Cognacq-Jay Museum, an exceptional collection of 18th century art-works

The Cognacq-Jay Museum is housed in the Hôtel de Donon at 8, rue Elzévir, in Paris's 3rd arrondissement. It is the museum of collectors Ernest Cognacq and his wife.

Ernest Cognacq and his wife, not just the founders of La Samaritaine

Throughout his life, Ernest Cognacq collected over 1,200 European works of art, reflecting the tastes of the 18th century. This collection was first used to decorate La Samaritaine, which went from being a simple boutique in 1870 to one of Paris's largest and best-known department stores when it closed in 2005.

The Cognacq-Jay Museum collections and the Hôtel de Donon

The Cognacq-Jay Museum brings together 18th-century works acquired between 1900 and 1927 by Ernest Cognacq, founder of the Samaritaine Grand Magasin, and his wife Marie-Louise Jay. It also recreates the atmosphere of a Parisian residence in the Age of Enlightenment, with its interior staircases, the Salle Wagram, the Salon with François Boucher's Le Retour de Diane chasseresse, and the exhibition room under the grand comble.

The Hôtel de Donon, a handsome 16th-century mansion set between courtyard and garden, houses this exceptional collection of 18th-century works of art: paintings by Boucher, Chardin and Fragonard, drawings by Watteau, sculptures, stamped furniture and precious objects (jewelry, snuffboxes, Saxon porcelain, etc.). Ernest Cognacq and his wife Louise Jay, founders of the department store La Samaritaine, bequeathed the collections to the City of Paris in 1928.

The City of Paris thus became the legatee of their 18th century art collection, as well as of a building located at 25, boulevard des Capucines in Paris, intended to house the collection. The Musée Cognacq-Jay was inaugurated on June 4, 1929 by French President Gaston Doumergue.

On June 27, 1988, the museum closed its doors and its collections were transferred to the Hôtel de Donon in the Marais district, which was entirely restored for the occasion. The museum reopened to the public on December 18, 1990.

The Cognacq-Jay Museum, in this historic residence in the Marais district, also offers a program of exhibitions dedicated to a better understanding of French society and art in the 18th century.

You'll also love the 18th-century objets d'art rooms at the Musée du Louvre.