The 136 museums in the city of Paris display many historical, scientific, and archeological artifacts from around the world, covering diverse and unique topics including fashion, theater, sports, cosmetics, and the culinary arts.
The first museums in Paris were established during the French Revolution as many royal properties became nationalised. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Belle Époque period, a series of new museums were born in Paris, many of which came from personal collections donated by philanthropists. In recent decades, the city continues to build new museums. The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, opened in 2006, is the latest large museum in Paris today.
Being a center of art for centuries, many works of famous artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Monet, Van Gogh, and Picasso, are stored in Paris. Museums such as the Louvre, the Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou are also valued as architectural works themselves. Many other small museums, like those dedicated to Rodin, Picasso or Jacquemart-André, also serve to preserve mansions built by ancient nobility. In addition to the regular gallery spaces, Paris' museums are also home to important art exhibitions. In 2008, Paris accounted for three of the 10 most visited museums in the world, of which the Louvre ranked first, on par with London and more than all other cities.
History
During the Enlightenment, museums were established in several European countries. The Ashmolean Museum, opened in 1683 in Oxford, is considered the first public museum in history, in that anyone could access the exhibitions by paying the admission fee. The British Museum in London was founded in 1753 thanks to the collection of physicist Hans Sloane, and in 1759 was also open to the public. In Paris, from 1750 to 1779, an exhibition of the paintings in the royal collection was held at the Luxembourg Palace. The success of this event spurred the intention to build a permanent display, but this idea did not attain fruition until the French Revolution. It was not until August 10, 1793, the anniversary of the fall of the monarchy, that the Louvre Museum was open to the public to admire the collections previously belonging to the royal family. Following in the footsteps of the Louvre, the National Museum of Natural History was established that year as well. Later, the Musée des arts et métiers was opened in 1794 and Musée national des Monuments Français opened in 1795. In the early 19th century, when Napoleon conquered Europe, many valuable art and archeological collections were taken to French museums. After the fall of the First French Empire in 1814, many artifacts were returned to their former owners, while others remain in museums of Paris.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Paris witnessed the birth of many new museums, including private ones. In 1882, based on the idea of "introducing" celebrities to the public, reporter Arthur Meyer and caricaturist Alfred Grévin created the Grévin wax museum. In 1889, the Guimet Museum opened with a collection of Asian art by industrialist Émile Guimet, who made many trips to China, India and Japan to collect artifacts. Other museums, such as the Jacquemart-André and Rodin were established around that time from personal collections donated by famous artists or donors. The first private museum in Paris, the Musée Carnavalet, focusing on the history of the city, opened in 1880. After the 1900 world exhibition, the became an art museum, displaying many works owned by the city of Paris. The early decades of the 20th century were also the time when Paris bought and was awarded many valuable art collections. In 1961, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, located in the Palais de Tokyo, opened.
By the end of the 20th century, Paris had gained several new museums in quick succession due to the efforts of the presidents of the current Fifth Republic. This trend started with Georges Pompidou, who right from his inauguration decided to build a center for modern culture and art in the middle of ancient Paris. The Centre Pompidou was completed in 1977, after the death of Pompidou, named in honor of the late president. In the 1970s, a collection of 19th-century artworks were exhibited throughout the museums of France. The Impressionist paintings on display in the Jeu de Paume gallery gained worldwide recognition. In 1973, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing decided to establish Musée d'Orsay to display European art made between the mid-19th and early-20th centuries. The old Orsay station on the banks of the Seine River was renovated, and at the end of 1986 the museum began to open to the public. In the same year, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Sndustrie Cité des sciences et de l'industrie was inaugurated on March 13 in La Villette park. With the Grand Louvre project beginning in 1981, François Mitterrand gave the Louvre a new face. When the Ministry of Finance was moved from the palace to Bercy, the entire palace was transferred to the museum, and the Marly, Puget and Khorsabad courtyards with glass roofs became the ideal display space for large works. The famous I. M. Pei designed Louvre Pyramid, located on the main courtyard, was inaugurated on March 30, 1989, and became the main entrance of the museum. In 1996, President Jacques Chirac decided to build a new museum in Paris for non-European civilizations after meeting art collector Jacques Kerchache. Although the project—which involved the transfer of most of the Musée de l'Homme's collection—faced strong opposition, the Musée du quai Branly was inaugurated on June 20, 2006, and quickly achieved success. Located on the banks of the Seine, in a building designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the museum welcomed nearly 1.4 million visitors annually in 2008, becoming one of Paris's most attractive tourist destinations.
Museums
National museums
The Réunion des Musées Nationaux (National Museum Association), founded in 1895, is responsible for enriching the national collection, welcoming the public and organizing exhibitions. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, it has 34 museums throughout France as members, including 14 museums in Paris and 7 other museums in the remaining provinces of the Île-de-France region. The artifact collection of these "national museums" covers many historical periods and geographical locations in various fields.
In Paris, artifacts of Asia are on display at the Guimet Museum in the city's 16th arrondissement. Despite its origins as a personal collection, Guimet is currently the most important Asian art museum in the West. It holds thousands of pieces of Chinese, Japanese and Korean art, along with many valuable collections from India as well as the countries of Central and Southeast Asia. Housed in two special buildings, the ancient Roman public bath and the Cluny mansion, the Musée de Cluny possesses artifacts covering European history from the end of the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages. The museum's collection of sculptures, carpets, textiles, ivory, stained glass and other artefacts offers panoramic views and details of the daily life of European residents of the period. In the city center, the Louvre is not only one of the most important museums in Paris but is also among the most well-known museums in the world. In the former palace, there are now a variety of works from ancient civilizations, Islamic art, and European art from the 13th to the mid-19th centuries. The palace itself is a commemorated work of architecture and is a definitive symbol of Paris. The Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie đare devoted to the next age of Western art from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. Although only established in 1986, the Orsay Museum is now in the number of art museums attracts the most thanks to the famous paintings of two Impressionist and Post-Impressionist schools. Located in the 8th arrondissement next to the Champs-Elysées, the Grand Palais was built on the occasion of the 1900 world exhibition. With a total area of 72 thousand square meters, the work is dedicated to the Palais de la Découverte science museum, with two galleries: La Nef and the Galeries nationales, the latter of which is also a "national museum". The Galeries nationales has an exhibition space larger than 5 thousand square meters, often hosting large exhibitions collaborating with many important museums both in France and around the world. In addition to the major museums, the association also manages a number of small museums dedicated to famous artists, such as the Musée Picasso in Le Marais displaying works by artist Pablo Picasso, and the Musée Rodin in the 7th arrondissement showing the sculptures of Auguste Rodin. Member museums of the association have free admission on the first Sunday of each month. Visitors under the age of 18, art history students, teachers and journalists also do not have to buy tickets to visit the museum.
Paris also has other national museums that are not part of the association. Located in the Jardin des plantes of the 5th arrondissement, The Nation Museum of Natural History, established in the late 18th century, is now a of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Research and the Ministry of Environment. It houses one of the largest collections in the world, alongside the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and the British Museum in London. The Centre Pompidou also reserved floors 5 and 6 for the Musée National d'Art Moderne, containing nearly 60,000 modern and contemporary works. Inside the "High-tech" building, there are two libraries, movie rooms, performance rooms and exhibition spaces.
Located in the Palais de Chaillot, not far from the Eiffel Tower, the Musée national de la Marine is considered one of the first maritime museums in the world, along with the Naval Museum in Saint Peterburg. The artifacts of the museum, originally from the personal collection of Louis XV, has become especially diverse with many models of boats, pictures, weapons, books, and maritime instruments. Belonging to the French Ministry of Defense, the museum also has branches in Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort, Toulon and Saint-Tropez.
City museums
The city of Paris currently manages 14 museums and display venues. Except for the Catacombs of Paris, the archaeological site of the Notre-Dame cathedral and the exhibition spaces, all the city's museums do not charge the public for admission. Unlike the national museums, the museum system of Paris does not own encyclopedic collections but mainly reflects the city's history in many different aspects and angles. Museums such as the Carnavalet, Jean Moulin and the catacombs provide a direct view of the history of Paris, while the former residences of Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and George Sand showcase the lives of these prominent city residents. Through the history of Paris, there were many aristocrats or wealthy merchants passionate about collecting works of art. Many of these collections have been donated to the city and are now displayed at museums such as the Cernuschi and Cognacq-Jay, partly reflecting the life and society in Paris centuries ago. The artifacts owned by the city of Paris can be divided into four collections: fine arts, fine arts and clothing, archeology and history, and finally artifacts.