Museums & Art Galleries In Paris & Île-de-France
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World Cultures, Anthropology & Ethnography Museums
Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration
Like all major metropolitan centres, Paris has a long history of immigration, having attracted people from all over the world. The story of these migrants can be explored at the National City of Immigration History, opened in 2007, which brings together historic artefacts, archival collections, and contemporary artworks. Focusing on the period from the late 17th century to the present, it looks at the experiences of migrants to France, examining their economic and cultural contributions to French society as well as the prejudice and discrimination they have faced.
Musée de l'Homme
Established in 1937, the Museum of Mankind is an anthropological institution devoted to looking at the bigger picture, exploring questions about the emergence of the human species and where it is headed. In doing so, it considers biological, cultural, and social anthropology, aiming for a more holistic understanding of the human story. Its founder, Paul Rivet, was an ethnologist who specialised in the study of South America and later became involved in the French Resistance. Rivet always envisioned the institution as a laboratory-museum, with research a key part of its focus.
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
The Jacques Chirac Museum of Branly Quay opened in 2006 in a purpose-built structure designed by the architect Jean Nouvel. An anthropological museum named for the French president who established it, it assembles together a substantial body of material from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, objects formerly displayed in two older museums. Many of its artefacts were collected at a time when the French Empire was a major colonial power, meaning that today it faces calls to return parts of its collection to their places of origin.
Musée Guimet
Also known as the Musée national des arts asiatiques (National Museum of Asian Arts), the Musée Guimet contains one of the finest collections of Asian material outside Asia itself. Named for its founder, the wealthy industrialist Émile Étienne Guimet, the museum opened in Lyon in 1879 before transferring to the French capital a decade later. Guimet’s museum originally comprised a mix of Asian and ancient Egyptian artefacts, although the latter material was later donated to the Louvre, allowing the Guimet to focus on regions like Afghanistan, Tibet, China, and Japan.
Archaeology Museums in Paris
Musée Carnavalet
Originally built in the 16th century as a home for Jacques de Ligneris, the president of the Parliament of Paris, the Musée Carnavalet has undergone various changes over the years, resulting in its present combination of Renaissance and Neo-Classical styles. In 1866 the Parisian authorities purchased the building and in 1880 opened it as a museum devoted to the city’s heritage. Today it contains a wealth of material, from archaeological artefacts exploring the region’s prehistoric and Gallo-Roman past through to artworks by some of France’s greatest painters.
Musée d'art et d'histoire Paul Eluard
Established in 1981, the Paul Eluard Museum of Art and History won the European Prize for Museum of the Year shortly after its opening. Its collections are diverse, from material belonging to the French Surrealist poet Paul Eluard (after whom it is named), to displays on the Paris Commune of 1871, Parisian industrial heritage, and the building’s own monastic past. The museum occupies an old Carmelite nunnery that was created in 1625 but which, after losing its ecclesiastical function, ended up becoming a magistrate’s court late in the 19th century.
Musée de Cluny
Devoted primarily to the art of the Middle Ages, the Musée de Cluny occupies one of Paris’ oldest surviving buildings, a late 15th-century Gothic mansion built for the Abbot of Cluny. It was in the 19th century that this lavish structure became home to a museum, and today its most important treasure is probably The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, created around 1500. Accompanying its medieval heritage, the museum also encompasses the frigidarium of a Gallo-Roman bathhouse and displays important Roman-era artefacts like the Pillar of the Boatmen.
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
The Jacques Chirac Museum of Branly Quay opened in 2006 in a purpose-built structure designed by the architect Jean Nouvel. An anthropological museum named for the French president who established it, it assembles together a substantial body of material from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, objects formerly displayed in two older museums. Many of its artefacts were collected at a time when the French Empire was a major colonial power, meaning that today it faces calls to return parts of its collection to their places of origin.
National Archaeology Museum
The Musée d’Archéologie Nationale is housed in what was once a royal palace – the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on the outskirts of Paris. In the 1860s Napoleon III had the castle restored to house the nation’s archaeology collections. Today, the museum has a vast collection of artefacts from all over the country, from the earliest Palaeolithic to the early Medieval. Highlights include cave art, Bronze Age gold and Roman mosaics.
Petit Palais
Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, the Petit Palais was built for the city’s Universal Exposition in 1900, now home to the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts. One of Paris’ finest art galleries, from its origins it showcased artworks that the city authorities had been collecting since 1870, and over the years its collection has expanded through donations. Seeking to present a broad history of European art, its collection includes artefacts from the Classical world as well as works by some of the continent’s most important artists, from medieval engravings by Albrecht Dürer through to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne.
History Museums in Paris
Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration
Like all major metropolitan centres, Paris has a long history of immigration, having attracted people from all over the world. The story of these migrants can be explored at the National City of Immigration History, opened in 2007, which brings together historic artefacts, archival collections, and contemporary artworks. Focusing on the period from the late 17th century to the present, it looks at the experiences of migrants to France, examining their economic and cultural contributions to French society as well as the prejudice and discrimination they have faced.
Musée Carnavalet
Originally built in the 16th century as a home for Jacques de Ligneris, the president of the Parliament of Paris, the Musée Carnavalet has undergone various changes over the years, resulting in its present combination of Renaissance and Neo-Classical styles. In 1866 the Parisian authorities purchased the building and in 1880 opened it as a museum devoted to the city’s heritage. Today it contains a wealth of material, from archaeological artefacts exploring the region’s prehistoric and Gallo-Roman past through to artworks by some of France’s greatest painters.
Musée de la Préfecture de Police
Located within a working police station, the Museum of the Prefecture of Police explores the history of the Parisian police force from the 17th century through to the present day. It has over 2000 objects in its collection, ranging from posters and paintings through to weapons and uniforms. As well as examining the formation and administrative changes that the city’s police have gone through over the centuries, it also deals with several of Paris’ most famous crimes, including the Poisons Affair and the murders of serial killer Henri-Désiré Landru.
Museums for Children in Paris
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
Claiming to be the biggest science museum in Europe, the City of Science and Industry was established in the 1980s. Its educational displays focus on a wide range of scientific areas, from the human body and brain through to mathematics and sound. Alongside these displays, a planetarium offers visitors the chance to learn more about the wider universe. More heritage-minded visitors may appreciate the opportunity to explore the Argonaute, a Aréthuse-class submarine used by the French Navy between 1957 and 1982, in the midst of the Cold War.
Le Musée en Herbe
A small museum that opened in 1975, the Museum of the Buds showcases temporary exhibitions of artworks aimed at entertaining and educating children. To this end, its exhibitions have often focused on characters from comic book strips, cartoons, and video games, with previous displays dealing with Tintin, Asterix, and the Mr Men and Little Miss series. Other exhibitions have explored the work of artists like Salvador Dalí, Hundertwasser, and Keith Haring. The museum also offers a range of special events intended to help get kids involved in the arts.
Musée des Arts et Métiers
Devoted to technological innovation, the Museum of Arts and Crafts displays over 2,400 inventions. This is part of the collection belonging to the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts), an institution established by Henri Grégoire in 1794, amidst the dramatic changes wrought by the French Revolution. Among the museum’s most important displays is the original Foucault pendulum, created in the mid-19th century to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation. Unsurprisingly, the museum therefore features heavily in Umberto Eco’s famous 1989 novel, Foucault’s Pendulum.
Medicine & Medical History Museums in Paris
Musée Curie
One of the most important scientists of the modern era, the Polish-born Marie Curie later settled in France, becoming the first female professor at the University of Paris. It was there that she established the Radium Institute, conducting experiments that advanced understandings of chemistry and physics. The original Institute building today contains the Musée Curie (Curie Museum), which preserves both Curie’s office and her chemistry laboratory. Displays help visitors learn more about Curie’s pioneering research as well as the lives of her and her family – who collectively received five Nobel Prizes.
Musée d'histoire de la médecine
Part of the Université Paris Cité (Paris City University), the Museum of the History of Medicine can be found in the former Faculty of Medicine building. Much of the collection was assembled by a professor of medicine, Dean Lafaye, during the 18th century. Included within it are medical instruments used by the doctors caring for Louis XIV, France’s famed ‘Sun King.’ The museum was established in the 1950s but for many decades was solely accessible to students and staff of the Faculty of Medicine; only in 1994 did it open to the general public.
Musée du Service de Santé des Armées
Housed in the cloister of the former royal abbey at Val-de-Grâce, the Army Medical Service Museum showcases the heritage and ongoing activities of the medical wing of the French armed forces. As well as material pertaining to developments in the surgical treatment of wounded soldiers, it delves into the military’s humanitarian efforts abroad. Also on display are the medical collections of two doctors, Jacques and François Debat, which include historic examples of French and Italian earthenware and medical equipment dating as far back as ancient Egypt.
Musée Pasteur
Known for his contribution to the development of vaccinations, the French scientist Louis Pasteur has been credited with saving millions of lives. Today, the Parisian apartment where he spent the last seven years of his life, from 1888 to 1895, is preserved as the Pasteur Museum, located within the larger Institut Pasteur (Pasteur Institute). Also preserved here is a large selection of scientific equipment that Pasteur himself used in his experiments as well as the Neo-Byzantine style chapel where the bodies of Pasteur and his wife Marie are interred.
Science, technology & Natural History Museums in Paris
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
Claiming to be the biggest science museum in Europe, the City of Science and Industry was established in the 1980s. Its educational displays focus on a wide range of scientific areas, from the human body and brain through to mathematics and sound. Alongside these displays, a planetarium offers visitors the chance to learn more about the wider universe. More heritage-minded visitors may appreciate the opportunity to explore the Argonaute, a Aréthuse-class submarine used by the French Navy between 1957 and 1982, in the midst of the Cold War.
Grande Galerie de l'Évolution
Exploring the complexities of how species adapt and change, the Grand Gallery of Evolution is part of the broader Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History), which has 14 sites across France. The Grand Gallery is home to over 7000 specimens, showcasing the biological diversity and wonders of our planet. The museum also examines how scientists developed their theories regarding evolution, discussing prominent biologists like Lamarck, Darwin, and Mendel. Additional displays examine the role of conservation in helping to prevent the extinction of further species.
Musée des Arts et Métiers
Devoted to technological innovation, the Museum of Arts and Crafts displays over 2,400 inventions. This is part of the collection belonging to the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts), an institution established by Henri Grégoire in 1794, amidst the dramatic changes wrought by the French Revolution. Among the museum’s most important displays is the original Foucault pendulum, created in the mid-19th century to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation. Unsurprisingly, the museum therefore features heavily in Umberto Eco’s famous 1989 novel, Foucault’s Pendulum.
Art Museums & Galleries in Paris
Musée Cognacq-Jay
In the early 20th century, Ernest Cognacq and his wife Marie-Louise Jay were the owners of La Samaritaine, the largest department store in Paris. They were collectors of 18th-century art, amassing an impressive array of both paintings and interior furnishings. At his death in 1928, Cognacq left his collection to the Parisian authorities, who then used it as the basis for a public museum. Rather than being displayed in typical gallery style, today these artworks are hung in rooms decorated as they might have been in a bourgeois residence of the 18th century.
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
Devoted to art of the 20th and 21st centuries, the Paris Museum of Modern Art has over 13,000 pieces in its collection, including work by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti. The museum occupies the Palais de Tokyo, a purpose built gallery created for the city’s Universal Exposition in 1937. A decade later, the Palais became home to the state’s Musée d’Art Moderne National, although that collection subsequently moved to the Pompidou Centre. The City of Paris authorities set up their own museum here in 1961.
Musée de l'Orangerie
The Orangery Museum started life as a real orangery, created at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III in 1852 to house his orange trees over winter. Originally located in the grounds of the Tuileries Palace, the orangery became state property after the palace was damaged by an 1871 fire. In 1927 the orangery opened as an art gallery, from the beginning housing Claude Monet’s famous painting “Water Lilies,” which stretches for 91 metres across eight panels. Since then the gallery has collected works by other significant artists like Pablo Picasso.
Musée Marmottan Monet
If there is one artistic movement that France is renowned for, it is surely the Impressionists, whose eruption onto Europe’s late 19th-century artistic scene had major repercussions for the future of Western art. Of the Impressionists, none is as well-known as Claude Monet. The Marmottan Museum of Monet possesses one of the world’s largest collections of the painter’s work, largely donated by his son in 1966, accompanied by a wider array of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. The museum itself occupies a luxury 19th-century property formerly owned by the Marmotten family.
Musée Picasso
Probably the most famous artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso’s name is almost synonymous with modern art. This museum devoted to his work occupies the Hôtel Salé, one of Paris’ grandest 17th-century homes. Although he was Spanish, Picasso had lived as an exile in France for most of his adult life and at his death in 1973 many of his artworks were given to the French state in lieu of taxes. The state subsequently put them on display, selecting the recently renovated Hôtel Salé as an ideal location.
Musée Rodin
France’s most famous sculptor, Auguste Rodin, is known for works like “The Thinker” and “The Kiss.” Before his death in 1917, he bequeathed his works to the French state, requesting that they be displayed at the Hôtel Biron, an 18th-century rococo mansion. It was here that the Rodin Museum subsequently opened in 1919. As well as displaying many of Rodin’s own works, both inside the Hôtel and in the attractive outside sculpture garden, the museum also houses a range of archaeological artefacts that Rodin collected during his life.
Petit Palais
Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, the Petit Palais was built for the city’s Universal Exposition in 1900, now home to the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts. One of Paris’ finest art galleries, from its origins it showcased artworks that the city authorities had been collecting since 1870, and over the years its collection has expanded through donations. Seeking to present a broad history of European art, its collection includes artefacts from the Classical world as well as works by some of the continent’s most important artists, from medieval engravings by Albrecht Dürer through to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne.