Orangerie, Paris

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There are two departments in this museum on paintings of the 19-20th c:
On the ground floor, in two oval rooms, are on display the eight panels of Monet's "Nympheas". The painter, when living in Giverny, had an aquatic garden whose plants where the theme of several of his paintings. Here, as in other paintings, are reflected the passing hours of the day on one subject.
The effect of the "Nymphéas" in the circular space is enchanting; the visitor is surrounded and feels being inside the water garden.

The first oval room shows 4 paintings: Matin, Les Nuages, Reflets verts, Soleil couchant. In the second oval room are on display: Reflets d’arbres, Le Matin clair aux saules, Le Matin aux saules, Les Deux saules.
All these paintings are 2 m high and are composed of several panels so that their total length reaches for some of them 25 m !
Connoisseurs say that it was a step towards abstract art.
Photos are no more allowed in the "Salle des Nymphéas".

On the lower floor is an exhibit of 144 Impressionist paintings.

Open 9 - 18 h. Closed on Tuesday.
I had to queue a bit even at 17 h with a museum pass because of the security check.
The space inside the museum is limited so that the queue outside can get long.
Price (2013): 7,50 €,free for museum pass holders.
It is possible to get a combined ticket Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie at 16 € valid for a period of 4 days.

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Musee de l'Orangerie is a lovely building once used to shelter potted citrus trees during the winter and now houses a wonderful collection of Monet's Water Lilies (Nymphéas) as well as paintings and sculpture by Rodin, Cézanne, Matisse, Renoir and others. In fact, the gallery showcasing these very large and universally beloved lilies was designed to the artist's specifications while he was still alive. It doesn't take a lot of time to see but the quality of the collection makes it well worth visits of an hour or so. Combine this with a stroll in the Tuileries; it is located in the southwest corner of the park near Place de la Concorde.

Entrance is included in the Paris Museum Pass, or see the website for ticket prices, hours and other info about the collection. The museum is handicap accessible, and photography without flash is OK.

See this link for some background on the building not included in the museum website:

ttp://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Museums-Paris/Orangerie.shtml

This is a nice building if any sitting in the corner fo the Jardin des tuileries rivoli side facing the pl de la concorde.

The museum or musée de l’Orangerie houses since 1984 the collection of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume, bequested to France very generously. This group represent 144 paintings of the great ones amongst them Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Soutine, Modigliani, Utrillo, Rousseau. from the end of the 19C to first half of the 20C. The collection joins the wonderful work of Nymphéas that Claude Monet offered France in 1922 ,and place here since 1927. Two huge oval rooms are specially arranged to house them following indications from the master himself.

I used to work very near here,and it was my lunch period hangout not to mention in the evening the meeting place of friends to move on in Paris. I will be back with more pictures.

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As the name implies, the Orangerie was originally built (in 1852) as a greenhouse for growing orange trees. The building is located in one corner of the Tuileries garden next to the Place de la Concorde, near the Concorde Bridge.

Since 1927 the Orangerie has been used as an art museum featuring eight very large oil paintings, more like murals covering entire walls, by the impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).

Monet spent the last thirty years of his life painting mainly the Nymphéas (water lilies) that grew in his garden in Giverny. He made more than 250 of these oil paintings, which are on display at museums all over the world. But in his will he left the eight biggest paintings to the French state for permanent display at the Orangerie.

I remember the Orangerie from the last century as being a rather dark and neglected place, but from 2000 to 2006 the building was completely re-designed and renovated, so that now the Nymphéas can again be seen under indirect natural light, as Monet intended.

In the basement there is an impressive collection of paintings from the collection started by Paul Guillaume (1891-1934), an art dealer who was personally acquainted with the leading artists of his day such as Cézanne, Sisley, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Picasso, Utrillo and Matisse. On my recent visit I was particularly struck by the many paintings of André Derain (1880-1954), whose work I have somehow overlooked up to now. (Unfortunately I can't show any examples because photography is not allowed in the Orangerie.)

Outside the Orangerie is one of the many castings of the sculpture The Kiss (third photo), one of the best-known works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).

Next review from June 2012: The old Samaritaine

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Set in the delightful Jardin des Tuileries is the Musée de l'Orangerie which houses Claude Monet's famous waterlily series "Nymphéas" . The Monet works are clearly the main draw but downstairs there is a lot more to see including a number of masterpieces that should be familiar to most people. The collection includes works by Renoir, Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Cézanne and Matisse.

Entry is €7.50 or there is a combined ticket with the Musée d'Orsay for €14 which is valid for 4 days for 1 entry to each museum's permanent collection. Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month or is included in the Paris Museum Pass.

The Orangerie is open 9am to 6pm Wednesdays to Mondays, closed on Tuesdays.

Sadly, you can't take photos of the Monets.

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The Orangerie, tucked into my favorite garden in Paris, was closed for renovation for several years. When it reopened, for various reasons, we just never quite got there. On this last trip we decided to see what they had done when they rebuilt the inside so we visited the Orangerie on one of our walks through the Tuileries Gardens.

The first thing we noticed was a line. We'd not run into that before but perhaps it was the time of year. We got our tickets and entered. You are herded into the ground floor room featuring Monet's famous "Water Lilies" and the new lighting is lovely. No photos are allowed so you don't have people holding cameras in front of your face . . . and you can't take pictures. Part of the reason for the renovation was to give natural light to the huge paintings and they succeeded.

The rest of the museum is on level one, essentially up stairs. I much preferred the old Orangerie but it's gone. The new one is your basic cement utility construction and certainly does not detract from the art . . . nor does it enhance the art. You are led through seven rooms featuring Cezanne, Renoir, Rousseua, Modigliani, Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Soutine and Utrillo among others. It is an excellent collection and well worth spending an afternoon viewing. Photos are allowed in all the rooms except the "Water Lily" room so snap away to your heart's content.

Highly recommended.

Closed on Tuesdays

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My wife loves Monet and this is her favorite Museum in which to view his work. I have to say the canvases are quite impressive. The works are displayed in start white rooms which only makes the colors of the paint more vivid to the eye. I was also surprised at the sheer scale of the art. I never thought they were that big in reality until I stood next to them myself.

This is definitely a must see for a Monet fan or a fan of Impressionism.

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On the lower floor of the Musée de l'Orangerie is an exhibit of 144 paintings of the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection. It is an interesting complement of the impressionist collection of the Musée d'Orsay, on the other side of the river Seine, with a fair number of works from Renoir with masterpieces like the "Jeunes filles au piano" and Cézanne. The other works are from the period between the two wars with works from Le Douanier Rousseau, Modigliani, Picasso, André Derain with "Arlequin et Pierrot", Matisse and Utrillo. I was especially pleased to find here paintings of Maurice Utrillo, born at Montmartre in 1883, who painted mainly townscapes of Paris.

As this museum is "new", having reopened in May 2007, I set up a travelogue with some of the masterpieces of the Guillaume collection.

Open 9 - 18 h. Closed on Tuesday.
Price (2012): 7,50 €, reduced 5 €,free for museum pass holders.
It is possible to get a combined ticket Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie at 13 4 valid over a period of 4 days.

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It was a bit of a surprise, there was not a queue this visit. I was surprised how small the museum was; but it was full of interesting pieces of art work. The main focus of the visitors was the lower ground floor rooms with Monet's waterlilies.

I suggest you buy the double ticket and gain admission to the Orangerie and the Musee d'Orsay.

They have a good shop.

You can take photographs, as long a you do not use a flash.

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From Place de la Concorde we wheeled about and strutted to the Musée de l'Orangerie which has one of the finest collections of Monet's Nymphéas. The walls are curved and Monet painted directly onto the walls.

I'd never seen this group during my first 5 trips to Paris. Either the museum was shut down or Paris' transit system was on strike and I couldn't get to them. So this was a must-see for this trip (thankfully, Ian agreed).

I took a bunch of photos inside the museum but have culled only the best for your viewing pleasure. :)

The first is one of my favorites. I love how the young ladies' attire reflects the colors in the painting.

The second shows the crowds musing over the Monets. I think the energy of the visitors is felt in this shot.

The 3rd through the 5th photos highlights details of the Nymphéas.

Please peruse my travelogues to see more fabulous photos of Monet's divine work:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/b9019/#TL
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/b901a/#TL

Photos: April 2010