Story by Stephanie Levin.
Feature image: Matisse’s ‘ La Danse’
Utter the phrase, “I’m going to Paris,” and romance, food, and culture spring to mind. I can’t remember the last time romance crossed my path in Paris, and excellent cuisine is simply a fact of life there. But surely culture, particularly museums, at last count 140, is on everyone’s radar in Paris. Two museums, the Louvre, celebrating two millennia of culture and history, and the Musée d’Orsay, boasting a rich collection of impressionist paintings, are the most visited. Crowds huddle in front of famous paintings, while others block views as they snap selfies. Envisioning an artistic masterpiece for longer than a mere glance is often impossible. I would never discourage those who desire a visit to these famous art institutions. Conversely, Paris has several equally exceptional, less crowded museums that tend to be off the tourist path. It is in these cultural gems that I have discovered some of the most consequential French painters and photographers, many of whom are women.
The Garden Museums
Every museum in Paris has both a history and a story. Two of these are situated in the grandeur of the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Jardin des Tuileries, both of which possess a royal history. The Jardin du Luxembourg extends over 60 acres in the 6th arrondissement (neighborhood) with numerous street entrances. The Musée du Luxembourg is located at the entrance on rue Vaugirard. The exquisite gardens were designed by Marie de Medici in 1612 to resemble the Boboli Gardens located in her native city of Florence. The Musée du Luxembourg holds the honor of being Paris’ first public art gallery, having opened its doors in 1750. It was also the first in Paris to exhibit the French Impressionists, a somewhat risky endeavor considering the Impressionist painters faced rejection and criticism from art critics and the public. These artistic radicals, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille rattled the established 19th-century art world with their vibrant colors, loose brushstrokes, and painting “en plein air” (outdoors).
Today, the Musée du Luxembourg presents two annual exhibitions each year at national and international levels, focusing on 20th-century painting, photography, and women artists. Many exhibits have a thematic overtone, such as Chagall’s “Between War and Peace” in 2024, “Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso” in 2025, followed by “Tous Léger”, which highlights the avant-garde artist Ferdinand Léger, as well as Nicki de Saint Phalle, Yves Klein, and Keith Haring.
Not to be outshined by Jardin du Luxembourg, the Jardin des Tuileries has its own royal story and museum history, albeit a little more calamitous. The Tuileries Palace was home to the majority of the French monarchs from Henri IV to Napoleon II; however, in 1871 the palace was torched by the Paris Commune, which led to the French Revolution and deposing of the monarchy for a republic. There is no trace of the palace in the park; it was demolished in 1883.
Stroll through the canopy of trees to the west end of the gardens toward Place de la Concorde, and you will encounter the Musée de l’Orangerie, which was initially built to house the orange trees that decorated the gardens. Located in the 1st arrondissement, l’Orangerie did not become a museum until 1927. Perhaps due to its proximity to the Seine and the enormous trees providing shade, the museum is seldom overcrowded. Nevertheless, one area in the museum draws a lot of visitors: the two large, oval-shaped rooms devoted to Claude Monet’s Nympheas, better known to anglophones as the “Water Lilies” mural. Monet worked on the eight horizontal panels for three decades to capture the cycle of his water lilies at his home in Giverny. The meditative panels were a gift to France after the armistice in November, 1918. They were not displayed in the Orangerie until 1927, after Monet’s death. Due to the brouhaha still brewing over impressionism, few paid attention to this masterpiece. It wasn’t until after World War II when the fascination with Impressionism peaked, that Monet’s Water Lilies became a must-see for Parisians, art aficionados, and tourists.
The Musée de l’Orangerie offers two to three temporary exhibitions annually, in addition to its permanent collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Modigliani, Cézanne, and Renoir, thereby highlighting the diverse range of art.
The delight of these two museums is that one can stroll through the two beautiful gardens and take in their natural beauty at the same time, reflecting on art.
The Modern with an Eiffel Tower View
Across the city in the upscale 16th arrondissement, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (MAM), located in the west wing of Palais de Tokyo, isn’t considered small, yet the exhibitions have an intimate quality, and one never feels rushed. Exhibits focus on 20th– and 21st-century modern painters, many of whom are female artists. The most recent exhibit is Gabriele Münter. The German-born artist was both independent and driven by a passion to create. In 1902, with a desire to free herself from the constraints of traditional German academic art, she enrolled in an art school in Munich, which offered a freer expression of art technique. Here, she met Wassily Kandinsky, with whom she remained in partnership until 1916. While Kandinsky’s art flourished, the domestic partnership did not curtail Münter’s art trajectory. The artist underwent a long artistic evolution, developing various styles through her solo travels to the United States, Tunisia, and her years in Paris, providing insight into the determination and creativity of a rare female artist who endured until she died in 1962.
While exhibitions rotate, MAM is also home to two other treasures. Most recognizable is Matisse’s “La Danse”, his three-year project created in an architectural setting. The story of “La Danse” is that Matisse was unhappy with his first version, so he made two more versions. It is the last two versions that are displayed permanently on the second floor of MAM. A very different exhibit on the first floor is Raoul Dufy’s “La Fée Electricité”, a vibrant wall-to-ceiling panorama telling the story of electricity through a blend of historical accuracy, mythologies, and allegories. To engage with the exhibit, iPads are available in various languages to follow and listen to the magical journey of electricity and the 110 scientists who contributed to its development.
A Private Collection: In a quiet tree-lined section on Boulevard Haussmann in the 8th arrondissement is the Musée Jacquemart-André André. The sumptuous mansion exudes elegance that defines a bygone era of enormous wealth, from the music room graced by a grand piano to the Italian art gallery and library.
Édouard André was born in 1833 into one of the wealthiest families in France. His privileged education introduced him to the art world, to which he dedicated his life. By the time André married the renowned portrait artist, Nélie Jacquemart, he had already amassed a vast art collection. When the state refused to support André’s request to create a permanent museum of decorative arts, he made the museum in his stately home on Boulevard Haussmann. Nélie assembled a new collection centered on Renaissance Italian art and installed it on the mansion’s first floor. She encouraged her husband to travel with her around the world in search of extraordinary works of art. The marriage of these two diverse personalities, both devoted to art and its preservation, leaves the visitor today with one of the most original, private art collections of the late 19th century. The museum features one or two temporary exhibits in addition to its permanent collection. This year, the museum highlighted the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The 17th-century artist’s voluptuous paintings of women intensify allegorical tragedies.
Currently, the works of Georges de La Tour, a renowned Baroque French painter who spent much of his life in the Holy Roman Empire, are on display. His paintings have more of a religious rather than an allegorical overtone.
Musée Jacquemart André is also home to a delightful restaurant for lunch. It’s not unusual to see a queue just before 3:00 pm. This is the after-lunch bunch that enjoys tea and a divine dessert. Weather permitting, I enjoy sitting on the terrace, which overlooks a spacious garden, and marveling at the marble statues.
A Museum with a Bohemian History: I cannot count the times I’ve stayed in the Montmartre region of Paris, yet I didn’t discover the Musée de Montmartre until three years ago. Located at 12 rue Cortot in the 18th arrondissement, the museum has a distinctly old French feel. The polished wooden stairs creak a bit, and there is no marble or state-of-the-art architecture, but rather the feel of a distinctly Parisian Museum that has remained true to the bohemian artists that once called Montmartre home.
Le Café Renoir’s glass roof and doors open onto the beautiful Jardin Renoir. This is the perfect spot for a light lunch, tea, or coffee while taking in the splendor of the surrounding greenery. Three of the gardens surrounding the museum are named in honor of the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir, who resided on the grounds from 1875 to 1877, during which time he painted several of his masterpieces. In 1912, artists Suzanne Valdon, the first female painter admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and her son and artist Maurice Utrillo, settled in the top-floor apartment and studio, which is now part of the museum and open to visitors. Moving amidst wooden easels as the light streams through the windows, one is transported to a bohemian time when Montmartre belonged to the artists.
What I adore about this museum is its unpretentiousness and the diversity of artists shown here, from Fauvist, Neo-Impressionist, Surrealist to the École de Paris Collection with its plurality of styles of the first half of the 20th century.
An Eye for Photography
For photography fans, Paris offers several museums and free open-air photography exhibits. Before the opening of Notre-Dame in June 2025, a black and white photo exhibit honoring each person who worked on the refurbishing of the cathedral, including all the extraordinary craftspeople and the security guards, enhanced the front of the cathedral. Currently, the side of the cathedral exhibits detailed photos of the refurbishing process of this well-loved cathedral.
Of course, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in the Marais hosts several photography exhibits, although not those of the famous French humanist photographer or his wife, Martine Franck. For anyone keenly interested in photography, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), also in the Marais’ 4th arrondissement, is a must. Although the MEP appears large, the museum is manageable, with smaller rooms spread across three floors. The curators excel in their choice of photographers who were/are willing to tackle complex subjects with an exceptional ability to convey the human qualities of those depicted. This museum offers a space and time to view thought-provoking photographs.
The exhibits are extensive, such as the one I was fortunate enough to see on Marie-Laure De Decker (1947-2023), a leading figure of the 20th century and a socially engaged photojournalist who captured major global events. An admirer of Cartier-Bresson, Decker preferred “Humanist photography”, the human living conditions over sensationalist news and conflict often associated with the global regions she covered– Chad, Chile, South Africa, and Vietnam– with her small Minolta camera. She eventually photographed for Magnum, then the most prestigious photographic agency in the world. After decades of covering regions rife with strife and destruction, she turned her Minolta on well-known film directors, actors, and politicians.
MEP houses over 30,000 photographs and opened its doors in 1996. It is the center for contemporary photographic art with an exhibition center, a library, a video viewing center, and a specialized bookstore, all easily accessible to the public. Whether you are a photographer or have an interest in stunning photos, you will come away with an appreciation for photojournalism, as well as the skill once required to hold a small camera in hand to capture world events, many of which live on today, thanks to these photographers.
If you are not French or engaged in art rhetoric, you might wonder how a traveler discovers these museums. If you take the metro, you will notice l’affiche (poster) posted on the metro walls, a kind of billboard for exhibitions. The most efficient way, though, is to download the app L’Officiel des Spectacles, which lists all current exhibitions, theaters, music, and cinema.
IF YOU GO: Musée du Luxembourg: https://museeduluxembourg.fr/en/museum; Musée de l’Orangerie: https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/fr; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris: https://www.mam.paris.fr/; Musée Jacquemart André: https://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/; Musée de Montmartre : https://museedemontmartre.fr/en/; Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson : https://www.henricartierbresson.org/en/; Notre-Dame de Paris : https://www.notredamedeparis.fr/en/; Maison Européenne de la Photographie: https://www.mep-fr.org/ The first Sunday of the month many museums are free; nevertheless, visitors require a reservation to access them on that Sunday.
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