Tribute to Louis Romanet, keeper of the racing memory

At the end of the 1960s, Isabel and Louis Romanet set about building up a remarkable collection devoted to life at the races and the memory of Deauville. Over the years, this collection has grown to over 3,000 items: almost 400 paintings and drawings, 450 precious works - old books and albums - as well as over 2,000 iconographic documents, postcards and posters.

Driven by a deep-seated desire to pass on and preserve his collection, Louis Romanet, a close friend of Philippe Augier, decided to donate it to the City of Deauville. Convinced that Les Franciscaines, a place dedicated to the arts and heritage, would offer these works a setting worthy of their historical and cultural value, he entrusted the institution with a unique heritage revolving around the horse and racing culture.

Now part of the Franciscaines' collections, the Isabel and Louis Romanet donation is on permanent display at the institution, in a dedicated area on a rotating basis. It is an exceptional testimony to Louis Romanet's equestrian history and deep attachment to Deauville.

With this generous gesture, he wished to pass on a precious artistic and documentary memory to the town that has embodied racing culture in France for over a century. A legacy that Les Franciscaines now has the responsibility and honor of preserving.