Corbin Park en Meurthe-et-Moselle

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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Corbin Park, located in Nancy, is inseparable from the Musée de l'École de Nancy, located in the former property of Eugene Corbin, major patron of Art Nouveau. This first quarter of the 20th century park houses a circular aquarium designed by Lucien Weissenburger around 1904, decorated with stained glass by Jacques Gruber, as well as an Art Nouveau funeral chapel transferred from the cemetery of Préville in 1969. The garden, rehabilitated in 1999, restores the typical plant atmospheres of the period, with hybrid species created by nean horticulturalists such as Félix Crousse or the Lemoine.

The museum, opened in 1964 after its first installation in 1901, exhibits emblematic works by the École de Nancy, including furniture by Émile Gallé, Daum glassware, and drawings by Victor Prouvé. The collection was enriched in 1935 by the donation of Eugène Corbin, and in 1988 by plates by Henri Bergé, former chef-decorator of the Daum glass factory. The park, classified as a historic monument in 1998, also includes an oak door carved by Eugène Vallin for Gallé workshops, installed in the garden in 1964.

The aquarium, inspired by the madness of the 18th century with an umbrella roof of Japanese influence, was renovated in 1999 and in 2008. It is integrated into a landscaped ensemble with basins with irregular contours, reflecting the naturalistic aesthetics of Art Nouveau. Georgette Vierling's funerary monument, designed by Jean Marius Girard and Pierre Roche, illustrates the art nouveau funerary architecture with its floral stained glass windows and enamelled sandstone lilies. These elements make Corbin Park a major testimony to Nancy's artistic and landscape heritage.

The property, originally a bourgeois house enlarged in 1911-1912 by Weissenburger, became a place of conservation of the works of the School of Nancy after the Second World War. The collections, including furniture, glassware and graphic arts, are presented in art nouveau interiors. The park, with its aquarium and architectural elements, offers an immersion in the creative universe of this movement, while serving as an example to the museum since its definitive opening in 1964.

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