Impressionist Museums in Paris

Impressionism is an art movement that emerged in France in the 1890s that broke with academic traditions and traditional rules of painting. It captured the fleeting effects of light and movement in everyday scenes, painting outdoors with short brushstrokes and vivid colors.

2024 marked the 150th anniversary of the Impressionism Art Movement. Paris has been the epicenter of this movement, with the first impressionist exhibition opening on 15 April 1874 at 35 Boulevard des Capucines. The most famous impressionist artists, such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Degas, worked and lived in the French capital.

In this article, I share the best impressionist museums in Paris, where you can experience some top Impressionist artworks.

• Musée d’Orsay
• Musée Marmottan Monet
• Musée de l’Orangerie
• Musée de Montmartre
• Bonus: Monet’s Garden in Giverny

As an architecture student, I had many art history courses during my five-year program, and I hope to share part of the knowledge acquired and my local Paris tips in this guide. 

Where to See Impressionist Paintings in Paris

Musée d’Orsay

The astonishing Musée d’Orsay is located in the 7th arrondissement and has the biggest collection of Impressionist paintings in Paris and the world, making it a must-see for any art lover.

This museum is housed in a former train station, whose structure can be admired in the main hall. The most impressive feature of the museum’s building is the station’s working clock, which you can look through for stunning views right up to and past Montmartre.

If you are an art novice, you might be overwhelmed by the astonishing amount of artwork displayed in the museum, so take a look at my guide to the must-see in Musée d’Orsay to have an unforgettable visit. Alternatively, book this skip-the-line Impressionists Guided Tour led by an expert who will disclose all the secrets behind the top artworks of the museum.

Address: Esplanade Valéry Giscard d’Estaing; Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Thursdays, the museum is open until 9:45 p.m. Buy your tickets here.

TIP: Musée d’Orsay is included in the Paris Museum Pass, and there’s a special combo ticket Orsay Museum + Rodin Museum, which also makes you save money!

Musée Marmottan-Monet

You will find the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. It is a 5-minute walk from the Bois de Boulogne, a great place for a stroll after visiting the museum.

The Musée Marmottan Monet was founded by Paul Marmottan, a passionate art collector and scholar. The museum’s extensive permanent collection includes an impressive number of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings that Marmottan collected during his lifetime.

The museum’s fame is the result of a donation in 1966 by Michel Monet, Claude’s second son and only heir, thus creating the world’s largest collection of Monet paintings. These paintings include Monet’s 1872 Impression, Sunrise, which gave the name to the artistic movement, and several of his water lily paintings.

Musée Marmottan Monet is not as crowded as other impressionist art museums in Paris, so it’s the perfect venue if you don’t like busy museums.

Address: 2 Rue Louis Boilly, Paris; Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Thursdays, the museum is open until 9 p.m. Buy your tickets here.

Musée de L’Orangerie

The Musée de l’Orangerie is an art gallery of Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings in Paris located in the west corner of the Tuileries Garden next to the Place de la Concorde. Napoléon III originally commissioned the building to be used as an indoor garden to store his orange trees in wintertime.

Today, it is one of the most beloved museums in Paris for its collection of eight large Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet. Monet’s masterpieces are housed in two specially designed oval rooms, and the water lily murals alone are why you should visit the Musée de L’Orangerie.

Besides “Les Nymphéas,” the Orangerie also contains works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, Alfred Sisley, Chaïm Soutine, Maurice Utrillo, and others.

The Musée de l’Orangerie is one of the free museums in Paris on the first Sunday of the month, which is great if you are traveling on a budget.

Address: Tuileries Garden; Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Buy your tickets here

Petit Palais

The Petit Palais is in Paris’ 8th arrondissement, right in front of the more famous Grand Palais. You can walk for 10 minutes from here to the Champs-Élysées. This is one of the always free museums in Paris.

The marvelous Académie des Beaux-Arts, also known as Petit Palais, is a remarkable museum that displays art from the 1st century BC to the 1900s. Many masterpieces of Impressionism in Paris are in the Petit Palais’ extensive permanent collection, making it the ideal museum to visit if your artistic interests extend beyond this art movement. Among the famous impressionists you can see in the Petit Palais are Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, and Cézanne.

The Petit Palais also has breathtaking architecture, as its building was constructed for the 1900 Universal Exposition.

Address: Avenue Winston Churchill, Paris; Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Saturdays, the museum closes at 8 p.m.

Musée de Montmartre

The Musée de Montmartre is located in the iconic neighborhood of Montmartre (18th arrondissement), a 5-minute walk from the Basilica of Sacré Coeur.

When visiting the Musée de Montmartre, you won’t find any permanent exhibition of Impressionist artworks, so you might wonder why this museum is on this list of Impressionist museums in Paris. The Musée de Montmartre is an important place related to Impressionism in Paris, as many artists have been in this building when it was a house (the Bel Air House).

Its most famous resident was Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who spent many hours in the house’s garden to paint some of his best masterpieces. On the Jardins Renoir (the museum’s garden has been renamed), you can marvel at the painter’s finest works, including “Bal du Moulin de la Galette,” “La Balancoire,” and “Jardin de la rue Cortot.”

Address: 12 Rue Cortot, Paris; Opening times: every day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Buy your tickets here.

Bonus: Visit Monet’s House and Gardens in Giverny 

Claude Monet spent the last years of his life in Giverny, one of the charming small towns near Paris worth visiting. Here, he painted some of his most popular works, so visiting it is an awesome idea if you want to discover more about the famous painter.

Giverny is located on the Right Bank of the River Seine in Normandy. Just 75 km west of the French capital, a day trip to Giverny from Paris is easy to organize. Some guided tours combine Giverny with a visit to Auvers-sur-Oise (where Van Gogh spent the last 7 months of his life) or Versailles.

Strolling around Monet’s colorful house will make you feel like you are walking inside the painter’s works. The house is a two-story building with rooms on the first floor and communal spaces, like the kitchen and the living room, on the ground floor. Make sure not to miss Monet’s studio, which contains reproductions of some of his most stunning paintings hanging on the walls.

Monet’s Garden in Giverny is a must-visit besides the house. The so-called Clos Normand Garden is inside the painter’s house. Designed by Monet himself, it boasts cypress, spruce leaves, and pretty flowerbeds.

The other garden is the Water Garden, which Monet built on the land across from his house. This garden is inspired by Japanese water gardens. It consists of a big pond crossed by a Japanese bridge covered with wisterias and many beautiful plants, including Monet’s beloved water lilies.

Address: 84 Rue Claude Monet, Giverny; Opening times: every day from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (open only from April to 1st November).

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