David Whitley instantly takes a fancy to Nancy, exploring the city’s Art Nouveau trail.
First impressions of Nancy
Some cities just have an innate effervescence about them, a tangible fizz in the air that’s apparent from the moment you step out of the train station. The sort that makes you instantly think “I like this place” without really knowing why.
Nancy is one of those cities; you can feel the atmosphere of playfulness and youthful exuberance within seconds of arriving. This is unquestionably a city on the up.
Walking around, Nancy comes across as a bizarre cut-and-shut job. The new town (Ville Neuve) is organised in a fairly rigid grid system, dating from the 16th century, but peppered with modern shop fronts and the odd heavy dose of flowery art nouveau.
Then, as if stepping over a magical line, everything suddenly turns rather medieval, streets meandering aimlessly like spaghetti strands and buildings looking like they should really be blacksmiths’ workshops.
Place Stanislas
Smack bang in the middle of this uncomfortable weld is the city’s fabulous heart, Place Stanislas. Given a massive overhaul and totally pedestrianised in 2005, Place Stan (as it is known without exception to the locals) is now a gleaming World Heritage-listed sun trap of the highest order.
Decorated with elaborate fountains and stunning gold-tipped wrought iron gates, Place Stan is Nancy’s meeting place of choice, with clear sightlines to other major buildings such as the cathedral and former Ducal palace.
In the middle, proudly looking out over the city he made great, is the statue of Stanisław Leszczyński. His story is a bizarre one; the former King of Poland, he was exiled after fighting a losing battle against Russia.
A king without a kingdom
A king without a kingdom, he then trawled Europe’s great houses, effectively begging for what he could get. He struck gold when Louis XV of France married his daughter whilst the Duke of Lorraine was marrying the future empress of Austria – a far bigger fish to fry.
Thus the then-independent dukedom was given to the exiled Polish king on the grounds that it would revert to French rule upon his death. For Louis XV, this represented a cunning plan – his father in law was 60, and probably wouldn’t last long.
As it happens, he reigned for 30 years, and in a very enlightened manner. He fed the poor, opened hospitals and schools and created a social welfare system – hence why he’s still loved in Nancy today, despite dying in 1766.
The Nancy School of Art Nouveau
Over a century later, this careful nurture and subsequent population growth would partially foster a cultural explosion. In the late 19th century, Nancy became a key centre of the Art Nouveau movement, with artists such as Émile Gallé, Jacques Gruber, Antonin Daum, Victor Prouvé and Louis Majorelle becoming major players.
While they most certainly didn’t agree on everything, they had enough in common to form the École de Nancy, a loose coalition of glass sculptors, furniture makers, painters and other decorative artisans.
Together they promoted the ideas of art in all – characteristic flowers and curves made their way into everything from dining tables to jewellery – and art for all – the designs were manufactured in series so that they could be spread amongst the populace.
Art Nouveau architecture
This means that the city is absolutely crammed with works from this period, whether whole facades or – for example – the shelves in the pharmacy on rue des Dominicains.
The Chambre du Commerce et d’Industrie (40 rue Henri Poincare) with its Gruber stained glass and Majorelle ironwork is a classic example, but the Banque du Crédit Lyonnais (7-9 rue St Georges) is simply astonishing.
The stained glass roof is a truly formidable effort, much to the chagrin of the tellers trying to sort out mundane current account transactions amongst the gawping tourists.
To truly overdose on Art Nouveau, though, Nancy’s star attraction is the Musée de l’ École de Nancy. This mansion is crammed with artefacts made by those at the head of the movement.
Subtlety to the wind, the nature-heavy furnishings and art is not to everyone’s taste, but they’re undeniably striking. Most incredible/ nightmarish of all is the dining room created by Eugène Vallin.
All imposing wooden panelling, it looks like something out of Alice In Wonderland. It would not be too much of a surprise to be greeted by an oversized badger wearing a waistcoat, top hat and monocle in what can only be described as a hideously beautiful cartoon forest grotto.
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