Paris.si

Paris is a city rich in museums. There are three different kinds in the city. There are the national museums, the City Museums, and the private museums. The national and city museums are the most common, and they are characterized by their colossal sizes and their vast collections, some of which are thousands of years old. Private museums on the other hand are smaller, with no less admirable collections but not as big in size. Looking for private museums in Paris is harder than looking for a nation one, but that’s okay because these small museums find you even before you find them. A good example is the Musée Marmottan Monet.

The Musée Marmottan Monet is a private museum, located at just the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in the XVIe arrondissement in Paris. It did not initially start out as a museum, but as a personal residence of Jules Marmottan, an avid collector of antiquities from medieval and Napoleonic eras. It is from him where the museum derives its name. After his death, he left his home and all his collections to his son, Paul Marmottan, who expanded the collections that his father was so proud of. It was he who gave the residence with its unique and rare collections to the Academie des Beaux-Arts which later opened it up as the Marmottan Museum back in the early 1930s. At the time the museum had rich pieces from the First Empire from the Marmottan collections. Two donations increased the profile of the museum. One of them was from Michael Monet, the son of impressionist painter Claude Monet, who gave his fathers collection, the one he had in his possession to the museum. It was a generous donation, and this revolutionized the little known Museum Marmottan to the Musée Marmottan Monet because it held the largest collection of Claude Monet who is regarded as the father of impressionism.

The lower floor of the Musée Marmottan Monet is dedicated to Claude Monet, with his famous water lily paintings and Impression, Sunrise painting being on exhibit. The top floor houses works from other artists such as Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissaro, Paul Gauguin, Monet, and Alfred Sisley among others. Ceramics, furniture, bronze pieces and other antiquities collected by Jules and later Paul Marmottan are found on the ground floor. Medieval sculptures and manuscripts are also present at the museum.

Some of the works of art on display at the Musée Marmottan Monet date back to as early as the 13th century. If anything, this makes up for a compelling to give the private museum a visit, more so if you are a fan of Claude Monet. His paintings can be found in different art museums in the world, but the single biggest collection in one place is only at the museum which is virtually dedicated to him. Some of the paintings from the Musée Marmottan Monet were stolen in 1985, including the Impression, Sunrise painting. With a combined value of millions of dollars, an investigation was carried out, and no more than five years after the incident, all the paintings were recovered and restored to their rightful place at the museum.

A general museum and monument pass is usually given to tourists in Paris to facilitate their viewing of the city’s museums and monuments by eliminating the need to buy tickets at the attraction itself. However, this pass does not apply to some places, like the Musée Marmottan Monet. It could be because the museum is private, so remember to carry your admission fee when you are touring the museum. There are hardly any queues and if there are, they are usually short It’s open all week with the exception of Mondays. Unlike many other museums in Paris, you don’t get a free pass on the first Sunday of the month. This is again attributed to the fact that it’s a private museum. Photography or video recording is not allowed inside the museum as well. You could bring your child to the museum as they will be guided in the tour of the museum. They could also participate in the monthly drawing contests held by the museum to perhaps best encourage an artist spirit in them.