Archives for “museum” tag

Though museums usually aren’t a hidden spot, known only to residents in Paris, as there is hundreds of museums, it seems worth accentuating this one. Besides Jeu de Paumme, Maison Européene de la Photographie is the most important exclusively photo museum where exhibitions change approximately every 2 months. Located over 3 floors there are 3-5 separate exhibitions, mostly contemporary artists. Rarely too crowded it is intimate enough and not too vast.

You can also join the group visit organised by the MEP or participate at the lectures given in the auditorium. The MEP has a library dedicated to photography and it’s unique in the quantity of works about the topic.

Furthermore there are 5 video terminals where you can check one of 700 films, photographs, interviews or portraits of the artists. The works in the MEP are often very high quality art, if sometimes not, they will surely be intriguing, poignant and won’t let you walk untouched.

MEP is an extraordinary place which would be a pity to miss while in Paris, for student’s it is even more approachable, equalling the entrance fee with one coffee.

Situated in a 18th century “hôtel particulier”, the way to the museum via Rue Saint Paul makes it all a very pleasant experience .

Tip: Wednesday after 17:00 entrance is free.

When you are in rue de Turenne (near Bernard Garbo shop), and you are heading towards the Seine, you will arrive at a crossroad where, on your left, there is the Place des Vosges and its Art Galleries (see the Galleries of Place des Vosges article) and on your right, Rue des Francs Bourgeois, one of the best streets in Paris for lots of reasons.

This street, located in the middle of the Gay and the Jewish quarter and marking the limits between the 3rd and the 4th districts of Paris, offers a number of amazing shops.

You can probably find most of the most fashionable clothes brands, like PePe Jeans, Camper, Aridza Bross, and a lot more. And don’t forget the sales twice a year in France, after Christmas, and in July each year. Besides, you can enter in Kiehl’s, in case you need some cream for anywhere on your body!

You can also visit the antiquarians in this street or in the adjacent ones, or the bookshops and other stores which sell goods for your home.

And if you are bored with shopping, you can go and visit the Carnavalet Museum (check the Carnavalet Museum article). This museum is dedicated to the history of Paris, from its origins (a prehistoric canoe is from 4600 years before JC) to today, and presents lots of works linked to Paris.

Rue des Francs Bourgeois quarter is a place in Paris where you can walk all day long to explore the Marais District.

The Russian born artist and sculptor Ossip Zadkine settled in Paris in 1910. In 1928 he moved to the rue d’Assas where he lived and worked until his death in 1967. Zadkine was part of the Cubist movement (1914-25) and his work is said to have been influenced by aspects of the primitive arts as well as by his experiences as a stretcher-bearer in the First World War. Look out for one of his best known pieces in the garden: La Ville Détruite: a memorial to the destruction of Rotterdam by the Germans in 1940.

Thoughtfully arranged in this lilliputian gallery are some 300 or so sculptures in wood, clay, marble, bronze and stone, in addition to drawings, photographs and tapestries. Inside, light from the huge studio windows illuminates these intriguing works – some subtly sensual, others intricate and obscure – against the oak-floor and white-walled interior.

Outside in the semi-wild garden, powerful, contorted metal structures sprawl amid the greenery whilst twisting metallic limbs and sections of intertwined machinery protrude from the foliage.

Far off the standard Paris museum trail, the musee Zadkine allows for a more intimate glimpse at the life and works of an inspiring and influential artist.

If you are a modern art enthusiast planning to visit Paris, you probably already heard of the Centre Pompidou (which is also a great relaxation site), this multidisciplinary cultural centre that, among other things, hosts the National Museum of Modern Art and organizes really interesting exhibitions.

But what you may not know is that the city of Paris also has its own modern art museum, and that its collections have no reason to be jealous of Centre Pompidou’s.

Immediately after the entrance hall, you can visit the impressive room dedicated to Raoul Dufy’s La Fée Electricité, one of the biggest paintings in the world, which retraces the history of electricity through the ages. Collections are downstairs (free of charge, like in other municipal museums), and exhibitions on the main floor.

The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (full name!) is located in the East wing of the Palais de Tokyo, near Chaillot hill, in the aristocratic 16th district. Mostly visited for the Eiffel Tower, this area is also full of museums, some of which are part of Colline des Musées discount programme:

- the West wing of the same building hosts the Palais de Tokyo centre for contemporary art (and a cool trendy restaurant: Tokyo Eat)

- Musée du Quai Branly: primitive arts, on the other bank of the river, next to Eiffel Tower

- Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (architecture and town planning museum).

And also (not included in the programme):

- Musée Guimet: Asian arts