The most discussed art collection in the world and Monet's Waterlilies find space inside an ancient orange grove.
2h - 50€/person skip-the-line ticket included
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From WED to MON |  |
2h |  |
Per person: 55€ skip-the-line ticket included |
The term orangerie in English is translated as "orange grove". The building that houses the museum that we will visit on this tour, in fact, was none other than the orange grove of the Tuileries garden of Caterina de'Medici. Subsequently transformed into a warehouse for the storage of the Tuileries plants, the structure has abandoned its original function over the centuries to become a "deposit" of the figurative representations of another garden, that of Claude Monet in Giverny. There, at 76 Km from Paris, inspired by the garden on the water and the basin of the water lilies of his property, the Master gave shape, between 1895 and his death, to the famous cycle of the water lilies that the Orangerie keeps today. More than forty panels in total make up the entire cycle, twenty-two of these form the eight compositions of the Orangerie, set up in an oval space according to the directives of Monet himself. The arrangement of the works takes place, however, only shortly after the painter's death in 1926. A unique and suggestive space, able to abstract the user of reality and immerse it completely in the imagination of the great leader of Impressionism.
The second part of the tour continues in the museum's underground and is dedicated to the collection of the art dealer Paul Guillaume. A story that has the incredible that of Guillaume, forced to work hard as a young man, while still employed in a self-business, discovers African sculptures in a load of tires. He displays them in a showcase, where the artefacts capture the attention of Apollinaire: the life of Guillaume changes forever, the common employee is transformed into the great merchant. He opens a small gallery and consecrates himself to the avant-garde artists defended by Apollinaire. Picasso, Picabia, De Chirico, Laurencin, Modigliani, Utrillo, Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Derain, the list is long and the constant commitment of Guillaume. The collection grew to become one of the most important in Europe. Its value is so invaluable as to arouse the covetousness of the diabolical Sunday, Guillaume's wife ... a fake pregnancy, two murders, a third failure and a terrible judicial case encompass the most controversial art collection in the world.
Highlights
- The history of the museum and its architecture
- The Waterlilies by Claude Monet
- The Walter-Guillaume collection
Meeting point
Outside the big gate of the Jardins de Tuileries, on the side of Place de la Concorde
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Guided private tour with an expert official guide
- Entrance ticket to the museum (skip-the-line)
ACCESSIBILITY
- This tour is also accessible by wheelchair
PRICING VARIATIONS
- Free admission ticket to museum for under 26s of the European Union and for all under 18s (on presentation of identity document at the entrance)
- Those entitled to a free or reduced ticket price for the museum (handicapped and accompanying persons, etc.) must specify this at the time of booking.
