Charles Le Brun, L’Enfance, vers 1639-1640, Genève, collection particulière © Sotheby’s

Charles Le Brun always felt a little boring to me even in the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. This Royal painter, who worked for thirty years for Louis XIV, is rediscovered at Louvre museum in Lens, thanks to a brilliant staging by Atelier Maciy Fiszer and an easy historiography. The excursion two hours North of Paris is well worth the effort.

Discovered at the Ritz hotel in the Coco Chanel suite, Le Sacrifice de Polyxène, 1647, © The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

Driving to Lens, a depressed mining city of the North of France, is always tiresome but on this  sunny August Sunday, it became great fun.  The beautiful antenna of the Louvre, which shows highlights of the Paris museum has no queues, is located in a stunning building designed by Sanaa architects, and gives you the best of art with a smile.

Charles Le Brun, Hercule terrassant Diomède, huile sur toile, 1640-1641, © Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery

The permanent exhibition changes regularly, with a mixture of Egyptian, Persian, Indian, Medieval sculptures and paintings and a wide variety of 16 th to 19th century treasures ; the slight decline of the huge « airport like » exhibition hall, gives you a global perspective of what art at the Louvre is. But there are no crowds and you get to the objects close up without walking for miles. A sort of ready made museum, perfect for a non professional crowd.

Charles Le Brun, Étude de corbeau et chat-huant, dessin, vers 1668-1678, Paris, musée du Louvre © RMN-GP (musée du Louvre) / Michèle Bellot

This time I went to see the Charles Le Brun exhibition, a lovely walk into 17 th century royal art. From painting at an early age (there is a portrait he did of his father when he was 13) to the Gobelins tapestries, the “Sacrifice of Polyxene” discovered in 2013 at the Ritz Hotel undergoing renovations, and the decoration of Vaux le Vicomte for Fouquet, Le Brun symbolizes the Grand Siècle.  He was a friend of Nicolas Poussin with whom he went to Rome in 1642, sponsored by Chancellor Séguier, but did not like it enough to stay. He uses the same blue as the great master.

The masterpiece of the show, an equestrian  portrait of Chancellor Séguier in full splendor, c 1660

His career took off as soon as he was back in Paris and Nicolas Fouquet, gave him a big boost at Vaux le Vicomte. After Fouquet was imprisoned, Colbert, his arch-enemy took the artist under his wing and shortly after, Louis XIV made him official painter of the court and head of the Gobelins tapestries workshops. His ambition and hard work were fulfilled.

Jacques Sarrazin, a  1657 marble sculpture of Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle founder of the Oratoire Order in front of Marie Madeleine by Le Brun,

Le Brun, Portrait of Michel Lasne, engraver, 1655

The 235 works exhibited here are so varied that the eye never tires during an hour long visit. Many sculptures are added and give a rhythm to the show which has multicolor walls and many round openings in the partitions so you can foresee the following rooms. very clever.

Religious scenes alternate with drawings and engravings of human faces, daily life paintings and grandiose etchings of celebrations of the King. The two curators from the Louvre, Bénédicte Gady and Nicolas Milovanovic managed to give to a scientific exhibition, the feel of a light promenade in art history.

And this might be the great quality of Louvre Lens which is destined to « uneducated visitors »… Show the best of artworks in order to teach art history to the young. In the beautiful hallway made of glass and stainless steel, there is a pic nic area where you are encouraged to bring your own lunch and parkings are free!.

Charles Le Brun painted this Portrait of his father Nicolas Ier Le Brun, at 13 in  1633-1635, © Salzbourg, Residenzgalerie

Just outside, there is also a gastronomical restaurant Atelier de Marc Meurin which was full of course, and we were told with a typical despising smile from the lady maitre d’, that it had been fully booked for three days… obviously the local bourgeoisie’s destination for Sunday lunch!

We ended up in Arras, twenty minutes away, on the main Flemish style market square which is totally beautiful with its 155 semi identical façades from the 17 th and 18 th century, having “ficelle picarde”, a delicious crêpe filled with mushrooms and Welsh rarebit with beer and cider, among a jolly crowd of Brits and Flemish holiday makers… much more fun and lively.

Gobelins tapestry of Louis XIV visiting his Manufacture, one can see Le Brun on the lower right of the King (detail), circa 1675

(Until August 29, closed on Tuesdays)