Musée de l'Orangerie and Jeu de Paume

Nature is the theme at both the Musée de L’Orangerie with Monet's Waterlilies, his Impressionist paintings and photos at Jeu de Paume inspired by plantlife. It forms a bond with their location: Jardin des Tuileries.

Musée de l'Orangerie

The Jardin des Tuileries' former orangery soon became an annex for the Musée du Luxembourg. Monet then offered to donate his huge piece, the Waterlilies, to the State and exhibit it here to make it a museum. Georges Clémenceau encouraged the project to go ahead. Monet filled the entire first floor based on his work. The next architect, Camille Lefèvre, turned the second floor into an exhibition hall. The museum's identity was sealed when it was left the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection. It is home to around 140 paintings including some Impressionist works by Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, Monet and Sisley and 20th century pieces by Picasso, Matisse, Modigliano, Douanier Rousseau, Derain, Soutine and Van Dongen. 

Jeu de Paume

This contemporary photography gallery is near Hôtel La Tamise. It was originally built using the same plans as the neighbouring Musée de l’Orangerie and devoted to racket sports. The venue changed use and became the annex to the Musée du Luxembourg, like the Musée de l’Orangerie, then an annex to the Louvre for Impressionist pieces. The building became a modern and contemporary art museum before it was named Jeu de Paume in 2004, a benchmark venue for contemporary photography, video art and any form of imagery. Work by Jonas Mejas, Marcel Hanoun, Jean-Luc Godard and Vittorio De Seta is exhibited here.