Art Museum sights in France
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Musée du Louvre
The vast Palais du Louvre was constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early 13th century and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal residence. In 1793 the Revolutionary Convention turned it into the nation’s first national museum.
The paintings, sculptures and artefacts on display in the Louvre Museum have been assembled by French governments over the past five centuries. Among them are works of art and artisanship from all over Europe and important collections of Assyrian, Etruscan, Greek, Coptic and Islamic art and antiquities. Traditionally the Louvre’s raison d’être is to present Western art from the Middle Ages to about the year 1848 (at wh…
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Musée d’Orsay
Facing the Seine from quai Anatole France, the Musée d’Orsay is housed in a former train station (1900). It displays France’s national collection of paintings, sculptures, objets d’art and other works produced between the 1840s and 1914, including the fruits of the Impressionist, post-Impressionist and art nouveau movements.
Many visitors to the museum go straight to the upper level (lit by a skylight) to see the famous Impressionist paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Degas and Manet and the post-Impressionist works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Seurat and Matisse, but there’s also lots to see on the ground floor, including some early works by Manet, Monet, Reno…
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Musée de l'Orangerie
Located in the southwestern corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, this museum, with the Jeu de Paume, is all that remains of the once palatial Palais des Tuileries, which was razed during the Paris Commune in 1871. It exhibits important Impressionist works, including a series of Monet's Decorations des Nymphéas (Water Lilies) in two huge oval rooms purpose-built in 1927 on the artist's instructions, as well as works by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Sisley, Soutine and Utrillo. An audioguide costs €5.
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Musée Picasso
One of Paris’ best-loved art museums, the Musée Picasso, housed in the mid-17th-century Hôtel Salé, includes more than 3500 of the grand maître’s engravings, paintings, ceramic works, drawings and sculptures. You can also see part of Picasso’s personal art collection, which includes works by Braque, Cézanne, Matisse, Modigliani, Degas and Rousseau. It will reopen after extensive renovations in 2012.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside Paris from antiquity on. Highlights include works by Rodin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse and Picasso. Pick up a free audio guide and be sure to stop for a drink or meal on the delightful stone terrace off its café-restaurant and take time out in its tranquil cloister garden.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
One of the finest collections of French paintings outside Paris hangs in sumptuous galleries linked by grand stone staircases at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, with works by Georges de la Tour, Chagall, Monet, Picasso and Kandinsky among others.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
Housed in the eastern wing of the Palais des Ducs, these sprawling galleries make up one of the most outstanding museums in France. The rooms themselves are works of art and a special chance to be inside this monumental building.
The star is the wood-panelled Salle des Gardes (Guards' Room), once warmed by a gargantuan Gothic fireplace. It houses the ornate, carved late-medieval sepulchres of dukes John the Fearless and Philip the Bold (by Jean de Marville, Claus Sluter and Claus de Werve), as well as three impossibly intricate gilded Gothic retables from the 1300s. Rogier Van der Weyden's portrait of Philip the Good hangs here as well.
The modern and contemporary art secti…
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Musée du Quai Branly
The architecturally impressive but unimaginatively named Quai Branly Museum introduces the art and cultures of Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas through innovative displays, film and musical recordings. With Là où dialoguent les cultures (Where cultures communicate) as its motto, the museum is one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking in the world. The anthropological explanations are kept to a minimum; what is displayed here is meant to be viewed as art. A day pass allowing entry to the temporary exhibits as well as the permanent collection costs adult/concession €10/7; an audioguide is €5. Don’t miss the views from the 5th-floor restaurant Les Ombres.
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Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (Mamac)
Designed by Yves Bayard and Henri Vidal, Mamac is worth a visit for its stunning architecture alone, but it also houses some fantastic avant-garde art from the 1960s to the present. Exhibits include iconic pop art from Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol’s 1965 Campbell’s Soup Can. The marbled towers’ glass walkways lead to highlights like Niki de St-Phalle’s papier-mâché sculptures and a shopping trolley wrapped by Christo. An awesome panorama of Vieux Nice unfolds from the rooftop garden/gallery, which features works by Nice-born Yves Klein (1928–62).
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Palais des Beaux-Arts
Lille's world-renowned Fine Arts Museum displays a truly first-rate collection of 15th- to 20th-century paintings, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck and Manet. Exquisite porcelain and faience (pottery), much of it of local provenance, is on the ground floor, while in the basement you'll find classical archaeology, medieval statuary and 18th-century scale models of the fortified cities of northern France and Belgium. Tickets are valid for the whole day. Information sheets in French, English and Dutch are available in each hall.
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Musée Guimet des Arts Asiatiques
France’s foremost repository for Asian art, the Guimet Museum of Asian Art has sculptures, paintings, objets d’art and religious articles from Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, Cambodia, China, Japan and Korea. Part of the original collection – Buddhist paintings and sculptures brought to Paris in 1876 by collector Émile Guimet – is housed in the Galeries du Panthéon Bouddhique du Japon et de la Chine in the sumptuous Hôtel Heidelbach. Don’t miss its wonderful Japanese garden.
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Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain
This striking glass-and-steel cube showcases an outstanding collection of fine art, graphic art and photography. Kandinsky, Picasso, Magritte and Monet canvases hang out alongside curvaceous works by Strasbourg-born abstract artist Hans Jean Arp. Find details on temporary exhibitions on the website.
Don't leave without enjoying a drink at the glass-fronted Art Café, graced by bold frescoes by Japanese artist Aki Kuroda. The terrace commands terrific views of the River Ill and Petite France.
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Musée de Montmartre
One-time home to painters Renoir, Utrillo and Raoul Dufy, the Musée de Montmartre displays paintings, lithographs and documents, mostly relating to the area’s rebellious and bohemian/artistic past, in a 17th-century manor house, which is the oldest structure in the quarter. It also stages exhibitions of artists still living in the quartier. There’s an excellent bookshop here that also sells bottles of the wine produced from grapes grown in the Clos Montmartre, a small vineyard in the Montmartre area.
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Musée d'Art Moderne
The highlights here are French painting (including lots of fauvist works) created between 1850 and 1950, glass (especially the work of local glassmaker and painter Maurice Marinot) and ceramics. Featured artists include Derain, Dufy, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso and Soutine. Housed in a 16th- to 18th-century bishop's palace, this place owes its existence to all those crocodile-logo shirts, whose global success allowed Lacoste entrepreneurs Pierre and Denise Lévy to amass this outstanding collection.
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Musée d'Art Moderne Lille-Métropole
Colourful, playful and just plain weird works of modern and contemporary art by masters such as Braque, Calder, Léger, Miró, Modigliani and Picasso are the big draw at the renowned Museum of Modern Art, reopened in late 2010 after extensive renovations. A brand new wing features Art Brut (outsider art). Situated in the Lille suburb of Villeneuve-d'Ascq, in a sculpture park 9km east of Gare Lille-Europe. To get there, take metro line 1 to Pont de Bois and then bus 41 to Parc Urbain-Musée.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
This institution's rich collection, housed in an 18th-century abbey, boasts one of only four versions of Jacques-Louis David's world-famous The Death of Marat (yes, the bloody corpse in the bathtub), 27 works by Camille Corot (only the Louvre has more), 13 portraits by German Renaissance painters Cranach the Elder and the Younger, lots of Barbizon School landscapes, some art-nouveau creations by Émile Gallé, and two works each by Monet, Gauguin and Pissarro.
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La Piscine Musée d'Art et d'Industrie
If Paris can turn a disused train station into a world-class museum (the Musée d'Orsay), why not take an art deco municipal swimming pool (built 1927–32) – an architectural masterpiece inspired by a combination of civic pride and hygienic high-mindedness – and transform it into a temple of the arts? This innovative museum, 12km northeast of Gare Lille-Europe, showcases fine arts, applied arts and sculpture in a delightfully watery environment.
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Musée Malraux
At the city centre's southwestern tip, this fantastic modern space houses a truly fabulous collection of Impressionist works – the finest in France outside of Paris – by luminaries such as Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and Le Havre native Eugène Boudin. A section is devoted to Fauvist Raoul Dufy, also born in Le Havre. The temporary exhibits here are often of very high quality too.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
This impressive museum is housed in a grand structure erected in 1870 and features a captivating collection of 15th- to 20th-century paintings. Artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Modigliani, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley (lots) and (of course) several works by Monet, including a study of Rouen's cathedral (in room 2.33). Some rooms have laminated art history sheets in English.
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Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse
Housed in a remarkably attractive 15th- and 17th-century poorhouse, the Hospice Comtesse Museum features ceramics, earthenware wall tiles, religious art and 17th- and 18th-century paintings and furniture. A rood screen separates the Salle des Malades (Hospital Hall) from a mid-17th century chapel (look up to see a mid-19th century painted ceiling).
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Musée Granet
Housed in a 17th-century Knights of Malta priory, the museum’s pride and joy are its nine Cézanne paintings. The unique De Cézanne à Giacometti collection features works by Picasso, Léger, Matisse, Tal Coat and Giacometti, among others. There are also extensive 16th- to 20th-century Italian, Flemish and French collections and rotating exhibitions.
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Musée d'Art Oriental Asiatica
Out on the edge of town is this unexpected treasure trove of ancient Indian, Chinese and Tibetan statues, monuments and temple artwork. The layout is a bit haphazard, but the information cards (in several languages) clearly explain the significance of the objects. It's generally considered the finest collection of its type outside Paris.
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Musée Angladon
Born out of the private collection of couturier Jacques Doucet (1853–1929), this charming museum harbours Impressionist treasures, including the only Van Gogh painting in Provence (Railway Wagons), and works by Cézanne, Manet, Degas and Picasso. Upstairs is a collection of antique furniture and 16th- and 17th-century paintings.
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Musée Picasso
Spectacularly positioned overlooking the sea, 14th-century Château Grimaldi served as Picasso’s studio from July to December 1946. The museum, which underwent substantial renovation, now houses an excellent collection of the master’s paintings, lithographs, drawings and ceramics, as well as a photographic record of the artist at work.
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Musée de l'École de Nancy
A highlight of a visit to Nancy, the Musée de l'École de Nancy brings together an exquisite collection of art nouveau interiors, curvaceous glass and landscaped gardens. It's housed in a 19th-century villa about 2km southwest of the centre; to get there take bus 122 or 123 to the Nancy Thermal or Paul-Painlevé stop.
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