Musée africain de l'île d'Aix

Over het museum

The African museum is the creation of Baron Napoléon Gourgaud, who settled on the Île d’Aix from 1925. A keen big-game hunter, he organized three expeditions to Africa with his friend Robert Rychner, in 1913–1914, 1928 and 1930–1931. The animals he brought back were mounted by the London firm Rowland Ward, the most famous of its day.

To display them in a setting that recalled their homeland, the baron commissioned a landscape painter to create several dioramas of the wildlife and landscapes of East Africa, such as Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro or Sudan. Another companion, Armand Van Mons, gave him numerous ethnographic objects, including very rare masks from Gabon and an exceptional collection of edged weapons and shields.

The museum opened in 1933 in former low fishermen’s houses, and the Parisian architect Léo Polin laid out two long galleries set at right angles. The 1930s presentation that the baron wanted, very characteristic of the period, has been kept. The museum reopened in July 2022 after restoration, with a route devoted to Bonaparte’s dromedary.

Hoogtepunten

• Animals mounted by the London firm Rowland Ward
• Dioramas of East Africa (Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Sudan)
• Rare masks from Gabon
• Collection of edged weapons and shields
• Original 1930s presentation

Vaste collectie

• Le musée africain du baron Gourgaud – Two galleries set at right angles display mounted animals, East African dioramas and ethnographic objects in a 1930s museum display.

Opgericht

1933

Beheerder

État, rattaché au musée national de Malmaison

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Gratis toegang: On the first Sunday of every month.

A single ticket gives access to the Napoleonic museum and the African museum on the Île d’Aix.

Toegankelijkheid

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

Kinderen & gezin

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

The island has almost no car traffic: the museums are reached on foot, by bicycle or by horse-drawn carriage from the landing stage. Boat timetables at service-maritime-iledaix.com.

Service & horeca

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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