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A museum of the Arts and Civilisations at the very heart of the new city

The museum opened in 1979, within the framework of the University of Louvain (UCL : Université catholique de Louvain), eight years after Louvain-la-Neuve was founded. Over the years, many donations have enriched the original collections which have constituted a remarkable heritage of Arts and Civilisations and are exhibited by rotation. This heritage is centred on the most important tendencies in both European and Belgian Art : from engravings by Albrecht Dürer or Rembrandt to Alechinsky’s or Delvaux’s paintings, and including Gothic or Baroque sculptures. And yet these collections also open vistas to other continents as well with a rich collection of « primal art » (from Africa and Oceania) or an opening on « popular » or « naïve » arts. Through these varied exhibits the hall-mark of which is historical, cultural and social diversity, whole segments of humanity are made present in the very heart of this new city, in the young province of Walloon Brabant. From one exhibition to another and with the changing presentation of the museum’s exhibits, visitors discover a renewed museum with each season. At any time visitors can learn more about the history of civilizations and the diversity of art in the 20th century. Visitors will also come across university students learning their future professions and school children from the area or from further afield, learning and creating art. This is what a contemporary university museum is : a place of life where exhibits and visitors from all walks of life meet together for mutual enrichment.


What is there to see at the Museum of Louvain- la-Neuve? Works from different civilisations, 20th century art and also a place where works of art are in dialogue with each other. There are regular temporary exhibitions.

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Exhibitions 2010

Meryon/Canaletto. The engraver’s vision of the city

From January 29 to April 18

Little known to the general public, Charles Meryon is nonetheless considered by historians of engraving to be one of the greatest masters of etching, a technique to which his works gave a new impetus in the middle of the 19th century. Although Baudelaire paid tribute to him as the inventor of a new kind of urban poetry, he is above all an extraordinary creator of space. It seemed interesting to compare the views of Paris by Meryon with the famous series of Views of Venice engraved during the preceding century by Canaletto. It is true that the latter was first and foremost a painter and the Venice, the Serenissima, of the 18th century which he depicts seems very different from the mysterious Paris of the 1850s. But however different they may be, these two etchers give us an original and timeless vision of some aspects, now partly vanished, of two of the most mythical cities in the world.

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Useful Information

Address

Musée de Louvain-La-Neuve
Place Blaise Pascal, 1
B. 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Phone (32)(10) 47.48.41
Fax (32)(10) 47.24.13
E-mail

Opening hours


From Tuesday to Friday : 10am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday : 2pm to 6pm

Closed

Mondays and public holidays
From December 24th to January 2nd

Entrance fees

Full fee : 3 €
2 € for :
- Senior citizens
- Groups of at least 10
- Non-UCL students under 26

Free :

- Friends of the Museum of LLN
- UCL students or equivalent
- UCL personnel
- Under 18s
- Unemployed
- Teachers
- Journalists
- Members of ICOM

Free for all visitors on the first Sunday of every month

An average visit takes an hour

70 % of the museum can be visited by persons with reduced
mobility

Guided Visitses

Guided visits for adults in French, Dutch or English
Guided visits and workshops for young people and school
groups
Guided visits last 90 minutes
Detailed programmes and reservations at the Education
Department Ph. : 010.47.48.45
E-mail

The Documentation Centre

Open on Wednesdays from 10am to 6pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 1pm by appointment only.
Ph. : 010.47.48.41
E-mail

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How can you get to the museum?

By car

Motorway E411, exit number 8a : Louvain-la-Neuve (Centre).
Boulevard de l’Est, towards « Centre urbain ».
Towards « Grand-Place » - Parking « Accès Musée ».
A reduced parking fee is offered to museum visitors by
« Parkings de l’Esplanade ».

By train

Final station : Louvain-la-Neuve-université

By bus

TEC bus stop : Parking Leclercq

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