Musée Marmottan Monet

Our trip to Monet's gardens in Giverny inspired one last trip to the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris.  Tucked away behind a local park in the 16th along the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, the Musée Marmottan is an old hunting lodge that Marmottan filled with paintings and bronze sculptures for his father.  He left the house and its entire collection to the Académie des Beaux-Arts.  In 1934 the Académie opened up the entire collection as the Musée Marmottan.  In 1966, Claude Monet's second son, Michel, left his collection of his father's works to the museum.  This made the museum the largest collection of Monet's paintings in the world (over 300).  

I discovered that I love Monet during my first outing in Paris.  I remember going by myself, waiting in a terribly long line in 28 degree weather for 3+ hours.  It was the Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais and it was just after I arrived in Paris.  I look back and can't even remember why I chose that day in that weather....and the only conclusion I came up with is that maybe it was one of the exhibition's last days in Paris.  Inside were so many Japanese tour groups following their leader and it was so hot and crowded it made for a miserable experience, but it was worth it to see Monet's paintings that are normally permanent collections in museums around the world all together in one place.  His haystacks, sunsets, ladies in the garden, and La Promenade were included in the collection.  

I visited the Musée Marmottan Monet for the first time in January or February of 2011, and I was so pleased with the collection at the time I took my parents back when they visited in June of 2011.  I wasn't as pleased the second time around, as the Raoul Dufy exhibition took over the entire museum.  Most of Monet's paintings had been shipped off to other corners of the world.  I took my mother there because she is such a fan of Monet, and while they had a couple of the water lily paintings, she didn't get to see most of what makes this the most beautiful museum in Paris.  The permanent collection includes other impressionistic paintings from Manet, Sisley, Renoir, and Cézanne.

This warm day in July, Laura and I crossed our fingers....hoping for the best...and walked in to what is and forever will be my favorite museum in Paris.  The Monet's were back in action as they took center stage throughout each room.  

Water Lilies, 1916

In the main exhibition room they added big glass panels staggered throughout the room so that you could look at the paintings up close, or far away.  We went on a weekday, so it wasn't too crowded and we were able to sit and reflect and really look at his magnificent brushstrokes on each painting.  It's really neat to be able to compare the paintings to his gardens in Giverny.  Since I've been to Giverny 3 times..I consider myself to be a Giverny pro.  I am able to look at a painting, and judging on the sunlight and type of flower...more likely than not, I could give a good estimate on where he sat to create that particular painting.  

These are my favorite flowers in Monet's gardens.

One of my favorite new paintings?  I don't remember this being in the museum the last 2 times I visited, but I found it to be stunningly beautiful.  It is none other than Monet's The Tuileries.  It is hard to see from this photo, but he truly captured the livelihood of an afternoon strolling through Tuileries Gardens.  The colors in person are more blue and violet, and flowers dotted with rose pink.  The women in their best dresses watching their kids float boats in the small fountains shielding their faces from the sun with oversized parasols.  The huge arms of the Louvre outstretched to the garden with the giant chimneys reaching to the sky.  The Seine in the background flowing through Paris as the city springs up in the background.  You can see why it easily became my favorite.  

The Tuileries, 1876

It was the perfect ending to a whirlwind 2 years of museum hopping, and I'm so glad I had the time to revisit the Musée Marmottan Monet.  As many times as I've visited the Louvre (countless), the Musée d'Orsay (3 times), L'Orangerie (3), Versailles (3), Invalides (2), and a million other small museums tucked in between...the Marmottan is the most memorable and breathtaking of all the Parisian museum hotspots!