Paris is a place where you can indulge in your love of art from morning to night seven days a week and still not see every incredible artwork there is to see in the city. In fact, there’s so much art in the French capital that you’ll likely send your brain into art overload.
In Paris, there are museums housing the works of grand masters like Picasso and Rodin, awe-inspiring sculptures located in public places, and enough street art daubed all over the city to have you trailing around the arrondissements from dawn to dusk.
Paris is one of those special places that captures an art lover’s heart. One visit will never be enough, not just because there are still new things to see, but because you’ll want to repeat the experience. Art in Paris never grows old or boring, no matter how many times you’ve seen it.
Before venturing around the city street and into galleries and museums, drop off your bags at a Bounce luggage locker in Paris. You’ll be glad you did!
Must-see Art Museums In Paris
There are countless art museums and galleries in Paris. While you may not be able to visit them all, there are some you really shouldn’t miss as they contain some of the most incredible artworks in existence.
The Louvre
The Louvre, or Musée du Louvre, is France’s national art treasure chest. While the museum’s collection numbers well over 600,000 individual pieces of art, there are only around 35,000 on display at any one time.
The Louvre is not a place to rush visiting. You’ll need at least four hours to be able to enjoy perusing the prestigious works without rushing. The 13th-century-built Louvre Palace is the permanent home to paintings like the Mona Lisa, The Raft of Medusa, and Oedipus and the Sphinx.
The Louvre is such a huge place to explore that it’s a good idea to either make use of the museum’s downloadable map to help you find your way around or follow one of the four visitor trails published on the museum’s official website. The trails will lead you past not just painted masterpieces but sculptures such as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Paris Museum of Modern Art
Paris isn’t just about the old masters. The 20th and 21st century gets a look-in too. The Paris Museum of Modern Art is an austere-looking concrete building on the Avenue du President Wilson which houses 15,000 examples of modern and contemporary works. The MAM displays creations by artists such as Matisse, Foujita, and Bonnard, as well as many other world-renowned artists from this genre, including Picasso.
If you have time for more than two art museums while you’re in Paris, then the following are all exceptional and definitely not to be missed:
– Musee National de Picasso – Paris
– Petit Palais – Paris Museum of Fine Art
– Rodin Museum
– Espace Dali
– Musée De l’Orangerie
– Bourdelle Museum
Paris Street Art
Not all of the artworks in Paris have been created by the grandmasters of old or are displayed in the city’s museums. Many of the city’s districts have been given the art treatment by talented graffiti artists, and some of their works are really worth going out of your way to see.
Paris truly embraces street art, and rather than try to remove what’s been painted on the walls or wherever, the art form has been embraced as a growing underground culture that’s an authentic embellishment of what are, on many occasions, dour-looking buildings.
Best places to see street art in Paris
In the 13th arrondissement on Rue Jeanne d’Arc and Boulevard Vincent Auriol, there are enormous works by American Shepherd Fairy, Irishman Connor Harrington, and a renowned French artist called Invader.
The 19th arrondissement is a veritable public gallery of amazing street art that you’ll want to photograph. It’s a Bohemian district of the city with a hip vibe and great cafe culture that’s been decorated in style by Psi, Marko93, and DeCruz.
The 19th arrondissement is also where the longest mural in Paris is located. Streets not to miss here are the Rue de l’Orurcq, Rue d’Aubervilliers, and the Rue de Ménilmontant. While you’re in the 19th arrondissement, don’t miss taking a stroll around 27 Pantin. There are street artworks there that wouldn’t be out of place in the MAM.
Must-See Sculptures And Statues In Paris
You can take your art lover’s mind in a different direction when you start to discover all the unusual statues and sculptures that exist in Paris.
One that will certainly make you look twice is Le Passe-Muraille in the Place Marcel Ayme in Paris’ 18th arrondissement. It’s a surreal bronze statue of a man trying to escape entrapment in a wall that will probably bring the movie Matrix to mind.
If you love mythology as much as you do art, then you’ll want to see the Centaur of Cesar on the Rue de Cherche-Midi. It’s an astounding metal conglomeration representing the mythical combination of man and horse, which is partly an homage to the artist Picasso.
One statue not to be missed by art-loving historians is the one of Joan of Arc in the Place des Pyramides on the Rue de Rivoli. It’s a bronze depiction of the famous person mounted on a rearing horse created by the French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet. It’s been in place since the late 19th century and is still gleaming as brightly today as it did when it was new almost 150 years ago.
Conclusion
You’ll find there is art on almost every corner in Paris, no matter where you turn. You don’t need to go to the major museums or galleries to experience it either. Paris is a city that embraces art in all its forms, from the works of grandmasters to contemporary artists to sculptors to street artists, and gives the same respect to all the artistic creators that pass through it or inhabit it. If you feel inspired by the art you see here, there’s only one thing to do: start creating your own future masterpiece.
Citations
https://www.louvre.fr/en
https://www.mam.paris.fr/en/one-artist-one-masterpiece
https://en.parisinfo.com/what-to-see-in-paris/paris-outdoors/outdoor-activities-and-leisure/5-districts-in-which-to-see-street-art-in-paris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Passe-muraille_(sculpture)
https://www.afrenchcollection.com/le-passe-muraille-sculpture-montmartre/
https://paris-balades.com/en/the-centaur-of-cesar/
