Did you know that the city of Paris contains over 130 museums? If you want to escape the crowds of the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, here are three unique art museums to check out on your next trip to Paris. The Delacroix, Gustave Moreau, and Bourdelle Museums showcase works from three influential artists who helped shape fine art in the 19th century. Locals love these museums for their small size and more relaxed atmosphere, where you can engage more deeply with one artist at a time. Each museum is located in the former home of the artist, which helps visitors situate the works in the artist’s own life and times.
Read on to discover these three pivotal artists, their legacies, and how you can explore these hidden gems yourself!
Delacroix Museum
Who was Eugène Delacroix?
Eugène Delacroix was born in the Paris region in 1798. His most famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, depicts Parisians taking up arms, led by the personification of Liberty, in revolt. In his later years, Delacroix was commissioned to paint three works for the Saint Sulpice church, located just a few minutes’ walk from his home, which you can find in the Chapel of Saints-Anges.
Delacroix’s legacy:
Delacroix is considered the leader of the French Romantic artistic movement. What sets the technique of Delacroix apart is his calculated embrace of bright colors and high contrast, drama, and movement, a departure from the perfectionist standards in which he was trained. Thematically, many of his paintings depict moments of passion and emotion, often inspired by the literature of his time. His use of color and wide brushstrokes influenced the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century.
Visit the Delacroix Museum
Many of Delacroix’s works are on display at the Musée Delacroix, located inside the artist’s former house and garden in the 6th arrondissement. The museum itself was supported by artists who didn’t even know Delacroix personally, but who were inspired by his work, 70 years after the artist’s death, and wanted to honor his life and impact on French art.
- Address: 6 Rue de Furstemberg 75006 Paris
- Monday, Wednesday-Friday from 12:00 pm to 5:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm
- Tickets: Admission to the museum costs 9 € (If you already have a Louvre ticket, it's valid here on the same day or the day after!)
- Metro Access: Line 4 from Saint Germain des Prés or Line 10 from Mabillon
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Gustave Moreau Museum
Who was Gustave Moreau?
Gustave Moreau was born in 1826 in Paris. He attended the Beaux-Arts school in Paris, where he studied drawing and painting in the Neo-Classical technique. However, as he developed his style, his art was influenced by Delacroix and Romanticism, as well as Renaissance art that he studied while traveling in Italy. Some of his replicas of Renaissance paintings are on display in his museum.
Moreau’s Legacy:
Moreau’s legacy is in his contributions to the Symbolist movement, which is characterized by its use of metaphors and symbols, rather than literal depictions, to represent lessons and truths. He is also cited as an influence to Surrealism, Fauvism, and Abstraction, movements which emerged decades after Moreau’s death. Many of his influential abstract sketches and watercolors are on display in his museum.
Visit the Gustave Moreau Museum
Moreau intentionally left some 1,200 paintings and 10,000 drawings, as well as the house and studio he shared with his parents, to the state of France, from which the Musée Gustave Moreau was to be created. This unique museum, designed by the artist himself and filled with artworks, furniture, and sentimental objects, situates Moreau's work in a very personal, intentional setting.
- Address: 14 Rue Catherine de la Rochefoucauld 75009 Paris
- Hours: Wednesday-Monday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
- Tickets: Admission to the Moreau Museum and the Jean-Jacques Henner Museum costs 8 € and is valid for 7 days.
- Metro Access: Line 12 from Trinité Saint Estienne d’Orves, Saint-Georges, or Pigalle or Line 2 from Pigalle
Bourdelle Museum
Who was Antoine Bourdelle?
Antoine Bourdelle was a sculptor, born in 1861 in the Occitan region in southern France. The son of a stonemason, Bourdelle started working in his father’s shop as a teenager, sharpening his skills with carving and sculpture. He attended the Beaux-Arts Academy in Toulouse and later in Paris, before setting up his studio in the Montparnasse neighborhood.
Bourdelle’s legacy:
Bourdelle was a student and collaborator of Auguste Rodin, and they are both known for their portrayal of the human body’s expressiveness. Bourdelle’s own artistic style is marked by slightly more exaggerated and stylized reflections of the human body, while retaining the expressiveness he developed under Rodin. Bourdelle would eventually have an impact on the Art Deco movement of the early 1900s. You can see some of his work around Paris, including his bust of Gustave Eiffel at the Eiffel Tower and a monument to France on the esplanade between the Modern Art Museum and Palais de Tokyo.
Visit the Bourdelle Museum
You can visit the Musée Bourdelle, located in the studio where he lived and worked near the Montparnasse tower, which offers a glimpse into the artist’s life and work.
- Address: 18, rue Antoine-Bourdelle 75015 Paris
- Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
- Tickets: Permanent collections can be explored for free
- Metro access: Lines 4, 6, 12, 13 from Montparnasse-Bienvenüe or Line 12 from Falguière
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With so many art museums in Paris, it can be hard to choose which ones to visit! If you’re looking for doable sights with fewer crowds, spend a little while discovering these local museums on your next trip to Paris.
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