Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
MUSÉE MARMOTTAN MONET
Housed in the duc de Valmy's former hunting lodge (well, let's call it a mansion), this
intimate museum houses the world's largest collection of Monet paintings and
sketches. It provides an interesting if patchy cross-section of his work, beginning with
paintings such as the seminal
Impression Soleil Levant
(1873) and
Promenade près
d'Argenteuil
(1875), passing through numerous water-lily studies, before moving on
to the rest of the collection, which is considerably more abstract and dates to the
early 1900s. Some of the masterpieces to look out for include
La Barque
(1887),
Cathédrale de Rouen
(1892),
Londres, le Parlement
(1901) and the various
Nym-
phéas
(many of these were smaller studies for the works now on display in the
Musée
Temporary exhibitions, included in the admission price and always excellent, are
generally shown either in the basement or on the 1st floor. Also on display are a hand-
ful of canvases by Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin and Morisot, and a collection of 15th- and
16th-century illuminations, which are quite lovely if somewhat out of place.