The hidden treasures of the isdaT, the Beaux-Arts de Toulouse
The Beaux-Arts de Toulouse, which became isdaT in 2011, present a reserve of works on the Daurade site.
You have to go down several stairs, through a secure door, then up some creaky steps in a narrow cage, before you get there. But the path must remain secret. The room is not open to everyone. Treasures are piled up there: large and small paintings, volumes, graphic works… 1,500 objects, from the 18th century to the present day. Anne Jourdain, head of heritage funds and coordinator of publications at the isdaT, is in charge of the visit.
Like books in a library, the tables are next to each other, sorted by format and numbered. Anne Jourdain approaches one of them and pulls it partly out of the shelf to show it. “It’s a painting by Edmond Dulac who received a municipal painting prize in 1903,” she says. A former student at the school, he later became a storyteller.
With the Beaux-arts de Paris, it is the only school to keep this kind of collections, made up of works by former students or professors. “This fund is not closed,” adds Anne Jourdain. New items can enter: graphic works by students or donations from descendants of people who have had to go to school.
The works are not exhibited because “we are a school and not a museum”, specifies the manager of heritage funds. But some objects are sometimes loaned to museums or made available to students, academics or individuals for very specific research.
If this collection of works remains inaccessible, the school and its collection of old books can sometimes be visited during Heritage Days.