Best Impressionist Art Museum in Paris: Musée D’Orsay

Without a doubt, we believe the best Impressionist Art Museums are in Paris. There are a number of exceptional museums in Paris with outstanding permanent collections of Impressionist art. 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. Assuming you want to learn more, read on. If not, or you are just interested in learning more about France and French influence in the world, then here is a link to our France Hub Post, which will link you to all we know about Paris, France and French Territories.

The Musée D'Orsay and An Introduction into Impressionism

Paris is the best place in the world to gain an education about the Impressionist art movement, even if you are not an art history major. Paris was the birthplace of the impressionist movement. And the Musée D'Orsay has the single best permanent collections of impressionist art in the world,

What is Impressionism?

Impressionism was a radical art, new movement that emerged in France in the late 19th century. It challenged 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, the French concept of painting was very restrictive, and the impressionist artists desired to be more creative. The Impressionist painters were not allowed to exhibit freely at the official Paris Salon. They were repeatedly rejected by the Salon jury, which favored traditional academic painting. This rejection is precisely what pushed Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Pissarro, and others to create their own independent exhibitions.

The first Impressionist exhibition opened on April 15, 1874, in Paris. It was held at the former studio of photographer Nadar. This exhibition was organized by the Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, a collective of artists who were frustrated with the conservative nature of the official Paris Salon.

For more information about impressionist art historical context and how the impressionist painters were impacted by the French Revolutiion, please see our post on The Cultural Impact of France and the French Revolution.

The name of the impressionist art style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant. This painting shown below is a great example of the painting technique and 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 Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Edouard Manet 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

Here are four different museums in Paris all with some historical context for the impressionist movement.

 # 1 The Musée D'Orsay

The Musee D'Orsay has the world's biggest 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.

Best Impressionist Museums in Paris - #4 Musée de Montmartre

The Musée de Montmartre is one of Paris’s most atmospheric small museums — a place where art history, village charm, and the bohemian spirit of Montmartre come together. It’s located at 12 Rue Cortot in the heart of the hilltop neighborhood, inside a set of 17th‑century buildings where artists like Renoir once worked. The museum is rated 4.6 stars with more than 4,600 reviews, and is considered a top art museum, garden, and tourist attraction in the city.

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.

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 definitely the Musee Montmartre and the Ile de Chatou Impressionism Trail..

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.

Musée Rodin

The Rodin Museum is not necessarily an impressionist museum. However, it is truly a beautiful museum and is almost entirely dedicated to:

• Auguste Rodin’s sculpture

• Works by Camille Claudel

• Drawings, plaster studies, and bronze casts

• Decorative arts related to Rodin’s studio

Rodin was not an Impressionist painter. He was a sculptor associated with Symbolism and Modernism, and his work is stylistically very different from Monet, Renoir, Degas, or Cézanne. Auguste Rodin lived at the same time as the Impressionists, and his career overlapped with theirs for decades. In fact, Rodin personally knew several Impressionist painters, exhibited alongside them, and was part of the same broader artistic revolution in late‑19th‑century France.

Even though the museum is not impressionist, it’s one of Paris’s most beautiful and atmospheric museums. You can find the following highlights there:

• The Thinker

• The Gates of Hell

• The Kiss

• Burghers of Calais

• Camille Claudel galleries

• Stunning sculpture gardens with roses, lawns, and views of the Invalides dome

It’s housed in the Hôtel Biron, an 18th‑century mansion where Rodin once lived and worked.

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 - Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny

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 two-week Trip to France for more information about the best way we suggest visiting Giverny.

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 also 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. This is one of the temporary exhibitions that comes to the Met and other famous museums, so unfortunately, it probably won't be there on your next trip to New York City. Another good reason yiou need to go to Paris. For inforamtion about the best time to go to Paris, please see our post on that subject.

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.

The Phillips Collection - Washington, D.C.

The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. has what critics consider to be one of the best impressionist paintings in the world. The Luncheon of the Boating Party (French: Le Déjeuner des canotiers) is an 1880–1881 painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Exhibited at the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics.

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 "Best Time Two Week 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 Buenos Aires, Argentina for more details.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we have convinced you that if you are interested in seeing impressionist art, while you can see some of it around the world, to be really educated and enjoy it you must go to Paris. We would recommend you do this as part of a one or two week trip to France, or an even longer journey around Europe. Here are some posts you should visit to help plan your next European or French journey:

• Best France Two Week Itinerary: Paris, Provence, etc.
• Best time to Visit Paris - Olympic Journey 2024
• Best Summer European Vacation: 91 Days Athens-Paris
• Ultimate France Travel Guide w/Overseas Territories
• Travel To France: Best Time to Visit Paris
• Cultural Impact of France and the French Revolution 
• Best France Two Week Itinerary: Paris, Provence, etc.