Spring of Impressionism in Lille Metropole

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Impressionist art movement, Lille Metropole’s museums are forging an alliance with the Musée d'Orsay. From March 26 to July 14, 2024, come and discover masterpieces in museums across the region! The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, the Piscine de Roubaix and the MUba Eugène Leroy in Tourcoing will host internationally renowned works on the theme of "Impressionist landscapes".

After bringing together the greatest Impressionist works in the French capital to mark the movement's 100th anniversary, this time the idea is to reverse the trend and spread this impressive artistic capital throughout the country. For Mélanie Lerat, Director of the MUba Eugène Leroy museum in Tourcoing, this exhibition is "a major operation of cultural democracy", enabling local artists and citizens to discover and/or see historic works in person. The C'ART card, Lille Metropole’s museum pass, gives access to these three museums and to the Impressionist exhibitions. For full details of the Printemps Impressioniste program, click here.

The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille will host four works by Claude Monet, one of the founding artists of Impressionism. The museum already owns two canvases by the painter, depicting the village of Vétheuil (Val d'Oise): La Débâcle, painted in 1880, and Vétheuil, le matin, painted at the turn of the 20th century. The six works will be reunited for the first time in the exhibition "Seasons of a Lifetime: Claude Monet in Vétheuil", from April 18 to September 24, 2024.

The Piscine de Roubaix, a former swimming pool turned art museum (depicted in the image above), is also hosting an exhibition on Impressionist children. From February 17 to May 26, three paintings by Degas, Renoir and Pissarro, and two sculptures by Degas, including the iconic Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, will be featured in the marble created by Claudel in the spirit of Impressionism in the early 1890s. This event will be presented at the heart of the permanent exhibition, in the room currently devoted to the theme of childhood, whose layout will be radically altered to enable real dialogues between the « Roubaix » works and their protagonists.

The confrontation of La Petite Châtelaine with Renoir's strange Garçon au chat and Degas' ambiguous Petite danseuse de quatorze ans will resonate as three modern, iconoclastic visions of childhood. Find out more on the website of the Piscine de Roubaix here, and don't hesitate to take advantage of this great opportunity to come observe all these works in dialogue with each other!

Want to learn more ?

You can find out more about Lille Metropole's cultural policy, program of events and cultural venues by clicking here. The program of Lille Metropole's exhibitions, museums and art centers from March to September 2024 is available here.