Gallery sights in France
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Musée Nissim de Camondo
The Nissim de Camondo Museum, housed in a sumptuous mansion modelled on the Petit Trianon at Versailles, displays 18th-century furniture, wood panelling, tapestries, porcelain and other objets d’art collected by Count Moïse de Camondo, a Sephardic Jewish banker who settled in Paris from Constantinople in the late 19th century. He bequeathed the mansion and his collection to the state on the proviso that it would be a museum named in memory of his son Nissim (1892–1917), a pilot killed in action during WWI. The museum is run by the same group responsible for the trio of museums in the Rohan Wing of the Palais du Louvre called Les Arts Décoratifs.
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Palais de Tokyo
The Tokyo Palace, created for the 1937 Exposition Universelle and now a contemporary art space, has no permanent collection. Instead its shell-like interior of polished concrete and steel is the stark backdrop for rotating, interactive art installations (the rooftop, for example, has been the setting for attention-getting projects like the transient Hotel Everland and the transparent-walled restaurant Nomiya). There’s a great lunch deal called ‘Formule Palais’ (€16), which includes admission and lunch at Tokyo Eat, the museum’s trendy café. It’s one of the better creative spaces in western Paris; DJs often hit the decks at night.
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Les Frigos
Its name translates as ‘The Refrigerators’ and that is precisely what this 1920s industrial building plastered from head to foot in graffiti used to be – a storage depot for refrigerated railway wagons. Inside some 200 artists use what is now an established artists’ squat (artists pay rent to the city, which now owns the place) as gallery and studio space. Its many galleries have no fixed opening hours: hedge your bets and hope you bump into someone willing to show you around, or look out for one of the fabulous open days and other events Les Frigos hosts (click ‘Agenda’ on its website).
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Le 104
A former funeral parlour turned city-funded art space, Le 104 has the potential to give a jolt of vitality to an otherwise neglected neighbourhood. Spread out over a massive 39,000 sq metres, the complex includes studios for resident artists, exhibition galleries, a second-hand store and café for coffee breaks. But mixing artists with government bureaucracy is not always for the best, and Le 104 went through some serious growing pains in its opening year. The best advice is to check acitivity on the website and time visits around scheduled events.
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Centre National d'Art Contemporain
Housed in the city's other architectural biggie, Grenoble's Centre National d'Art Contemporain is a must-see. Considered one of Europe's leading centres of contemporary art, it is dramatically placed in Le Magasin, a vast and hugely impressive glass and steel warehouse built by employees of Gustave Eiffel. There are two exhibition areas - a permanent 1000-sq-m space with a huge glass roof called 'The Rue' and a flexible space of about 900 sq m known as 'The Galleries'.
Charles Saatchi would be green with envy.
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Musée National Gustave Moreau
The Gustave Moreau Museum is dedicated to the eponymous symbolist painter’s work. Housed in what was once Moreau’s studio, the two-storey museum is crammed with 4800 of his paintings, drawings and sketches. Some of Moreau’s paintings are fantastic – in both senses of the word. One particularly highlight is La Licorne (The Unicorn), inspired by La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn) cycle of tapestries in the Musée National du Moyen Age.
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Centre Pompidou-Metz
Opened in May 2010 to much fanfare, the architecturally innovative Centre Pompidou-Metz is the satellite branch of Paris' Centre Pompidou and the new star of the city's art scene. The gallery draws on Europe's largest collection of modern art to stage ambitious temporary exhibitions, such as the inaugural Chefs d'oeuvre (Masterpieces), which presented standouts by Picasso, Matisse and Kandinsky. The dynamic space also hosts top-drawer cultural events.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
The evolution of Occidental art from the Renaissance to the mid-20th century is on view at Bordeaux’ Musée des Beaux-Arts. Occupying two wings of the 1770s-built Hôtel de Ville, either side of the Jardin de la Mairie (an elegant public park), the museum was established in 1801; highlights include 17th-century Flemish, Dutch and Italian paintings. Temporary exhibitions are regularly hosted at its nearby annexe, Galerie des Beaux-Arts.
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Musée Marmottan-Monet
This museum, two blocks east of the Bois de Boulogne between Porte de la Muette and Porte de Passy, has the world’s largest collection of works by impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840–1926) – about 100 – as well as paintings by Gauguin, Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir, Degas, Manet and Berthe Morisot. It also contains an important collection of French, English, Italian and Flemish miniatures from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
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Galerie du Canal
In Limoges émail (eh-my) has nothing to do with the internet, it means 'enamel', which has been produced here since the 12th century. The Musée Municipal de l'Évêché has a fine collection of émaux (plural of émail). Contemporary works can be admired at Galerie du Canal, a cooperative gallery run by six master enamellists.
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Musée Maillol-Fondation Dina Vierny
This splendid little museum focuses on the work of sculptor Aristide Maillol (1861–1944) who died in a car crash. It also includes works by Matisse, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Cézanne and Picasso, all from the private collection of Odessa-born Dina Vierny (b 1915–), Maillol’s principal model for 10 years from the age of 15. The museum is located in the stunning 18th-century Hôtel Bouchardon.
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Grenoble Museum
Over museums? Don't miss this one. The sleek glass-and-steel Musée de Grenoble houses an exceptional out-of-Paris collection - its modern core is a revelation. A masterful Matisse keeps company with playful 20th-century ground-breakers by the likes of Klee, Chagall and Léger. Surrealists star (Magritte and Miró) and the abstract comes alive (Arp and Lewitt).
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Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel
At the top of Louis Vuitton’s flagship store is this modern art gallery with changing exhibits throughout the year. The main entrance is off a side street (at the time of research it was via an art-installation elevator that had no lights or buttons), but you can also reach it via the mammoth flagship store, which, of course, is something of a sight in itself.
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Le Magasin - National Centre for Contemporary Art
Charles Saatchi would be green with envy. A European leader in contemporary art, the recently renovated Centre National d'Art Contemporain has two large exhibition areas - a glass-capped permanent space called 'The Rue' and the flexible 'Galleries'. The whole thing's wrapped in a hugely impressive glass-and-steel shell designed by Gustave Eiffel's studio.
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Fondation Dubuffet
Situated in a lovely 19th-century hôtel particulier (private mansion) at the end of a courtyard, the foundation houses the collection of Jean Dubuffet (1901–85), chief of the Art Brut school (a term he himself coined to describe all works of artistic expression not officially recognised). Much of his work is incredibly modern and expressive.
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Fondation Vincent Van Gogh
One of the fitting tributes to Van Gogh’s art is the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, where important modern-day artists, including David Hockney, Francis Bacon and Fernando Botero, pay homage to the artist’s distinctive style. The collection and its diversity show just how widely Van Gogh’s influence has been felt in the artistic world.
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Musée National d’Art Moderne
The 4th and 5th floors of Centre Pompidou house the Musée National d’Art Moderne, France’s national collection of art dating from 1905 onwards. About a third of the 50,000-plus works, including the work of the surrealists and cubists, as well as pop art and contemporary works, are on display.
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Maison Rouge
Subtitled ‘Fondation Antoine de Galbert’ after the man who endowed it, this cutting-edge gallery shows contemporary artists and has good access to seldom-seen works from private collections. There’s a decent restaurant here open during museum hours and for lunch on Tuesday. Sunday brunch costs €24.
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La Malmaison
Walk a few blocks along La Croisete to La Malmaison, a seaside pavilion in the former games and tea room of Cannes' grandest hotels of the 1860s, the Grand Hôtel (opened in 1864, shut in 1950, demolished and rebuilt in the 1960s). Modern art exhibitions fill part of La Malmaison today.
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Bourse de Commerce
At one time the city’s grain market, the circular Trade Exchange was capped with a copper dome in 1811. The murals running along internal walls below the galleries were painted by five different artists in 1889 and restored in 1998. They represent French trade and industry through the ages.
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Centre National d'Art Contemporain
Sensational temporary photographic and contemporary art exhibitions are displayed at the Centre National d'Art Contemporain, inside 18th-century Villa Arson, 1km north of the town centre. Take bus 36 to the Villa Arson stop, or bus 4, 7 or 26 to the Fanny stop on blvd de Cessole.
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Fondation Vasarely
The bold Bauhaus-style edifice, Fondation Vasarely is 4km west of town. Built in 1976, its 16 hexagonal spaces house vast architecture-meets-art works by Hungarian-born Victor Vasarely, the 'father of Optical Art'. Take bus 4 from La Rotonde to the Vasarely stop.
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Galerie du Jeu de Paume
Housed in an erstwhile jeu de paume (real, or royal, tennis) court built in 1861 during the reign of Napoleon III in the northwestern corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, the two-storey Jeu de Paume stages innovative exhibitions of contemporary art.
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CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain
Built in 1824 as a warehouse for French colonial produce like coffee, cocoa, peanuts and vanilla, the cavernous Entrepôts Lainé creates a dramatic backdrop for cutting-edge modern art at the CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain.
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Musée du Luxembourg
The Musée du Luxembourg, housed in two galleries built for the Palais du Luxembourg to showcase artworks. It hosts very prestigious temporary art exhibitions; admission prices vary.
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