Paris Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Paris museums supplies classes your area

All of us will be diving deep into everything about art in Paris over the next few minutes and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

Up next we will discuss a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are searching for any specific section you can jump straight to it by using the table of contents on the left and we will also be sharing a Paris art map with all of the various venues we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

You can find all of our guides for this part of the world at that link if you want to read more.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Paris

If you want to visit the best art galleries and museums in Paris you can go to:

With an average of 15,000 visitors daily the Louvre Museum is the world’s largest and most visited museum and is home to more than 480,000 works of art exhibiting 35,000 of them in eight curatorial sections. It is best known as the home to Mona Lisa while visitors under the age of 18 and residents of the European Economic Area who are under the age of 26 receive free admission. Check out all the amazing items on display from 9am to 6pm daily except for Tuesday when they are closed and Friday when they stay open until 9:45pm.

The Centre Pompidou’s collection of modern and contemporary art contains over 120,000 works making it the largest collection in Europe and the second largest collection in the world. Among their masterpieces which can be viewed from 11am to 10pm daily except for Tuesday are Avec l’Arc noir by Vassily Kandinsky, Fontaine by Marcel Duchamp, and Manège de cochons by Robert Delaunay but there is plenty more to see.

The Louis Vuitton Foundation’s collection consists of works owned by LVMH and Bernard Arnault including some by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gilbert and George, and Jeff Koons. They offer a fun evening program that is an intimate immersion into the masterpieces of their collection with live music and special family activities every day during the summer holidays. Furthermore the Open Space programs invite young national and international artists to create a site-specific piece for the foundation in response to Frank Gehry’s building. Just don’t head over on Tuesday or they will be closed.

The Picasso National Museum is devoted to the work of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and the collection includes over 5,000 of his artworks and tens of thousands of archival items including the artist’s photographic archive, personal papers, correspondence, and author manuscripts. They also have an exceptional collection of 50 pieces of furniture by Diego Giacommetti. Picasso masterpieces such as Paul en Arlequin and Autoportrait are among their collection which is available from 9:30am to 6pm every day but Monday.

The collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts are among the most important in your area with over 550,000 pieces from various fields of decorative and applied arts. Admission is available from 11am to 6pm throughout the week except for Monday when they are closed and Thursday when they stay open until 9pm. It is free for visitors under the age of 26 as well as disabled visitors and their caregivers plus they also provide art lessons for people of all ages.

The Palais de Tokyo is open from 12pm to 9pm Wednesday through Monday and is the largest museum devoted entirely to temporary exhibitions of contemporary art near you. They offer a residency program and special workshops for children, teenagers, and families on topics ranging from performance art to street art, ancestral techniques to installations. Visitors under the age of 18 are admitted free of charge.

The Musée d’Orsay is primarily dedicated to French art from 1848 to 1914 and is home to the world’s largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces which includes works by Berthe Morisot, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Among the highlights of the collections which can be viewed from 9:30am to 6pm Tuesday through Sunday and until 9:45pm on Thursday are Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhone, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette, Eugène Delacroix’s The Lion Hunt, and Claude Monet’s Le déjeuner sur l’herbe.

In the Petit Palais you should see works by famous artists including Rembrandt, Rubens and Fragonard as well as sculptures by Carpeaux and Rodin. Other notables in the museum’s collection include Aimé Jules Dalou’s Triumph of the Republic, Ugolino by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Nicolas de Largillierre’s Red-legged Partridge in a Niche. They provide a wide range of activities like local art courses and workshops and are open from 10am to 6pm throughout the week except Monday when they are closed and weekend nights when the doors stay open an hour later.

The Musee De L’orangerie is open from 9am to 6pm every day but Tuesday and is best known as the permanent home of Claude Monet’s eight large Water Lilies murals. It also houses the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection, one of the finest European collections of paintings, which includes 25 works by Renoir, 15 works by Cézanne, and one work each by Gauguin, Monet, and Sisley. Every October you won’t want to miss their Quartet Night event.

Musée Rodin is devoted to the French sculptor Auguste Rodin and the collection includes 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, and 7,000 artifacts. The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell are among the museum’s notable masterpieces by Rodin while they also have important Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir paintings. Head over from 10am to 6:30pm any day but Monday when Musée Rodin is closed.

The Dali Paris Gallery exhibits over 300 of Salvador Dal’s works from 10am to 6pm daily. There are sculptures such as Space Elephant and Alice in Wonderland on display along with other aspects like Moses and Monotheism, Memories of Surrealism, Don Quixote, and so on. Creative workshops for children in order for them to become familiar with Dali’s art are also available.

Materials & Supplies Near You

There are quite a few stores to buy art supplies and materials in your area like:

For over 120 years Adam Merchand De Couleurs has provided customers with cutting-edge expertise in fine and applied arts materials and techniques. Aside from being a colour merchant and supplying fine arts supplies in your area they provide customized services like bespoke paint colour and framing.

La Maison du Pastel is the world’s oldest pastel manufacturer and has 1,580 color shades of outstanding brightness and richness.

For over a century Lavrut has specialized in graphic arts, office supplies, and stationery providing solutions tailored to creatives whether professional or amateur.

Apart from selling art supplies in Paris Lez’Arts offers a variety of additional services including laser and digital cutting, 3D printing, and large format printing.

Rougier & Plé Graphigro has been in business for 165 years and stocks over 20,000 products including its exclusive line.

Shows, Festivals & Events

There are some great shows, festivals, and events held here like:

Art3f is a touring contemporary art fair that showcases approximately 100 artists and galleries in a 10,000-square-foot exhibition space. It’s also a cultural event with three days of entertainment including a children’s happening zone, a special place for street art with live performances, and a large bar and kitchen serving high-quality wines.

The Grand Palais Éphémère hosts Art Capital which is a five-day event that serves as a showcase for contemporary artistic creativity featuring 2,500 established or emerging artists of many nationalities working in a variety of styles.

For three days the Drawing Now Art Fair held in Paris at the Carreau du Temple will bring together 45 galleries to showcase a selection of work reflective of the diversity of contemporary drawing.

The Salon du Dessin at the Palais Brongniart offers the public to discover the collector’s world of drawing. This one-of-a-kind event features over 1,000 works on paper which highlight French and Italian schools and feature established and emerging artists that comprise the new wave in this discipline.

The Art Paris Art Fair will bring together approximately 150 galleries at the Grand Palais Ephémère. The show will feature new galleries, established artists, and emerging artists from across the contemporary spectrum.

On the first Saturday in October artists will propose installations, exhibitions, concerts, performances, trails, staged scene sets, and creations that explore all dimensions of contemporary art and offer a new perspective on the city during the all-night art festival Nuit Blanche.

Every October Musee De L’orangerie hosts Quartet Night which is dedicated to chamber music. The concert is performed at night in the crepuscular mood given by Monet’s Water Lilies in the oval rooms.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

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If you are considering adding a new piece to your collection or want to find out how much works are worth you can go to local art dealers and appraisers like:

The Opera Gallery also conducts private sales on the secondary market and can help with locating works of art, consultancy, and collection management. They also offer commissions of large-scale site-specific sculptures for both public and private collections.

Galerie Sepia is a private art dealer in your area with over 35 years of experience offering a discreet and professional service to major private collectors and museums in the fields of impressionist and modern works.

Some of the world’s most important tribal art is available at Galerie Entwistle who is happy to assist with general purchasing advice both privately and at auction as well as appraisal for sales and insurance, conservation advice, and support in the sale of tribal works.

Walking Tours

When the weather will allow think about going on an art walking tour:

Paris Art Walks connects you with art insiders that are keen to share their enthusiasm for the city’s hidden gems and lead you on guided tours of museums and galleries near you that can be customized.

Street Art Tour Paris will take you to visit areas like Montmartre, Vitry-sur-Seine, Canal de l’Ourcq, and even a special alternative tour within the Louvre.

Every two months they end the journey with the inauguration of the new wall. Enjoy complimentary beverages with creators and project organizers after the tour to celebrate the new piece.

Sculptures & Statues

You can also find some really cool sculptures around town like:

  • Musée de la Sculpture en Plein Air at 11 Bis Quai Saint Bernard
  • Harmonie at 44-48 Rue Réaumur
  • L’Ami de Personne at 1 Jardin des Tuileries
  • Statue de la République at Place de la République
  • Napoleon Bonaparte Statue at 129 Rue de Grenelle

The Musée de la Sculpture en plein Air is is an outdoor sculpture museum in Paris located on the Quai Saint-Bernard between the Ponts de Sully and d’Austerlitz. Opened in 1980 at the Tino Rossi Square it features works by César, Constantin Brancusi, Nicolas Schöffer, and Émile Gilioli.

Harmonie is a 1992 sculpture by Antoniucci Volti located in Place Theodor-Herzi near the corner of Turbigo and Reaumur.

L’Ami de personne is a sculpture by Erik Dietman from Sweden that was designed in 1992 and erected in the Tuileries Gardens in 1999.

The Statue de la République is a colossal statue designed by Léopold Morice and dedicated in 1883.

Of course all you need to do is walk around these historic old streets and you will find an amazing array of beautiful fountains, sculptures, and statues near you.

Paris Art Classes

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Sometimes a lesson or two can give us the boost that we need and there are some top notch instructors at the best Paris art schools and classes:

Course Sculpture Mainardis offers adult sculpture classes with a live model utilizing a variety of techniques and media, including earth, wax, and reinforcement.

Paris College of Art is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design in the United States. They provide certificate programs that are a one-year intensive curriculum focus on a specific discipline designed for students looking to change careers, improve their design portfolios, or prepare for admission to a masters degree program. Furthermore there are summer courses in art, history, design, culture, and language throughout the metropolitan area.

The Académie de la Grande Chaumiere offers classes in drawing and sculpture for students of all ages. Along with full-time classes they offer drop-in sessions, life drawing classes, and free workshops.

Artacademie provides group and private art lessons in your area for students of all ages and abilities. Additionally they provide preparation classes for art school enrollment as well as a professional manga drawing course.

An Workshop À L’autre offers year-round drawing and painting classes for amateurs of all levels including weekend classes and 15 intensive 5-day courses each year during the school holidays.

The Museum of Decorative Arts, The Palais de Tokyo, and Petit Palais from our best local museums and galleries list are more good places to take classes here.

Local Studios For Rent

Those of you who are ready to start a big project can find art studios in your area like:

The Palais de Tokyo might also have art studio space for rent.

Framing

The right frames can really transform works and some of the best shops for picture and art framing in Paris are:

Encadrement carries a wide variety of framing styles, from traditional to contemporary, with over 1,500 models in wood and aluminum. They provide free consultations and art restoration services near you too.

Apart from custom framing Atelier Mondineu also sells frame supplies for do-it-yourselfers.

Cadre A Part also offers art and frame restoration services in addition to custom framing.

Havard Père stocks approximately 1,274 referenced models spanning four centuries of style from Louis XIII to the present day as well as 5,000 molds and an infinite range of colors and patinas. They are capable of creating any replica of the frame model while restorations from all eras and painting restorations are other services they excel at.

Adam Merchand De Couleurs from the supplies list also does high-quality custom framing. In case you were interested you can also read our posts on:

Have Fun Enjoying The Paris Art Scene

Well guys, we tried to cover the full art scene near you to the best of our abilities. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area.

If you made it all the way to the end then you probably love art as much as we do. You can let us know about any of your own local tips and tricks in the comments at the end of the post, and don’t be afraid to let us know if you notice anything incorrect on the page so we can fix it.

Have fun going to the galleries, museums, buying supplies or doing anything that has to do with art in Paris!

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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