Impressionist Treasures at Paris’s Musee de l’Orangerie

Built in 1852, the illustrious greenhouse that once housed the orange trees of Paris’s Tuileries Gardens, is the now famed Musee de l’Orangerie. Its classic architecture may have seemed like an unusual construction for a greenhouse, but its prominent position near the Place de la Concorde called for a grand building to contain the wintering orange trees of the adjacent gardens. The orangerie was transformed into a museum after Impressionist artist Claude Monet gave several of his paintings to France to celebrate the end of World War I.

To celebrate the end of WWI, Monet gave the state two of his Nympheas paintings (he produced 250 paintings of water lilies) and later six more large panels of the same series. The orangerie was selected to showcase this art in 1927. The large paintings of the water lilies are still displayed on the oval walls of the ground floor. During the 1950s, the orangerie received other art collections as gifts. Famously, the collections of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume were added to the Musee de l’Orangerie and visitors flocked to see its paintings by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and many revered Impressionists. A second floor was added to display the additional collections, but the renovation resulted in considerably less natural light.

Recently, the Musee de l’Orangerie was again transformed by renovations; the removal of the second floor now allows natural light to flow into the space once again. Crews worked to add subterranean galleries to house the art; air conditioning was also installed. During this renovation project, an archaeological find was uncovered as crews dug under the museum; the workers discovered walls dating to 1632 and the reign of Louis XIII. Two sections of these walls have been preserved and are known as Les Fosses Jaunes. The discovery necessarily slowed renovations, but the revamped space has been greeted with immense approval from museum visitors.

Today, the stunning displays of Nympheas, the centerpieces of the museum, attract visitors from around the world. The museum also continues to display the works of other great artists like Picasso and Gauguin. Currently, the museum owns twelve works by Picasso, twenty-four works by Renoir, and fifteen works by Cezanne. The majority of the museum’s collection is in the Impressionist style. The terrace of the museum famously features several sculptures by Auguste Rodin. Other paintings by artists like Utrillo, Modigliani, Sisley, and Soutine can also be seen on display.

While the scope of the collection is small when compared with the Impressionist holdings of Musee d’Orsay, for instance, the Musee de l’Orangerie is such a unique venue that it should not be missed. Moreover, the spectacular Monet display coupled with many other important works by some of the world’s most important artists make this old orangerie an extraordinary Paris attraction.