Paris Art

Paris is renowned as one of the most influential cities in the world of art. Every major artist in history has, at one time or another, either lived in Paris, visited the City of France, or had an exhibition of their work displayed within one of the city’s proliferation of galleries.

A recent estimate put the number of galleries and museums within France ‘s capital at an astonishing 300 plus! Whilst this Paris art guide does not set out to list every single one, it does set forth the most celebrated and arguably most important galleries and museums that the cultured visitor cannot afford to miss. So if you intend to travel to Paris, keep this info in mind.

Paris Museums

Paris contains many museums that house permanent exhibitions. These museums are dedicated to famous Paris art and artists such as Picasso, or famous movements, such as the huge Impressionist collection in the Musée d’Orsay. Major works from the early periods in the history of art can be viewed at the Louvre. There are hundreds of museums in Paris, exhibiting all kinds of art; the museums included here are the most visited. They contain the work of the greatest artists, including Picasso, Monet, Rodin and Matisse, along with a host of others.

The museums in Paris are almost as famous as the city itself. The Museums Louvre and d’Orsay between them catalogue the history of art from ancient Greece right up to the dawn of the 20th century, whereas the most important and influential painters of the last 500 years have entire museums dedicated to their lives and their work.

Musée du Louvre
Palais du Louvre, 99 rue de Rivoli, Cours Napoléon, Paris 75001
Tel: +33 1 40 20 51 51
Metro line 1: Palais-Royal, Louvre
Thursday to Sunday: 9am -6 pm, Monday and Wednesday: 9am-l0 pm, Closed Tuesday

Musée d’Orsay
1 rue de Bellechasse, Paris 75007
Tel: +33 1 40 49 48 14
Metro line 12: Solférino, Assemblée Nationale
Tuesday to Sunday open 10 am – 6pm

Musée Picasso
Hôtel Salé, 5 rue de Thorigny, Paris 75003
Tel: +33 1 42 71 25 21
Metro line 1 or 8: Chemin-Vert, St-Paul, St-Sebastian
April to September: 9.30 am to 6 pm, October to March: 9.30 am to 5.30 pm

Musée Delacroix
6 rue de Furstenberg, Paris
Tel: +33 1 44 41 86 50
Metro line 4: St-Germain-des-Prés
Monday, Wednesday to Friday: 9.30 am to 5 pm, Closed Tuesday

Musée Rodin
77 rue de Varenne, Paris 75007
Tel: +33 1 47 05 01 34
Metro line 13: Varenne
Tuesday to Sunday: 10 am-5.45 pm (4.45 pm in winter). Closed Monday

Musée Gustave Moreau
14 rue de la Rochefoucauld, Paris
Tel: +33 1 48 74 38 50
Metro line 12: Trinité
Thursday to Sunday: 10 to 12.45 am and 2 to 5.15 pm, Monday and Wednesday: 11 am to 5.15 pm. Closed Tuesday

Paris Art Galleries

In addition to permanent exhibitions on show at the museums, the city’s art galleries put on irregular exhibitions of historical and contemporary work. So before you travel, check if anything interesting is on during your stay. Many a masterpiece can be ‘discovered’ in these periodical showcases. The Pompidou Center is probably the most famous Paris art gallery, instantly recognizable as the ‘inside-out’ building.

The Parisian galleries listed below cover a broad spectrum of fine art exhibitions. The famous Pompidou Center, known locally as ‘Beaubourg’, hosts a permanent exhibition of contemporary art, whereas the Cluny (aptly renamed the National Museum of the Middle Ages), shows off art and artifacts from a distant past.

Pompidou Center
Place Georges Pompidou, rue du Renard, Paris
Tel: +33 1 44 78 12 33
Metro line 1 or 11: Rambuteau, Hotel de Ville, Chatelet
Monday, Wednesday to Friday: 12 am to 10 pm, Saturday, Sunday and Holidays: 10 am to 10 pm, Closed Tuesday

Musée de l’Orangerie
Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Paris
Tel: +33 1 42 97 48 16
Metro line 1, 8 or 12: Concorde
Daily: 9.45 am -5.15 pm. Closed Tuesday

Musée National du Moyen-Age (Musée de Cluny)
6 Place Paul-Painlevé, Paris 75006
Tel: +33 1 43 25 62 00
Metro line 1, 4 or 10: St-Michel, Cluny and Odeon
Monday, Wednesday to Friday: 9.15 am to 5.45 pm, Closed Tuesday

Musée Marmottan
2 rue Louis-Bouilly, Paris 75016

Metro: La Muette
Tuesday to Friday: 10 am to 5.30 pm. Closed Monday

Paris Theatre

Paris is well known as a cosmopolitan city, therefore it is unsurprising that entertainment within the city is equally diverse. People who travel a lot say that from the bawdy floorshows of the Moulin Rouge to lavish productions fresh from London and New York, and all places in between, there are shows covering every genre for everyone.

Paris Opera
In a similar vein to the theatres, the opera houses of Paris not only have the best in traditional and contemporary opera, but also showcase spectacular ballet productions and concerts from the largest orchestras.

Odéon – Théâtre de L’Europe
1 Place Paul Claudel (public entrance: place de l’Odéon), Paris 75006
Tel: +33 1 44 41 36 36
Metro line: Odéon

Opéra Bastille
Place de la Bastille, Paris
Tel: +33 1 43 43 96 96
Metro line 1,5 or 8: Bastille

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
15 avenue Montaigne, Paris 75008
Tel: +33 1 42 71 25 21
Metro line: Alma-Marceau

Opéra-Garnier/Palais Garnier
Place de l’Opéra, 8 rue Scribe, Paris
Tel: +33 1 40 17 35 35
Metro line: Garnier

Théâtre du Châtelet
place du Châtelet, Paris 75001
Tel: +33 1 40 28 28 40
Metro line: Châtelet

Bal du Moulin Rouge
82 boulevard de Clichy, Paris 75018
Tel: +33 1 53 09 82 82
Metro line: Montmartre

Paris Art Guide Books

Brassaï, Le Paris Secret des Annees 30 ( Gallimard, France ). Extraordinary photos of the capital’s nightlife in the 1930s – brothels, music halls, street cleaners, transvestites and the underworld – each one a work of art and a familiar world (now long since gone) to Brassaï and his mate, Henry Miller, who accompanied him on his nocturnal expeditions. This friendship with Miller is captured in his book Henry Miller: the Paris Years ( Arcade ; Timothy Bent, translator).

Robert Doisneau, Three Seconds of Eternity (Neues Publishing Co.). The famous Kiss in front of the Hôtel de Ville takes the front cover, but there’s more to Doisneau than this. A collection chosen by himself of photographs taken in France, but mainly Paris, in the 1940s and 50s. Beautifully nostalgic.

Norma Evenson, Paris: A Century of Change, 1878–1978 (o/p). A large illustrated volume which makes the development of urban planning and the fabric of Paris an enthralling subject, mainly because the author’s concern is always with people, not panoramas.

John James, Chartres (D. S. Brewer, UK ). The story of Chartres cathedral, with insights into the medieval context, the character and attitudes of the masons, the symbolism, and the advanced mathematics of the building’s geometry.

William Mahder (ed), Paris Arts: The ’80s Renaissance (o/p), Paris Creation: Une Renaissance (o/p). Illustrated, magazine-style survey of French arts. The design and photos are reason enough in themselves to look it up.

Willy Ronis, Belleville Menilmontant (o/p). Misty black-and-white photographs of people and streets in the two “villages” of eastern Paris in the 1940s and 50s.

Judy Rudoe, Cartier: 1900–1939 ( British Museum Press/Harry N. Abrams). Marvellous photos of the world-renowned Paris-based jeweler’s creations including Art Deco necklaces, rings, bracelets and brooches, among other objets d’art .

Vivian Russell, Monet’s Garden (Frances Lincoln/Stewart, Talson & Chang). An exceptional book illustrated with sumptuous color photographs by the author, old photographs of the artist and reproductions of his paintings.

Edward Lucie-Smith, Concise History of French Painting (o/p). If you’re after an art reference book, then this will do as well as any, though there are of course dozens of other books available on particular French artists and art movements.

Yves St-Laurent, Forty Years of Creation (Distributed Art Publishers). Glossy pages of the best of Y-S-L’s stylish fashion photography and creations.