Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin statue (Blois)

La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "The Robert-Houdin House of Magic") is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

which faces the Royal

Château de Blois A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

. It is located in the

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' in the Loire Valley, in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in the center of the city of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

. As a

museum of France Museum of France (''Musée de France'') is a title given to the main state museums in France. It was set up by a law of 4 January 2002, known as ''loi musée'' (museum law), now codified in the ''code du patrimoine''. As of 1 January 2019, the list ...

and bearing the official label of "Musée de France", it is the only public museum in Europe which incorporates in one place collections of magic and a site for permanent performing arts. The creation of such a site is directly linked to the personality of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, a famous French illusionist born in Blois in 1805.

History

Inaugurated in 1998, the museum highlights the life and work of Robert-Houdin—multi-talented illusionist,

prestidigitator Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to ...

and maker of

automaton An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

s. In 1981, descendants of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin left to the city of Blois the building and all its accessories with a gift requiring they be exposed to the public. 170 objects that were constructed or collected by Robert-Houdin are in the museum. The museum hosts a number of events, some of which recur. The include: exhibition of portraits of the greatest magicians; magical encounters (on weekends in July and August); lectures on Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin; evening shows; proceedings of 'the Gala magic clubs of Blois'; and awards to the best magical practitioners. Guided tours are conducted by illusionists.

Attractions

Highlights include: The six-headed dragon automaton, which was constructed by artists Michel and Jean-Pierre Hartmann and which operates every half-hour; the rotunda, which contains artifacts and displays on the history of magic, pictures and music; the

Greek temple Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, s ...

honoring

jugglers Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

of the Middle Ages, the physicist Pinetti (eighteenth century magician Joseph Pinetti Willedall de Merci), and

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

inventor Buatier De Kolta; a life-sized

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

and the 'chessboard of the optical illusions'; an exposition of "The firm of Robert-Houdin fantastic" (Level 1), displaying his

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...

workshop, scientific research (in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...

) magical craft and 'the mysterious clock'. On Level 3, the " hallucinoscope" ("brainchild" of Gerard Majax) immerses the participant into the world of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the '' Voyages extra ...

and

20,000 Leagues under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

. Another area is the "

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

space", which honors him as a magician and as the father of film

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

. Magic shows are conducted daily, and the building is open daily during the tourist season.

Notes

External links

Blois, Le Pays de Chambord, Maison de la Magie.

Gutenberg collection: links to archive images on the subject of magic
including Robert-Houdin and Harry Houdini collections.
Harry Houdini collection list with links
including images relating to Robert-Houdin {{DEFAULTSORT:La Maison De La Magie Robert-Houdin Animatronic attractions Biographical museums in France Museums in Loir-et-Cher Magic museums Organizations established in 1998 Performing arts museums Blois

History

Attractions

See also

Notes

External links