Best Impressionist Museums in Paris
Without a doubt, we believe the best Impressionist Museums are in Paris. Paris is the best place in the world to gain an education about the Impressionist art movement, as you can say its birthplace was Paris. And the Musée D’Orsay is the single Best Impressionist Museum in the world,
However, there are a number of other exceptional museums in Paris with outstanding Impressionist art collections. And there are a number of other museums around the world that have spectacular collections as well. We will cover them all in this post.
What is Impressionism?
Impressionism was a radical art movement that emerged in France in the late 19th century. It is challenging the classical norms of painting. Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. Impressionist paintings often used short, visible brushstrokes, vibrant colors, and varied perspectives to create a sense of spontaneity and realism.
The Impressionists faced harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France. Until then, their concept of painting was very restrictive, and the impressionist artists desired to be more creative. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant. This painting shown below is currently on exhibit at the Musée Marmottan Monet.
How is Impressionism Different from Post-Impressionism?
Post-Impressionism emerged between 1886 and 1905 as a reaction against Impressionists’ concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and color. Post-Impressionists extended impressionism while rejecting its limitations. They continued using vivid colors, sometimes using impasto (thick application of paint). And they painted from life. But were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, distort form for expressive effect, and use unnatural or modified color.
Who are the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists?
Impressionist artists, such as Monet, Renoir, and Degas, painted outdoors. This allowed them to capture the fleeting effects of light, color, and movement on modern life. Below are some examples of their work. Monet is at the top left, Renoir is at the top right and the bottom left, and Degas is at the bottom right.
The post-impressionism movement’s principal artists were Paul Cézanne (known as the father of Post-Impressionism), Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. Some of their famous works are shown below. (Gauguin is on the left, Cezanne is on the right and Van Gogh is on the bottom).
Best Impressionist Museums in Paris – # 1 The Musee D’Orsay
The Musee D’Orsay has the world’s largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including works by Renoir, Monet, Degas, Pissarro, Sisley, Van Gogh and others. In addition to Renoir’s famous Moulin de la Galette (considered the Museum’s top piece), the museum also has other famous paintings such as Monet’s Women with Parasols.
Best Impressionist Museums in Paris – #2 The Musée Marmottan Monet
In addition to Monet’s famous Sunrise painting that gave birth to the impressionism movement, the Musee Marmottan Monet has the largest collection of Monet’s paintings in the world. Among other important paintings, Claude Monet’s work, Impression, soleil levant is on display here. This museum, located on the western side of Paris, near the Bois de Boulogne, hosts a collection of over 300 of Claude’s paintings. They were gifted to the museum by Claude’s son Michel, his only heir.
Monet’s Water Lillies
Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paints depict the flower garden at his home in Giverny. They were the main focus of his artistic work during the last thirty year of his life. They depict the water lilies in Monet’s garden in different states of bloom. The Japanese-style bridge, shown in the picture above is also a keepsake of his garden.
The paintings are on prominent display at museums all over the world, including the Princeton University Art Museum, Musée Marmottan Monet, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
Best Impressionist Museums in Paris – #3 Musée de l’Orangerie
The Musee de L’Orangerie is located in the western corner of the Tuileries Garden near the Place de la Concorde. It is a little difficult to find, but once you are there you will be rewarded with the sight of the eight famous large Water Lillies paintings of Claude Monet. The picture below does little to demonstrate the beauty of these murals.
Other Places in Paris to Follow the Impressionists
If you want to wander around Paris in the places where the Impressionists hung out, then two great places to visit are the Musee Montmartre and the Ile de Chatou.
Montmartre
Montmartre is the place in Paris where the artists loved to hang out. The Musee Montmartre is famous as the place where Renoir had his studio. A trip to visit the museum, up the hill to Montmartre is certainly worth the hike if you love to learn about the history of the Impressionist artists. The Montmartre Cemetary is also the final resting place for many of the artists. At 22 Rue de Saules, you’ll find Lapin Agile. It’s an inn and bar where the Impressionists met and clinked glasses.
Montmartre is also a place where Toulouse-Lautrec liked to go to. He is known for his pictures of the Moulin Rouge which is a short walk down the hill from Montmartre.
Ile de Chatou Impressionism Trail
The Ile de Chatou is an island in the Seine River located between the towns of Chatou and Rueil-Malmaison in France. It is also known as the Ile des Impressionists because it was a popular spot for Impressionist painters such as Renoir and Monet. The island has a marked Impressionism Trail created by the Musee Fournaise.
Best Place to Get Paris Museum Tours
If you are looking to find tickets and tours for all the best museums in Paris, we suggest you follow this link to TripAdvisor, it will take you directly to the best tours in Paris.
Other Places to Go in France to Enjoy Impressionistic Art
Without a doubt, Giverny is the single most important place to visit in France to understand the history of Impressionism. It is the home of Claude Monet and the place where he did some of his most famous paintings which include his famous Water Lilies. Giverny is about an hour west of Paris and can be easily reached by train or on a Siene River cruise. Please see our post Planning a Trip to France for more information about the best way we suggest visiting Giverny.
A second nice place to visit is the city of Albi which is located a short distance from Bordeaux in the southwestern section of France. It houses the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. This is the town where he was born. We have not yet visited Albi, but we plan to in 2024.
Best Impressionist Museum Outside Paris – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Okay, I am biased since I’m originally from New York City, but I will argue with anyone that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has the best collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art outside of Paris. This includes the pictures shown above in the section titled: Who are the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists? Here is some additional artwork from that period by Degas and Rodin that is at the Met. To see more about New York City Museums, please visit our post: Fun Museums in Manhattan, NYC
Van Gogh’s Cypress Exhibit at the Met
Finally, if the Degas and Rodin statues didn’t convince you about the Met being #1 outside of Paris, then the Van Gogh Cypress Exhibit with the famous Starry Night painting should do it.
Van Gogh’s Cypresses is the first exhibit to focus on the trees–among the most famous in the history of art–immortalized in signature images by Vincent van Gogh. This includes The Starry Night and The Wheat Field with Cypresses. Some 40 workd are included in the exhibit.
Other than NYC and Paris, Great Museums to See Impressionist and Post Impressionist Art
Paris and New York City do not have all the great impressionistic and post-impressionistic art in the world. Here are two other places that we love.
Van Gogh Museum – Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam may just be our favorite museum in the world. While we there in 2022, they had a wonderful exhibit of Van Gogh’s Olive Trees which he painted while he was at the Hospital in Arles, France. Cos and Robin visited Arles in 2022. We couldn’t find the hospital, but we did find the Van Gogh Restaurant and some of the great views that he painted. For information, please visit our post Planning a Trip to France.
Museum of Fine Arts – Buenos Aires, Argentina
This fine arts museum has an excellent collection of works from famous European artists including Van Gogh, Goya, Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. We were particularly impressed by the sculpture collection of Rodin, which is probably the best Rodin collection outside of Paris. Please visit our post Best Time to Travel to Argentina for more details.