On the 10th of July, 2013, we visited ‘Le Musée de l'École de Nancy’. The museum is all about Art Nouveau and we were more than impressed. On our blog, in week 28 – 2013 (‘Nancy’), we promised we’d come back on that visit. So for the coming weeks we’ll show you pretty extensively what’s to be seen there.

The museum is accommodated in the former residence of a grand Maecenas of the movement, known under the name of ‘l'École de Nancy’. From the street the building is not all that conspicuous. That changes however after entering the garden – where, by the way, the entrance to the museum is to be found. You might be interested to go there, so here’s the address: 36-38 Rue du Sergent Blandan, 54000 Nancy, France – tel. 0383-401486. Go if ever the opportunity arises!

Already the garden is well worth a stroll and a rest. Beautiful and peaceful are the well deserved qualifications. In the background of this picture the ‘pavillion-aquarium’ (1904) is visible. Unfortunately nowadays the fish are gone.

This picture is not all that significant but we hope it brings back some memories of last summer, combined with the things awaiting us in the near future – we are just halfway at present, aren’t we?

And another one. Why? We guess it’s too tempting…

The already mentioned Maecenas, by the name of (Jean-Baptiste) Eugène Corbin (1867-1952), donated his entire Art Nouveau-collection in 1935 to the City of Nancy. This is a picture from that period. The just set up museum looks like a combination between a depot and the real thing. More about Eugène Corbin later on.

This week some ‘objects’ to start with, this one being an unimaginable well decorated sewing-machine.

This kind of things are not easy to be found in any house nowadays. It's called a ‘Jardinière Flora marina Flore exotica’, a 1889-creation by Émile Gallé (1846-1904) in collaboration with Victor Prouvé (1858-1943) and Louis Hestaux (1858-1919). We’ll surely come back to Gallé, a front man of ‘l'École de Nancy’. Used materials: pear wood, (inlaid work of) redwood, ebony from Macassar and a lot more – too labour-intensive to translate! The inside is lined with zinc and lead for obvious reasons.

A stunningly beautiful glass display case, described by the name of ‘Vitrine Adam’ and created in 1903-1904 by Eugène Vallin (1856-1922) and (his son?) Auguste Vallin (1881-1967) for doctor Adam. The lower part depicts Adam fighting the snake. When looking at all the details, the skills and amount of work are both unimaginable. Used materials: acacia from Honduras, pitch pine, brass and –of course- glass.

Piano à queue (grand piano) ‘La Mort du Cygne’ (‘The death of the Swan’) created in 1905 by Louis Majorelle (1859-1926), collaborating with Victor Prouvé (1858-1943). The brand name of the instrument is Érard, French piano builders since 1777. Used materials: acacia, ash and inlay using various other woods.

La Loire on Sunday the 12th of January 2013. Sunny weather. No significant changes.