Paris Museum of Fine Arts - Paris, France - Art Museums on Waymarking.com

Charles-Louis Girault was the chief architect of Petit Palais. Construction took three years. It is called the Petit Palais because a much larger and similar "Grand Palais" is located across the street--also built for the 1900 Exposition. Unlike many Exposition structures which are intended to be temporary, the Petit Palais was built as a permanent art gallery.
It now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts.

Unfortunately, the Museum's website doesn't seem to be working but the French Embassy's UK website (visit link) provides the following information:
"Featuring paintings, sculptures, works of art, furniture and tapestries, as well as France’s most remarkable collection of icons, the museum provides an artistic panorama from Antiquity to the early twentieth century. The varied and airy layout showcases some 1,300 pieces of the 45,000 works in the museum’s permanent collection.
Inaugurated in December 1902 under the name Palace of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, the Petit Palais received such an enthusiastic reception that architect Girault was immediately commissioned by Leopold II, King of Belgium, to build the Museum of the Congo, in Tervuren, near Brussels. The edifice also spawned copies in such faraway places as Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile. Paradoxically, light is the element the architect prized most, flowing in through the edifice’s glass roof, the high glass windows lining the museum from the Seine to the Champs-Elysées, and the peristyle opening on to an interior courtyard. Light, however, soon became the nemesis of those seeking to protect the precious works from the harmful rays of the sun, leading to the construction of partitions, false ceilings and sealed windows that gradually turned the museum into a dark, dusty and musty venue. As a result, the awkwardly concealed interior decor remained intact."


Wikipedia (visit link) adds:
"Arranged around an octi-circular courtyard and garden, the palace is similar to the nearby Grand Palais. Its ionic columns, grand porch and dome echo those of the Invalides across the river. The tympanum depicting the city of Paris surrounded by muses is the work of sculptor Jean Antoine Injalbert.

The current exhibits are divided into sections: the Dutuit Collection of medieval and Renaissance paintings, drawings and objets d'art; the Tuck Collection of 18th century furniture and the City of Paris collection of paintings. The museum diplays paintings by painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Gellée, Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Greuze and a remarkable collection of 19th century painting and sculpture : Ingres, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cezanne, Modigliani, Carpeaux, Maillol, Rodin etc.

Name: Paris Museum of Fine Arts Location: Avenue Winston Churchill Paris, France Phone Number: 01 53 43 40 00 Agency/Ownership: Public Hours of operation: Cafe/Restaurant: no Web Site: Not listed Admission Fee: Not listed Gift Shop: Not Listed

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