Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
Musée de Montmartre, Montmartre history museum is hosted in a lovely manshion, has a quiet garden and interesting collections on the rich history of Montmartre. One of the few sights in Montmarte not crowded with tourists. Paris museums.
Housed in a lovely and historical 17th century manor house, Montmartre Museum is nestled between two charming gardens and overlooks Montmartre vineyard.
It houses a unique collection of paintings, posters and photographs that help you to relive the boheme of Montmartre, the spirit of its celebrated cabarets as well the important history of Montmartre hill itself.
From its beginnings in 1886 until the present day, the collection has constantly been enhanced and expanded. It traces the history and life of Montmartre and its artists, through more than 200 documents, paintings, lithographs and pieces of furniture.
Montmartre remains to this day an inspiration to artists. As well as landmark paintings by Utrillo and Kupka, the museum includes Montmartre undiscovered artists and artworks with their own story to tell.
The gardens of the Museum were replanted in 2012 from the paintings that Auguste Renoir made during his stay there, including the famous Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette and the Swing painted in 1876. These two pictures are now in Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
In the Swing, a man seen from the back is talking to a young woman standing on a swing, watched by a little girl and another man, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Renoir gives us the impression of surprising a conversation, as if in a snapshot. Great art indeed.
Paris metro: Lamarck-Caulaincourt station, line 12. Locate museum on Montmartre map. Montmartre Museum is open every day, all year round, from 10am to 6pm.
Entry price: adult: 13 euros. Students aged 18-25: 10 euros. Children aged 10-17: 7 euros. Under 10: free
Located in Montmartre, Timhotel Montmartre provides rooms with free Wi-Fi access, flat-screen TVs and private bathrooms. A buffet breakfast is served daily at the Timhotel Montmartre. The hotel also provides a 24-hour reception, where guests can request hairdryers and ironing facilities. The Timhotel Montmartre is a 5-minute walk from the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, the Moulin Rouge and the Dali Museum. It is 100 m from Abbesses Metro Station, which provides direct access to Montparnasse.
The love story between painters and Montmartre is ancient. In 1820, Horace Vernet and Théodore Géricault resided close-by in rue des Martyrs. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot was one of the first to settle in Montmartre around 1830. He painted there one of his major works, the Moulin de la Galette, announcing the Impressionist movement. Around 1850, independent artists, led by Edouard Manet, met regularly in Montmartre, at the café Guerbois avenue de Clichy. Frédéric Bazille, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet, who will later settle in Giverny, without forgetting Pauk Cézanne, Edgar Degas or Camille Pissaro, came to talk about painting, to distract themselves or to remake the world in a feverish atmosphere. After the War of 1870 and the Commune, the Café de la nouvelle Athènes, 9, place Pigalle, became the new meeting place for painters. In 1876, Paul Renoir moved into an old house, 12 rue Cortot. Then came the turn of Vincent Van Gogh, who was influenced by other talented artists such as Paul Gauguin, taking a new look at light in Montmartre. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the soul of Montmartre, rubbed shoulders with colorful characters like the charming dancer called La Goulue, or Valentin the Boneless. The Belle Époque was a time of cultural excitement and artistic fever. Pablo Picasso fell in love with Montmartre. It was there that he set down his brushes once in Paris. In 1912, he moved to rue Ravignon, at number 13. His house built of planks was called the Bateau-Lavoir. He painted there in particular "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".
