Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille

Useful Information

2007-10-24T09:37:05Z

Useful information

Telephone : (33) (0)3.20.06.78.00
Fax : (33) (0)3.20.06.78.15

The museum is located on the Place de la République – 59000 – Lille – France
Postal address : 18bis rue de Valmy – 59000 – Lille – France

Getting here
Metro : Line 1 – station ‘République'
Bus : Line 14 – Place de la République
Taxis : from both railway stations in Lille to the Place Richebé
Parking : Place de la République
10 – 15 minutes on foot from railway stations
20 minutes from Lesquin airport

Disabled visitors can enter the museum using the entrance off the boulevard de la Liberté.

Opening hours
Monday, 2pm – 6pm
Closed Tuesday
Wednesday to Sunday, 10am – 6pm
Tickets sold until one half hour before closing
Closed : 1 January, 1 May, 14 July, the first weekend of September _ (braderie de Lille), 1 November, and 25 December

Summer hours (July and August) :
Monday, 12pm – 5pm
Closed Tuesday
Wednesday to Sunday, 12am – 5pm

Admission Single ticket for the entire museum
Ticket PBA XXL : €6 /€4
Pass lille3000 : free admission
(Conditions for reduced fare are available at the museum ticket desk)

Free entrance for all every first sunday of the Month

For more information on museum activities or to subscribe to our newsletter, send us a message at communicationpba@mairie-lille.fr

To book group visits, call us at (33) (0)3.20.06.78.17, send us a fax at (33) (0)3.20.06.78.61, or send us a message at reservationpba@mairie-lille.fr

Past exhibitions

2007-04-24T12:24:01Z

Echappées Nordiques
10 Oct 2008 – 11 Jan 2009

Goya's Caprichos
25 April – 16 August 2008

Philippe de Champaigne
26 April – 15 August 2007

The Palais des Beaux-Arts of Lille has organised in 2007 a world premier retrospective of the Flemish-born French painter Philippe de Champaigne. Philippe de Champaigne – like his contemporary Nicolas Poussin – is considered a unique figure in Western art and thought. _ Enriched by a keen observation of nature in Flanders, he was driven early on by his own inner vision, rendering him impervious to the demonstrative opulence dear to painters of the Italian manner. He appropriates the image with fascinating precision and density, resulting in a near-perfect form of French Classicism.
At once at the centre of political power and spirituality, situated somewhere between Marie de Médicis and the Carmelite order, between Anne of Austria and the Carthusian monks or Richelieu and Cistercian asceticism as practised in the Port-Royal Abbey, Philippe de Champaigne depicts different faces of Grace in a manner that is truly exceptional. With him, painting comes to consummately enrich academic thought.

‘Man-Scape' (L'Homme-Paysage)
15 October 2006 –14 January 2007

With ‘Man-Scape', the museum's first thematic exhibition, visitors are invited to appreciate representations of Nature which have been transformed through the vision of artists from the 16th century to the present day. Beyond the individual artistic visions represented in the paintings, sculptures, and photographs, – works that are at once aesthetic mirages and projections of fantasy – they convey a powerful metaphysical message on Man's place in the universe. Visitors embark on an unforgettable adventure, making their way through a maze of visual enigmas which, regardless of the period in which they were created, have always had great public appeal.

The Museum of Fine Arts of Lille

2007-04-24T12:22:36Z

The Palais des Beaux-Arts of Lille, one of the premier museums in France, houses in its imposing 19th-century building collections of European paintings, a Prints and Drawings Room, a collection of Antiquities, a mediaeval and Renaissance collection, 17th- and 18th-century ceramics, 19th-century French sculptures and 18th-century scale models.

The restoration of the museum was completed in 1997. From a previous 15,000 m2, the museum's surface area was increased to 22,000 m2, as the basements were converted into what are now the halls for the mediaeval and Renaissance collections. In addition to the scale models room, this newly renovated area also includes a hall for temporary exhibitions, an auditorium, a library, and a space devoted to pedagogical workshops.
Thanks to its glass-pane exterior, the strikingly narrow building located directly behind the museum reflects the back of the main building. It houses the conservation department and administrative offices, the Prints and Drawings Room, the restoration workshops and the museum restaurant.

The collections of the Palais des Beaux-Arts are the object of worldwide renown and provide a comprehensive panorama of the great artistic movements of Europe from the 12th to the 20th century.
The museum's mediaeval and Renaissance department recently acquired a contemporary scenographic presentation allowing visitors to get a fresh look at masterpieces from these periods (Donatello, Dirk Bouts).
The collection of paintings has no fewer than 650 works, including, from the Flemish school, a rare collection of northern European Mannerists (Barthel Bruyn, Van Hemessen, paintings from the workshops of Brueghel and Bosch), grand altarpieces (Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens), and a collection of Dutch paintings (Emmanuel de Witte, Pieter Codde, Jacob Van Ruisdael, Pieter Lastman) representative of nearly all the genres found in 17th-century Amsterdam, Antwerp, Delft, Haarlem and Utrecht.
From Champaigne to Manet, the collection of pieces punctuating the history of French painting is extensive as well, and a number of works are historical milestones of painting in France (David, Chardin, Delacroix, Courbet, Puvis de Chavannes…). The aesthetic upheaval characteristic of the 19th century can be seen in paintings by Monet, Sisley, Seurat, Puvis de Chavannes and in sculptures by Pajou, David d'Angers, Carpeaux, Camille Claudel, and Rodin.
The collection of Italian paintings did not benefit from the decentralisation of artwork in Paris under Napoleon, yet is represented by remarkable paintings by Veronese, Tintoretto, and Bassano.
Though it includes comparatively fewer works, the Spanish collection, with masterpieces by Goya, Greco, Ribera, and Valdes Leal, is a faithful representation of the Spanish school's intense spirituality.
Finally, the Prints and Drawings Room holds 4,000 pieces including 30 drawings by Raphael, making the museum a reference point recognised worldwide by amateurs and specialists alike.

But the Palais des Beaux-Arts is more than just a museum. It also organises a series of cultural events bringing together different artistic periods and disciplines (literature, theatre, music, dance, cinema, video, installations…). These regularly scheduled events encourage visitors of all ages and backgrounds to discover – and rediscover – the museum's collections and expositions.