzo Moro and Ivan Seifert .The studio originated...
, an architecture studio led by Guy Lagneau
Guy Lagneau
Guy Lagneau was a French architect, one of the founders of Atelier LWD, who was involved in many major projects in France and Africa.-Early years:Guy Lagneau was born in 1915....
, Michel Weill and Jean Dimitrijevic. It is named after André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, who was Minister of Culture when the museum was opened in 1961. The museum contains one of the most extensive collections of impressionist paintings in France.
History
Lagneau was chosen by Georges Salles, director of National Museums, to undertake construction between 1952 and 1961 of the first major museum built in France after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Lagneau undertook the work in collaboration with Raymond Audigier, Michel Weill and Jean Dimitrejvic.
The museum, inaugurated in 1961 by the Minister of Culture, André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, was one of the key elements of the reconstruction of Le Havre.
The museum was recently renovated by Lawrence Baldwin.
Structure
The museum departs from the tradition of closed museums cut off from the exterior world. Lagneau worked closely with the curator, Reynold Arnoult to develop a flexible space in harmony with the marine environment.Facing the sea, the museum is a smooth and transparent assembly of glass and steel posed on a concrete pad.
Installed above the roof, the aluminum louver blades were created by the engineer Jean Prouvé
Jean Prouvé
-Images:**- External links :***...
, providing control over the natural light that floods the building.
Le Signal, a concrete sculpture by Henri Georges Adam, frames a fragment of the landscape and strongly emphasizes the exceptional situation of the building at the harbor entrance.
The large windows of the Malraux museum let in the highly variable light of the Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
coast, a light that inspired many of the painters in the museum's collections.
The light is carefully filtered before flooding inside the building.
To the east, opal glass panes attenuate the rays of the morning sun.
The facade to the west has three levels of filtration: a wall of glass screens on which horizontal lines have been printed intersects with the vertical lines of pivoted louvers, creating a grid of variable density. When light rays enter horizontally, blinds complete this scheme.
On the ceiling, translucent square tiles filter the light reflected by the louver installed above the roof. Inclined blades break the sun and deliver a soft luminosity to the heart of the building.
Collection
The museum houses a collection of art spanning the past five centuries, the impressionist paintings collections are the second most extensive in France after those of the Orsay Museum in Paris. There are paintings by Claude MonetClaude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
and other artists who lived and worked in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. Some of the paintings are from Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
(with the largest collection of his works in the world), Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Gustave Courbet
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement , with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists...
, Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
, Georges Seurat, Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy[p] was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events...
, Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life, in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape en plein air...
. One of the museum's latest purchases is Vague, par temps d'orage by Gustave Courbet. The collection of Olivier Senn (1864–1959), given to the museum in 2004, contains more than 205 paintings.