Orangerie, Paris

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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

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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.

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This museum on paintings of the 19-20th c. reopened after lengthy works.
There are two departments: on the ground floor, in two oval rooms, are on show 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.

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 (2011): 7,50 €, reduced 5 €,free for museum pass holders.

It is now possible to get a combined ticket Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie at 13 € valid from Wednesday till Sunday.

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The newly renovated Musée de l'Orangerie, located in a pavilion in the corner of the Tuileries gardens, was reopened in May 2006 after being closed to the public for more than six years. The museum houses masterpieces by Cézanne, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, Modigliani, Picasso, Derain and Soutine from the Jean Walther and Paul Guillaume Collection, and Monet's Nymphéas murals. These eight hugh paintings of waterlilies cover the walls of two oval rooms in the museum.

The museum is open every day (except Tuesdays) from 12h30 to 19h00 (to 21h00 on Fridays).

Entrance fee: 6,50 Euros

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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 (open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m, closed Tuesdays) 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

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Originally built as a hothouse during the Napoleonic Era. Since 1920, The Orangerie has housed eight Claude Monet's painting of the water-lilies where the colours were captured on the pond of his Japanese Garden at Giverny. There are also other works by other Impressionists such as Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso and Rousseau also housed there and temporary exhibitions are also held.

Museum entry fee: 7,50 Euro (November 2010)

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“People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it’s simply necessary to love.” — Claude Monet (1840-1926)

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED We made Musée de l’Orangerie our must-see art destination in July of 2008. It had been undergoing renovations on our previous three trips to Paris. We had to see Monet’s ethereal nymphéas (water lilies). We were not disappointed with this virtual return to Giverny.

Built in 1852 to house an orange grove, the Orangerie was used to billet soldiers on leave from the trenches during the First World War. After the war’s end, the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau invited his friend Claude Monet to display his large-format nymphéas there. A pair of oval rooms was built within the orangerie as a permanent home for eight of Monet’s water lily paintings. The exhibit opened to the public on 16.May.1927, a few months after Monet’s death.

The canvases appear to be attached directly to the wall — rather than mounted on stretchers — with gold frames edging the paintings. These paintings are mesmerizing. There is an oval-shaped bench fixed at the center of each oval-shaped room. Take some time to sit and become lost in the colors and patterns of these works.

Capturing the beauty of his flower garden at Giverny was the main focus of Monet’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. In total, he produced 250 oils of the vegetation in and around the pond at his home in the Normandy countryside. They can be found in major museums around the world. Yet the Orangerie series is unique, not least because of its size: each painting is six and a half feet tall. If placed end-to-end, the works would measure 298.5 feet long.

Among the canvases on display are “Soleil couchant” (“The Setting Sun,” photo #2); “Reflets verts” (“Green Reflections” photo #3); “Les Nuages” (“The Clouds,” photo #4); and “Le Matin clair aux saules” (“Clear Morning with Willows,” photo #5).