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 Attractions & Activities : Art Museums
The ineffable character of Paris embraces visitors from the moment they step foot into the city. That welcome is strong, perhaps, because the city is infused with a palpable sense of timelessness and because travelers carry a perceived familiarity with the city, brought about by a lifetime of images. The Eiffel Tower, for example, defines Paris in cinema, serving as an instant trigger of memory and locale. And everyone knows Notre Dame, either as Paris’s religious landmark or as the home of Quasimodo, Victor Hugo’s fictional hunchback. The reality of these places, however, is much more than photographs indicate, and history, art and setting deepen significantly with tangible experience. In short, there’s nothing like being there. And in a city riddled with monuments like Napoleon’s L’Arc de Triomphe and Hôtel des Invalides (where he’s interred), there’s plenty to see. Well-designed greenspaces like Le Jardin des Tuileries and Le Jardin du Luxembourg prove mesmerizing, and beyond Paris proper lies Versailles, a paean to wealth and extravagance. Finally, don’t forget to delve into the catacombs, a veritable sculpture of exhumed bones, or to visit Père Lachaise cemetery, whose lasting quiet cradles folks like Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein.
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51, rue de Bercy, Paris • 01 71 19 33 33
Description: 12ème ARRONDISSEMENT. This fascinating museum charts cinematic history from Edison's 1894 kinetoscope to modern-day movie-making. Galleries chronicle the beginnings of photography and include mesmerizing short films as well. Additional displays include costumes worn by Greta Garbo and Rudolph Valentino and more than 5,000 objects from famous films, including the original robot from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis." METRO: Bercy (Lines 6 and 14)
5-7, rue de Fourcy, Paris 75004 • 01 44 78 75 00
Description: 4ème ARRONDISSEMENT. This museum, located in a restored 1706 mansion, features classical architecture in its façade, ironwork, and impressive central staircase. Original period prints, retrospective exhibits, and more than 12,000 rare books number among the attractions. There's also a conservation and restoration area, as well as a café in the 18th-century basement.
11, av du Président Wilson, Paris 75116 • 01 53 67 40 00
Description: 16ème ARRONDISSEMENT. This museum housed in an imposing 1930s building carries the municipal collection of avant-garde art from the 20th century to the present, including works by Picasso, Léger, Delaunay and Modigliani, with a focus on painters working in Paris in the early 20th century, on the rise of abstraction and on European contemporary art. Also on-hand is Raoul Dufy's large-scale tribute to electricity, "La Fée Electricité" ("Fairy of Electricity"). There are often excellent temporary exhibits. METRO: léna or Alma-Marceau
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur, Paris 75007 • 01 40 49 49 78
Description: 7ème ARRONDISSEMENT. This mammoth iron-and-glass former railway station built to bring visitors to the World Fair in 1900 was transformed into an art museum in 1986. The museum's holdings date from 1848 through World War I, showcasing the world's largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings and sculptures, by such luminaries as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin, along with galleries devoted to the applied arts. Note that part of the museum is closed for refurbishment until March 2011. METRO: Solférino (line 12)
107, rue de Rivoli Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris 75001 • 01 44 55 57 50
Description: 1er ARRONDISSEMENT. The fashion museum presents temporary exhibitions from a collection that contains an astonishing 80,000 costumes dating from 16th century court costumes to today's haute-couture designers. Plus, hundreds of thousands of fabrics chronicle the history of textiles going back to Antiquity. Closed between exhibitions. The premises in a wing of the Louvre also contain the decorative arts and advertising museums. METRO: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre,
Tuileries, Pyramides
rue de Rivoli Palais du Louvre, Paris 75001 • 01 40 20 53 17
Description: 1er ARRONDISSEMENT. The world's largest, richest collection of art and antiques occupies the Louvre, the world's largest museum and a one-time royal palace. Originally built in 1190 as a fortress, part of which can be viewed in the basement, the Louvre began taking its present form during the 16th century under Renaissance monarch François 1er, whose successors began filling it with artworks, but didn't officially open as a museum until 1793 after the French Revolution. In 1981, then-President Mitterrand spearheaded a stunning renovation of the facility, notably the glass pyramid that now provides the main entrance. As well as western art up until 1848 including Leonardo's Mona Lisa and masterpieces of French Romanticism by Delacroix and Géricault, collections take in decorative arts, Greek and Roman antiquities; Mesopotamia and the very popular Ancient Egyptian department, much loved by kids. Free admission first Sunday of the month. There are excellent book and gift shops and several cafés on site. METRO: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre
158, bd Haussmann, Paris 75008 • 01 42 89 04 91
Description: 8ème ARRONDISSEMENT. Owned by the Institut de France and housed in an incredible Second Empire mansion, this museum specializes in art from Europe and Asia. Rare artifacts and furniture are included in the collections, along with objects from the Italian Renaissance. French paintings are prominent as well, along with artwork by Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Frans Hals. METRO: Miromesnil or Saint-Philippe du Roule
2, rue Louis-Boilly, Paris 75016 • 01 44 96 50 33
Description: 16ème ARRONDISSEMENT. For years, this wonderful institution was a repository for illuminations, Renaissance tapestries, and First Empire furniture, artwork, and objects. However, thanks to a 1966 gift of more than 100 Monets, the museum's focus expanded, and its attendance increased. Impressionism is now a great draw, and aside from Monet's works, visitors can browse paintings and drawings by Gauguin and Renoir. Also available are paintings by Boucher and Chardin, sculptures by Lemoyne, ceiling frescoes, and 16th-century Limoges enamels.
79, rue de Varenne, Paris 75007 • 01 44 18 61 10
Description: 7ème ARRONDISSEMENT. This museum, set in the Hôtel Biron, is a tribute to one of the world's finest sculptors. Thanks to Rodin's own donations, the facility offers a wealth of objects, including terra cotta, bronze and marble creations. Plaster and wax studies are available as well, along with his sketches, drawings, engravings, and his own collected art. Among the items on display are "The Hand of God" and the sculpture that brought Rodin the most fame, a nude of St. John the Baptist. METRO: (line 13) Varenne, Invalides or Saint-François-Xavier
23, rue de Sévigné, Paris 75003 • 01 44 59 58 58
Description: 3ème ARRONDISSEMENT. With exhibits highlighting Paris from Neolithic times to the present day, this museum has a broad historical range. A variety of collections includes memorabilia from the French Revolution, archaeological treasures, paintings, sculpture and rare furniture, often presented in panelled period rooms. Museum holdings are housed in the spectacular "Carnavalet" and "Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau" mansions, which have been restored to period authenticity (15th to 19th centuries). METRO: Saint-Paul (line 1), Chemin-Vert (line 8)