What insights do our collections offer into the world of work, leisure, education, housing, and the roles of men, women and children…?

A selection of depictions and scenes of children from the 19th and 20th centuries, drawn from our collections.

Places, buildings, and people—both famous and ordinary: a glimpse of Roubaix.

Art from the Nord region through textiles, painting and sculpture (fabric samples and archives from regional companies, Carpeaux, Cogghe, Weerts, the Roubaix Group, etc.).

How is modesty reflected in the museum’s artworks? What artistic devices do artists employ to express modesty or their own sense of modesty? How did they circumvent the taboos of their time?

From the 19th century onwards, there was a boom in sport and health. The museum’s building and collections bear witness to this. A healthy mind in a healthy body (Juvenal).

Greco-Roman mythology as depicted in our 19th- and 20th-century collections.

Our collections illustrate and bear witness to key moments in both our national and regional history. 

Featuring a selection of outstanding works by Bonheur, Barye, Gardet, Debrie, Pompon, Bugatti, Poupelet, Sandoz, Lemar, Nam, Jouve…

Sample books (1835–1940), fabric swatches ranging from Coptic Egyptian pieces to the most contemporary designs, and fashion garments and accessories. Exhibited on a rotating basis for conservation reasons.

From painting to textiles, via sculpture, drawing and objets d’art (Camille Claudel, Tamara de Lempicka, Jane Poupelet…).

When art exposes the unacceptable.

A chronological and thematic overview of the museum’s collections.

When political or private commissions shape art: an exploration of the relationship between institutions, patronage and artists.

A thematic, historical and technical approach.

From the old municipal swimming pool to a museum: ambitious architecture promoting leisure and social diversity. How did this building come to be a museum today?

Featured in the museum’s collections and throughout the building, stained glass is explored from historical, stylistic and technical perspectives.

The object as a work of art and the object within a work of art. The concepts of the unique work and the series, of functionality and aesthetics.