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Then, when Paul died in 1932, he left the house and the family's
impressive art collection to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, which is the Paris School of
Art, and the mansion was opened two years later as the Musee Marmottan.
Initially devoted to the First Empire, the Musee Marmottan was to become over the years an
impressionist shrine, yet it generally remained in obscurity until 1966 when Claude
Monet's son Michel died tragically in a car crash and in his will he left his father's art
to the small museum.
Because of these bequests it then housed more than 130 paintings, watercolors, pastels and
drawings and the Musee Marmottan suddenly boasted the world's largest collection of works
by Claude Monet. Fortunately for us, it means that we can now trace the artist's
evolving techniques of the renowned Impressionist, over the span of his career in a single
museum.
And for those of you who are die-hard Monet fans, this is definitely the place you need to
visit, with the main attraction being the world renowned Water Lilies by Claude Monet and
is considered a pilgrimage destination for fans of impressionism and a very pleasant
museum for everybody.
Known as the best impressionist landscape painter, Claude Monet brought colour and light,
and expressions of happiness and life's subtle emotions into his paintings, which has made
his style become extremely popular. And along with the Water Lillies, which Claude
Monet painted in his last years in his Giverny house in Normandy,
West of Paris, you will be able to view other Monet
favourites such as The Boat, La Locomative and Weeping Willow.
Along with the paintings and works by Monet, the museum also plays host to a collection of
furniture, objets d'art, works by German and Italian primitive painters, Renaissance
tapestries, Impressionist and Post-impressionist works by artists such as Pissaro, Renoir
and Rodin, which makes this museum almost on par
with places such as the Musée d'Orsay.
Enriched even further by the Wildenstein donation, the Musee Marmottan also displays over
200 medieval book illuminations, which is one of Europe's most outstanding displays from
around the 12th through to the 16th centuries, along with an important collection of
furniture, bronze statues and paintings from the Napoleonic period.
The museum also features an on-site gift shop, which offers numerous different items from
books and posters to prints and calendars, as well as jewellery and decorative items plus
creative items for children.
Obviously anyone can visit and walk around at their own leisure, but guided tours are
available by prior arrangement, as are workshops for children but because it is on
different floors, unfortunately it is not suitable for the disabled at this time.
The museum is open from 10am through to 6pm every day of the week except for on a Monday
and the national holidays.
Address & Contact Details:
Musée Marmottan
2 Rue Louis Bailly
75016
Paris
Telephone: 1 42 24 07 02
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