MUSÉE MARMOTTAN-MONET

The Marmottan-Monet museum houses one of the most important impressionist collections in Paris with a hundred masterpieces by Claude Monet and paintings that once belonged to the artist (Degas, Gauguin, Renoir, Sisley...). It also has oils, pastels and watercolors by Berthe Morisot as well as a whole collection of art objects and paintings from the First Empire. Nestled in the 16th arrondissement of the capital, the museum is housed in the former mansion of Paul Marmottan, an art historian specializing in the Consulate and the Empire, collector and patron (1856-1932), which he bequeathed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts along with his own collection. This mansion, which became a museum in 1934, was once a hunting lodge belonging to the Duke of Valmy. When it was acquired by Jules Marmottan (1829-1883), director of several French energy and transport companies and father of Paul Marmottan, it was the site of his first art collections, notably of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Later, Paul Marmottant gradually brought together paintings from the early 19th century and marble effigies of members of the Napoleonic family from the Tuileries Palace and the Château de Portici in Naples. From 1938 onwards, more recent works entered the museum thanks to various donations, not the least of which were drawings by Bouguereau, canvases by Baburen and, above all, eleven paintings by the major artists Morisot, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley and Monet, including the famous "Impression, soleil levant" (1872), bequeathed in 1957. In 1966, the museum also received the collection of Michel Monet, son of the famous painter, while in 1993 the descendants of Berthe Morisot bequeathed their family collection to the museum. Today, the museum offers various temporary exhibitions that it organizes regularly. But all year long, one can visit the permanent collections and discover a very rich set of objects from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, including some pieces signed by masters, notably the fabulous "alchemist" by Jean Perréal (1516). The art of the 19th century is naturally well represented with many works such as those of Grandin, Caillebotte... Finally, closer to us, the beautiful pastel "the girl in blue jersey" by Morisot (1886), more than a jewel... among other must-sees. Many favorites guaranteed in this museum.