People waiting at the entrance of the Atelier Brancusi
Paris art oozes in famous museums, like the Louvre; in the less known but no less interesting, such as the National Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres; and in others, whose generosity brings culture closer to everyone. We present our selection of five free museums!
COGNACQ-JAY MUSEUM _(8 rue Elzevir, 75003) _
allows the free access to its permanent exhibition, that reveals the story of an art collector married couple from the Age of Enlightenment. Ernest Cognacq, the founder of the department store La Samaritaine, and his wife, Marie-Louise Jaÿ , acquire the inventory between 1900 and 1927 and bequeath it to the city of Paris on his death, with the aim of presenting it to the public.
Interior of the Cognaq-Jay museum
The museum opened in 1929 next to La Samaritaine de Luxe and did not move to Le Marais until 1990. It was enriched by the acquisitions made from the taste of a dealer from the beginning of the 20th century, a period in which the arts of the 18th century are the reference for bourgeois decoration.
Present the pieces of him in a distinguished private house and offers interesting temporary exhibitions to travel to the French society and art of the eighteenth century.
MUSEE DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR ET DES ORDRES DE CHEVALERIE _(2 rue de la Legion d'honneur 75007) _
Located opposite the Musée d'Orsay, this elegant mansion houses 5,000 objects consecrated to the orders of chivalry from the Middle Ages to today, highlighting the National Order of the Legion of Honor, for the richness of its pieces and its unique history.
the solemn museum opens in 1925 thanks to the grand chancelier of the Légion d'honneur, general dubai , with the purpose of erect a 'shrine' for the glory of those wounded in war.
Thus, its treasures captivate lovers of art and history, and experts in faleristics, narrating from the birth of the orders of chivalry, at the time of the Crusades, to the creation by de Gaulle of the National Order of Merit in 1963.
A 'shrine' for the glory of those wounded in war
Highlight your room with more than 400 foreign badges and the collection of Benedetto Spada, the largest collector on the subject. Likewise makes known the operation of the prestigious decorations still in force and those distinguished with the Grand Cross, such as Napoleon II, Eiffel, Dalí or Houellebecq.
To complete the information they offer audio guides, also free, and children can receive a lesson about the values of that institution throughout the ages.
ATELIER BRANCUSI _(Place Georges Pompidou, 75004) _
Concealed in a small annex, opposite the Center Georges-Pompidou, the Atelier Brancusi remembers the Romanian sculptor with an original staging. At the end of his life, Constantine Brancusi is concentrated in his workshop as a universe of work and a presentation gallery, in which the set of the pieces and their relationship between them form an œuvre d'art in itself.
Is 1977 glyptotheque , reconstituted in 1997 by Renzo Piano in the heart of Paris, reflects this notion, imagining an intimate place that transports you to his atelier with a particular protected environment, illuminated by zenithal light and preserved from the outside. Its walls contain a compendium of copies: 137 sculptures, 87 pedestals, designs, sketches, photographic plates... legacy of the teacher to the French State.
Atelier Brancusi
MUSEE BOURDELLE _(16 rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015) _
It is located in the enclave where he himself lived and worked. Antoine Bourdelle, famous sculptor who collaborated with Rodin and teacher of Germaine Richier and Giacometti. This atelier, of the then literary and artistic left bank, exhibits more than 500 plasters, marbles, bronzes... Right from its entrance, its imposing figures La Libertad, La Fuerza or La Victoria welcome the visitor.
It proposes a free path: on the one hand, the charmant 19th century workshop which preserves the large window, the patina furniture, bust molds, easels and works of different materials in a casual order. On the other hand, there is the contemporary extension with huge statues that occupy the large volume. For more charm, its romantic interior garden offers its famous bronzes, like the Virgin of the offering, hidden poetically between the ivy and the acacias.
This museum offers guided tours and excellent temporary exhibitions from different fields, some spectacular, such as that of the fashion designer Balenciaga, l'oeuvre au noir.
PETIT PALAIS, MUSEE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LA VILLE DE PARIS (Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008)
The sublime building, inaugurated for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, collects a vast retrospective devoted to French decorative arts from its origins to 1800.
Constituted in the 19th century by a municipal repertoire, later it was enriched thanks to the legacies of the Dutuit brothers and the contributions of artists such as Falguière.
Bourdelle Museum
In recent years, it has opened a remarkable space devoted to Eastern Christian arts with the icons compiled by Roger Cabal and the Byzantine objects donated by the Dutuits. In addition, they present a gallery with 31 exuberant sculptures from the 19th century of artists of the stature of Ernest Barrias or Auguste Bartholdi.
This mansion captivates visitors with paintings such as Courbet's Dream, The Three Bathers by Cézanne and creations by Géricault, Delacroix, Ingres and Carpeaux, and to the delight of many it organizes magnificent temporary exhibitions.
Do not miss his secluded garden!
Tourists at the Petit Palais