Musée Marmottan-Monet: A Marvelous Secret in the 16th

Often not found on visitors’ to-do lists is the far west side of Paris’ 16^th arrondisement. Home to Bois de Boulogne, a 2,000 acre expanse of wood, water, and sky, the area is also home to one of the city’s lesser known artistic jewels: Musée Marmottan- Monet.

Musée d’Orsay may be Impressionism’s mecca, but it’s at the Marmottan-Monet Museum that you’ll undergo a nearly seraphic experience. Being less-well known than its counterparts means that at the Marmottan, neither elbow-jabbing nor jockeying is necessary to get the best view. Instead, short (if any) lines await along with a tranquility that leaves you free to amble through the manor-turned-museum as if it were your own.

In 1966, Michel Monet gave the museum his own collection of his father’s work, thus making the Marmottan Museum keeper of the world’s largest collection of Claude Monet paintings. Dispersed throughout the old home, Monet’s works are accompanied on the ground floor by those of his contemporaries, including tableaus by Renoir, Pissarro, and Morisot. The fact that the subject depicted in many of these paintings is the city of Paris itself creates a homey feel as you wander from room to room, looking out the manor’s windows to the surrounding park and city. Amongst the paintings you’ll also find artifacts of their creators’ lives that include paint pallets and sketches belonging to Monet. Certainly the prize for coming to this side of town is the opportunity to find yourself alone in a room with these masters, save for the occasional guard. In your solitude, these colorful swirls, usually solely reserved for dreams, momentarily become your private reality.

Continuing through the museum, spaces built especially for Monet’s famous paintings of water lily ponds and the grounds of his Giverny home invite you to linger indefinitely — and because you might never again find this many Monets in a single space, take your time. If and when you do tear yourself away, you’ll find that the basement of the Marmottan often houses special exhibits, while the top floor is filled with works from France’s First Empire period.

Paris is a city drenched in the paint of famous artists. What makes the Marmottan unique is its balance of art and space: there is enough to see without exhausting yourself. If you come to Paris eager to spend time with a few of its greatest artists, you’ll find them at the Marmottan in an experience that most certainly is worth its trek off the tourist track.

Musée Marmottan-Monet
2, rue Louis-Boilly, 76016
Metro: La Muette
Hours: Wed- Sun 11 am – 6 pm, Tuesday 11 am – 9 pm, Closed Monday