Built in 1852 for the orange trees of the Tuileries Gardens, the Orangerie was handed over to the fine arts department in 1921. Convinced by his friend and statesman George Clémenceau, Monet chose this site between gardens and river to exhibit the vast Nymphéas mural which he had donated to the State. Monet played a major role in redesigning the building to suit his masterpiece. The Orangerie Museum opened in 1927.
Besides Monet Nymphéas murals, the Orangerie Museum houses the Walter-Guillaume collection devoted to post-impressionist and later works, thus securing a special place at the heart of impressionism and modern art in Paris.
Orangerie Museum Paris, Monet Water Lilies, the Nymphéas Murals
Inspired by his water garden in Giverny, Monet began a series of around 300 paintings in 1895 which he continued until he died in 1926.
By the time the museum opened however, impressionism was sliding out of fashion and for the first 50 years, Monet’s Water Lilies, or Nymphéas, drew little attention. The addition of an upper floor for other exhibitions deprived the paintings of natural light but after much debate, this was finally removed. The Orangerie Museum reopened in 2006 and Monet’s Water Lilies were bathed once again in natural light, as the artist had intended.
The eight two metre high murals of the Water Lilies are displayed around two elliptical rooms. From the smallest, a single panel titled Soleil Couchant, to the four panels, 17 metre long, of Les Deux Saules, they include Matin, Nuages, Reflets Verts, Reflets d’Arbres, Matin Clair aux Saules and Matin aux Saules. They express Monet’s fascination with changing light and colour and his deep desire to be immersed in nature without boundaries.
Orangerie Museum, Walter-Guillaume Collection, Post Impressionist and Modern Art
The Walter-Guillaume collection owes its name to modern art dealer and founder Paul Guillaume and his widow's second husband, a wealthy businessman named Jean Walter. The collection was to be donated to the Louvre Museum but lack of space brought it to the Orangerie Museum in 1984.
The Walter-Guillaume collection displays works by post-impressionist and other artists.
Derain is the most widely represented with 28 paintings, including the nude Beau Modèle.
Among other works are Pommes et Biscuits, one of 15 paintings by Cézanne, Jeunes Filles au Piano by Renoir, one of 25, and Les Trois Soeurs by Matisse. Gauguin, Modigliani, Rousseau and Sisley are also represented alongside Picasso whose Bathers survived the sale of more daring work.
Twenty-two paintings by Soutine make this the artist’s most important collection in Europe.
Solange Hando - I am a travel writer, editor and photographer, contributing to a range of publications in the UK and worldwide.
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