One day we were at Giverny seeing Monet’s home and gardens and the next day we were at the Musee Marmottan seeing all the artwork that Monet’s son donated from Giverny so that the public could enjoy it and enjoy it we did on Girls Trip 2023 in Paris!

On the far west side of Paris where the tour buses don’t often go, the Musee Marmottan is rarely crowded and houses an extensive Monet collection that you most likely haven’t seen before. I’ve been to museums all over the world and always seek out any Monets they have on display, but this is definitely a rare collection that any Monet lover should see at least once. There were two paintings of his children-he had eight! There is also a collection of paintings done as he lost his vision, so the coloring is very different from his blues/greens of earlier periods. These paintings are much more vibrant in tones of red and yellows. In addition to the Monets (all on the lowest level), the house is filled with other works of art to be appreciated. Enjoy the journey!

I learned that the term “Impressionism” was coined by an art critic in a review of Monet’s piece, “Impression, Sunrise”, (pictured below), which hangs in Musee Marmottan. According to Wikipedia, Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, unusual visual angles, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience. Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

The Musee Marmottan is open Tuesday-Sunday (closed Mondays as are many museums in Paris!) 10-6 but open late on Thursdays. Though I have been to this museum several times and it has never been busy, I like to go first thing in the morning or in the evening on Thursday. It’s so wonderful to go to a beautiful museum in Paris and not experience it crowded in with a million tourists’ shoulder to shoulder! Buy tickets online or at the museum. No gardens to work through so this is a great place to visit on a rainy Paris day. I would put aside several hours to enjoy all that this museum has to offer. The gift shop is nice but as well curated as the one at Giverny if you are a shopper.

Address: 2, rue Louis-Boilly, 75016 Paris – France

Public transportation:

Métro

line 9, stop: La Muette or Ranelagh

RER

line C, stop: Boulainvilliers

Buses

Line 22, stop: La Muette–Boulainvilliers

Line 32, stop: Louis Boilly or Ranelagh

Line 52, stop: La Muette–Boulainvilliers

Line 63, stop: Porte de la Muette

Line 70, stop : Louis-Boilly

Line P.C. 1, stop: Ernest Hebert or Porte de Passy