Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Museum of Sologne was founded in 1882 when Ovide Scribe, professor of drawing and first curator, founded the institution in Romorantin-Lanthenay. Born in 1841 in the Somme, Scribe settled in 1880 at the invitation of his friend Paul Besnard, city councillor. In 1909, he left his personal collection of art works to the city, laying the foundations for future exhibitions. The museum was then enriched by targeted donations and acquisitions, such as those from the workshop of painter Henri Helis (1872-1945) in 2024.

In the 1950s, the project of a museum of popular arts and traditions emerged, fed by a repository of the National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions. The collections then diversify: ceramics, furniture, costumes, tools, but also archives (manuscripts, photographs) and works of modern art. The site itself, consisting of two mills linked by footbridges and a medieval tower controlling the southern entrance of the city, bears witness to the urban history of Romorantin.

Recent acquisitions, such as Henri Helis' archive (300 documents, 20 photographs) or works purchased by the Friends of the Museum association (fusains, oils on canvas), strengthen its anchor in regional art. The museum also evokes local industrial history, notably through the draperies and heritage of Matra, between ethnology, history and natural sciences.

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