Orangerie Museum: first the Water Lilies by Claude Monet
The Orangerie Museum in the Jardin des Tuileries and near the Place de la Concorde. It is known for the Water Lilies of Claude Monet that it shelters. The Water Lilies cycle occupied Claude Monet for three decades, from the end of the 1890s, until his death in 1926, at the age of 86.
This cycle of paintings is inspired by the water garden he created in the property of his house in Giverny, Normandy. (See article - in progress).
There are not only Claude Monet's Water Lilies to see at the Orangerie Museum !
- But the basement of the Orangerie Museum houses the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection, devoted to the great names of the 20th century: Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Soutine, and a few others. They are paintings of the Impressionist (XIXe) and Modernisme (XXe) periods.
- Around the building, several sculptures are exhibited outside.
Along the north façade that runs along the Tuileries garden, they are the Grand commandant blanc (1986) by sculptor Alain Kirili and three bronze castings by Rodin: Ève (1881), Méditation avec bras (1881) and L'Ombre (1881).
The fourth work by Rodin takes place in front of the entrance of the museum to the west.
- On the other side of the museum, the sculptures Reclining Nude (1951) by Henry Moore are also visible, located at the foot of the stairs, as well as the casting of Le lion au serpent by Antoine-Louis Barye, located on the terrace on the banks of the Seine river.
The history of the Water Lilies and Claude Monet
The Orangerie Museum houses eight compositions of Monet's large Water Lilies made from different panels assembled together. These compositions are all equal height (1.97 m) but are of different widths so that they are distributed on the curved walls of two ovoid rooms.
Nothing was left to chance by the artist for this ensemble that he has long meditated on.
The installation of the Water Lilies at the Orangerie Museum
The installation was done according to Claude Monet's will in connection with the architect Camille Lefèvre and with the help of the statesman Clemenceau. He foresees the forms, volumes, layout, scans, and spaces between the different panels, the free course of the visitor through several openings between the rooms, the zenithal daylight that floods the space in good weather or on the contrary is more discreet when it is veiled by clouds, thus making the painting vibrate with the passage of time.
The ensemble is one of the largest monumental achievements of painting in the first half of the twentieth century. The dimensions and surface area covered by the painting surround and encompass the viewer for nearly one hundred linear meters. It is where a water landscape unfolds, punctuated by water lilies, willow branches, tree reflections, and clouds, giving "the illusion of an endless whole, a wave without horizon and shoreline" in Monet's own words. This unique masterpiece has no equivalent anywhere in the world.
The Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection
This collection includes:
- For the Impressionist period, twenty-five works by Auguste Renoir, fifteen works by Paul Cézanne, one work by Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and Alfred Sisley.
- For the 20th century, the Orangerie Museum presents twelve works by Pablo Picasso, ten by Henri Matisse, five by Amedeo Modigliani, six by Marie Modigliani, nine by Douanier Rousseau, thirty by André Derain, ten by Maurice Utrillo, twenty-two by Chaïm Soutine and one by Kees Van Dongen.
- In 2018, a Lega statuette from the Paul Guillaume collection was acquired by the museum.
Depending on loans and movements of the collectionon, the works are presented in the room on a rotating basis.
The Orangerie museum offers a unique opportunity to see these 148 paintings in addition to Claude Monet's Nymphéas.
The House of Monet in Giverny
This visit can be complemented by a visit to Monet's house-museum in Giverny, where you can appreciate the reality you have just seen at the Orangery museum. (See article - in preparation). Allow a day to go to Giverny which is 75 km west of Paris. Click "How to get to Giverny from Paris to Giverny - By bus, train or car".
