Orangerie Museum

Paris · Île-de-France · France

In 1922 Claude Monet offered eight of his giant water lily panels to the French state, to commemorate the end of the First World War. His only condition was that they be shown in a suitable location. The French government found the perfect place: the Orangerie in the Tuileries garden. The Orangerie was built in 1852 as a winter shelter for the orange trees that lined the garden of the Tuileries Palace. For a while it was also used as a goods warehouse, a barracks for soldiers, and a flexible exhibition space. Monet's generous gift transformed the Orangerie Museum into a leading permanent gallery of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The huge, striking Monet paintings are undoubtedly the main event, but they're far from the only reason to visit. The museum also holds works by Cézanne, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Renoir and Rousseau, among others.