I love the trips where you stumble on cool things. Usually when people visit Paris, they have their ten must sees, including the Louvre and Eiffel Tower and Musee d’Orsay–which are all worth seeing; no question. But Paris has a lot more to offer and if time permits I found two museums worth a visit. These are not as involved as the Louvre, so each of these can be done in a couple of hours. This past trip I skipped the Louvre and only walked within site of the Eiffel. But this was not my first visit to Paris so I wanted to see some different sites and wander around unencumbered by any sort of schedule.
The first museum, The Musee de Montmarte, also known as Renoir’s Gardens, is a charming artists’ enclave where Renoir painted some of his masterpieces and Suzanne Valadon lived and worked in the early 1900s (among other artists). I literally stumbled up after visiting Sacre Couer and meandering around the area. This museum is on a small street behind and to the left if you are looking at Sacre Couer. I almost walked right by! The museum also covers the Chat Noir and cabaret periods–very interesting!
Suzanne Valadon was an interesting woman. She studied under and modeled for Degas and Renoir and Latrec, all the big names in the Paris art scene. In fact, she is in several Renoir paintings and was the model for Degas’ Woman Bathing series. She was well known for painting women in unconventional ways and “regular” women. In other words, women bathing and not commissioned portraits. She also did a lot of self-portraits and accurately captured her own aging body. The above painting is not titled a self-portrain, but resembles her from other self portraits.
While she modeled for Degas and Renoir, she was also able to study their techniques. You can also see some of the post-impressionism “dark outlines” in this painting as was on trend at the time. As an interesting side note, the father of her son, Maurice, is unknown. Some have speculated it could have been Renoir or Degas; she never disclosed the father so no one ever knew. Her third husband, Utrillo, essentially adopted Maurice as his own and gave him his name.
The museum is open 7 days a week, 10 am – 6 pm.
The second charming museum is called Carnavalet. It is in the Marais District, near Place de Voges and is the oldest museum Paris, having opened in 1880. Worth noting, it is also FREE. It is a museum about the City of Paris and documents key historical moments and houses objects of import, such as the Nazareth Arch from a demolished building from 16th Century, signs from a growing city’s business, and objects discovered from a neolithic settlement on the banks of the Seine. The museum is housed in a former hotel (Hotel de Ligneris, known as Carnavalet) built in the mid-1500s and an excellent example of Renaissance architecture in Paris. It was eventually adjoined by two galleries and another former hotel to make what is the museum today.
The picture below emphasizes how important costumes were to the City of Paris. This was how young girls would use some film to costume a picture and see how different hair or dress would change someone. Clever.
This museum is open 10 am – 6 pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Visit the website for the latest information about exhibits and special collections.
