Paris museum city
The Paris of culture
Culture is one of the pillars of Paris’ identity. It is expressed through temporary and permanent exhibitions in museums and open-air venues. Many cultural spaces were originally intended for other functions, and have been brilliantly reconverted. Examples include the Musée d’Orsay and the Atelier des Lumières, which were respectively a railway station and a steel foundry.
Magnificent settings for exhibitions
Visiting a museum is doubly interesting, as many exhibitions take place in buildings of exceptional architecture. The exhibition at the Musée Carnavalet (the city of Paris museum) takes place in one of the oldest private mansions in Paris, dating from the 16th century. Fashion, meanwhile, is showcased in a Renaissance-style palace inaugurated in 1895. Exceptional museum collections celebrate art and enhance the splendid settings in which they take place.
A need for artistic classification
The phenomenal number of works in Paris makes segmentation a necessity. In fact, there is almost a museum dedicated to each artistic movement (fine art, modern art, art deco…). Some great artists, such as Monet or Picasso, even have the honor of having a structure dedicated to their work. Finally, to think that Parisian museums cover only artistic fields would be reductive. The subjects covered are much broader, and include natural history, the army, archaeology, science…