ORANGERIE MUSEUM GUIDED TOUR

Visit the Orangerie Museum in Paris

On this exclusive experience, visit one of the most beautiful museums, the true “Sistine Chapel of Impressionism” in Paris, to enjoy the Water Lilies Cycle, a unique masterpiece of Claude Monet. Skip-the-line admission included.

The Orangerie Museum
Located in the Tuileries, one of the most beautiful gardens, the Orangerie Museum presents a unique setting and a beautiful impressionist collection. Meet your guide at the entrance to enjoy priority access to gain fast-track entry to the Orangerie.​

Claude Monet’s Water Lilies
Offered to the French state by Claude Monet in 1918 as a symbol of peace, the Water Lilies were installed at the Orangerie Museum in 1927, a few months after his death. This unique ensemble, a true “Sistine Chapel of Impressionism”, in the words of André Masson, crowns the cycle of Water Lilies begun almost thirty years before.

This set is one of the greatest monumental achievements of painting of the early twentieth century. The dimensions and area covered by the painting surround and encompass the viewer over nearly a hundred linear meters that unfurl a landscape dotted with water lilies, reflections of water, willow, trees and clouds, thus giving the illusion of “an endless whole, a wave without horizon and without shore”, according to Monet’s terms. This unique masterpiece has no equivalent in the world.​

According to Claude Monet’s wishes, the eight compositions were exhibited in two consecutive oval rooms. These rooms benefit from natural light from the roof. The two ovals evoke the symbol of infinity, while the paintings represent the cycle of light throughout the day.​

The Walter & Guillaume Collection
The Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection is one of the finest collections of European paintings. It includes 146 works from the 1860s to the 1930s. Paul Guillaume was a passionate young art dealer, creating an extraordinary collection of several hundred paintings, ranging from Impressionism to Modern Art, to found a museum.

His widow, Domenica, remarried the architect Jean Walter, and she transformed and reduced the collection while making new acquisitions. She wanted to name the collection after her two husbands when the French State acquired it at the end of the 1950s. This collection is now housed in the Orangerie Museum.

It currently includes 25 works by Renoir, 15 by Cézanne, 1 by Gauguin, Monet and Sisley, all from the Impressionist period.

From the twentieth century, the museum presents 12 works by Picasso, 10 by Matisse, 5 by Modigliani, 5 by Marie Laurencin, 9 by Douanier Rousseau, 29 by Derain, 10 by Utrillo, 22 by Soutine and 1 by Van Dongen.