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Palace of Fine Arts
The museum collection located in a magnificent palace of the 19th century, the Palace of Fine Arts (Le Palais des Beaux-Arts) in Lille can only be rivaled by that of Louvre. The museum offers a magnificent collection of European art (the result of lootings by the Napoleon’s army), where you can see paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt, and large galleries devoted to the works of Monet and Renoir.
Do not forget to go down to the basement of the palace to see the exhibition of original architectural models of buildings of Louis IV cities, created by Voban, the legendary architect of the royal castles. The entire gallery is devoted to the history of French sculpture from Houdon to Bourdelle.
Charles de Gaulle Birthplace Museum
He is the hero of the Resistance during the Second World War, the founder of the Fifth Republic, one of the Companions of the decolonization process, and the symbol of French national pride. De Gaulle spent his childhood in Lille, in the house where he was born, which is now a museum and cultural center. De Gaulle was born in 1890 to a family of strict adherents of Catholicism. Despite the fact that his family was quite wealthy owing to the prosperous period of the textile industry, the childhood of little Charles was pretty simple. The house has perfectly preserved the atmosphere of a bourgeois family in Lille of late 19th century. Here you can see many illustrating pictures depicting the attempt of assassination of Charles de Gaulle.
Near the museum there is a historic factory where visitors to the museum can know more about the historical documents by using modern multimedia.
City Hall Hotel de Ville (L’Hotel de Ville)
Residence of the local government is located in the heart of old town, over which rises the 105-meter high bell tower. You can climb all of its 104 steps.
The new city hall was built in four years from 1924 to 1928 to replace the old structure burned in fire in 1916. The external appearance of buildings was inspired by the classical examples of Flemish architecture with triangular facades and magnificent interiors.
The corridors and conference rooms are decorated with paintings by contemporary artists. The most remarkable fresco of the municipality building is considered to be the work of an Icelandic artist Arrow, telling the history of the city in a comics.
Historical Museum / Hospice Comtesse Museum
The Historical Museum is housed in the building which was formerly used as a hospital, and now this is a real treasure of Lille. The museum is located in the very heart of the old city.
The building was constructed in 1237 by Jeanne of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders, as a medical center for the citizens of Lille. The building is a large structure with a great number of rooms. It was refurbished in the periods from 15th to 18th centuries and still keeps different features of contemporary architectural styles.
The thick walls of the former hospital carefully preserve some great collections. The museum exhibits works by Dutch, Flemish and French masters of the 15-18 centuries as well as numerous gold and silver pieces made by artisans of Lille, and ceramics and musical instruments. Furniture and tapestries deserve particular attention. But above all, the museum focuses on the history of Lille and the neighboring region of Pas-de-Calais in a series of ancient iconography items. The visitors can also immerse themselves in the life of Augustinian monks who looked after the sick in the old times.
Museum of Art and Industry
The mysterious Museum of Art and Industry called by the townspeople the Pool represents a unique collection which was gathered in a renovated building of a swimming pool in 1920. The exhibits are arranged around a swimming pool in the changing rooms. Visiting this museum is probably the best way to get familiar with the heritage of the northern Pas-de-Calais region.
Museum of Modern Art
Located in a green shady park of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, the museum hosts a large collection of art of the 20th century and the present, collected as generous gifts and contributions.
An ardent admirer of the art, Roger Dutilleul started collecting avant-garde works in the early 1900′s in Paris. Guided only by his own intuition, he was among the first collectors of works in the style of cubism, acquiring pieces of Picasso and Braque, who at that time were not known at all. Dutilleul was also interested in figurative art (Modigliani, Buff, Dodane) and primitive art (O’Bredi, Wiwen and Beauchamp).
Following in the footsteps of his uncle, Jean Masurel began to collect paintings, adding to the collection Dutilleul in 1920. In 1979 he donated 219 paintings, lithographs and sculptures of the urban community of Lille to the exposition of the Museum of Modern Art.
Subsequently, the Museum acquired a good collection of abstract art (Martin Barre, Jean-Pierre Bertrand, Daniel Buren etc.) In 1995 the museum received a large number of works in the style of Art Brut from the association of artists and fans of this style.
