In a city with 153 museums, it’s tough to choose just one. Yet each Parisian art museum is a world of its own, spanning across palaces and gardens and châteaux with collections so vast that you could set aside a day for each. Though you couldn’t possibly see it all in one trip, here are a few of our favorites to start off your Paris art adventure.
Musée du Louvre
It’s an unwritten law that you have to go to the Louvre in Paris. After all, how could you go home without seeing the Mona Lisa? Try to resist the urge to make a beeline for Da Vinci’s masterpiece and soak in the other magnificent works of art the Louvre has to offer. Navigate your way through the palace-turned-museum to find the Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest decipherable writings of length in the world and one of the oldest records of fundamental law. See the Venus de Milo, one of the most famous works of Ancient Greek sculpture. With all these spectacular masterpieces and more, the world’s most famous art museum is certainly worth the visit, but be sure to plan ahead and allot plenty of time to get through the 60,600-square-foot palace.
Musée d’Orsay
When you enter the Musée d’Orsay, you might find that it vaguely resembles Grand Central Terminal. Designed by Victor Laloux in 1900, the former Orsay railway station features work created between 1848 and 1914, including the masterpieces of Cézanne, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Pissaro, Monet and more. See some of the most famous works of the masters of impressionism, including Dancers in Blue by Degas, Bal du moulin de la Galette by Renoir, even Starry Night Over the Rhone by Van Gogh. See furniture built by Gaudí in the decorative arts collection. Journey through the corridors to witness a garden of sculptures, including the plaster original of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, which was originally created and abandoned as a model for the doors of the museum. A new addition to the French museum is actually quite old and seemingly quite American: Lady Liberty. A scale model of the Statue of Liberty by the original artist, Auguste Bartholdi, now greets you as you enter the museum.
Pompidou Centre
Had enough of impressionism and ancient artifacts? Get a fresh take on Parisian art museums at the Centre Pompidou. Recently reopened after a lengthy renovation, the Centre Pompidou was founded by the Former French President Georges Pompidou as a public place for all forms of Modern art. The museum’s rotation has included works from Salvador Dalí, Edvard Munch, Max Ernst, Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock and more, with a constant influx of newer works from up-and-coming contemporary artists. For more Modern and contemporary art, you should also plan a visit to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
Giverny guided excursion
Feed your love for Impressionism with a trip to Monet’s garden in Giverny. Claude Monet discovered this tiny farming village when he looked out the window of a stopped train. Impressed by its beauty, in 1883 he and his family moved into the pink stucco house where he spent the next 40 years planting his extensive gardens and creating some of the world’s most beautiful Impressionist paintings. Spend some time wandering through the riot of natural color in the Clos Normand, watching soft light shine on the delicate Japanese bridge and lush water lilies that inspired some of his most famous works. See Monet’s studio, preserved just as he left it, with supplies and sketches scattered around. Neglected for years and badly damaged during WWII, the house and gardens took 10 years to restore, but are now back in their full glory. Which just leaves one question: With all that weeding and fertilizing, how did Monet have time to paint?
Rodin Museum
Not only was Auguste Rodin a brilliant sculptor and artist, but he was an avid collector as well. Visit the Rodin Museum to see the master’s personal collection of 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 antique photographs and 7,000 objects of art. Though most of the sculptures are the handiwork of the Father of Modern sculpture, including Rodin’s The Thinker, The Kiss and the bronze The Gates of Hell, works by Picasso, Renoir, and Matisse are also present in the collection.
