Villa Vauban
Art Museum of the City of Luxembourg
MISSIONS
The Villa Vauban is a fine arts museum with collections of European art dating from the 17th to the 21st century (paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs and decorative arts objects). The museum organises exhibitions around its own collections, while also receiving loans from international collections. The Villa Vauban wishes to develop the interest and knowledge of a diversified public through exhibitions of ancient, modern or contemporary art, from Luxembourg or elsewhere, through catalogues and scientific works as well as through educational and cultural activities proposed in the context of the exhibitions. The museum preserves, restores, inventories and studies its collections, which are enriched by purchases, donations and loans as well as by commissions from artists living in Luxembourg.
In this way, the Villa Vauban contributes to the promotion and animation of the cultural life in the city of Luxembourg in the field of plastic arts.
ARCHITECTURE
Formerly the art gallery of the City of Luxembourg, the Villa Vauban was renovated and enlarged in 2010 and has since been operating as a fine arts museum. The new museum has been designed to reflect the historical character of its collections, which consist largely of works of art collected by wealthy individuals in the 18th and 19th centuries. The house takes its name from a fort in the former fortress of Luxembourg built by Sébastien Le Prestre Vauban (1633-1707), military architect to Louis XIV. This fortification served as a foundation for the construction of the villa. Today, a part of the impressive envelope of the 1739 fort can be admired in the basement of the museum. The architectural complex of the Villa Vauban is situated in the middle of a park designed by the French architect Edouard André (1840-1911), one of the most renowned landscape architects of his time. The park has been restored to its original appearance. The exceptional site of the Villa Vauban thus allows visitors to discover a historical collection in a calm and relaxing atmosphere in the heart of the city.
ARCHITECTS
The renovation and extension of the existing building, an urban villa dating from 1873, was entrusted to the Luxembourg office of Diane Heirend & Philippe Schmit architectes. The contemporary extension designed by them has created an impressive contrast with the historic architecture of the Villa Vauban.