Many tourists in Paris miss the Musée Gustave Moreau because it is not on the Champs Elysees or the Rue de Rivoli. However, this charming, personal, and slightly macabre museum in Paris’s 9th arrondissement is one of the City of Light’s best kept secrets.
About Gustave Moreau, 19th Century Symbolist Painter
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) was one of the 19th centuries most talented and unique artists. His work drew mainly on classical mythology, infused with Moreau’s original style. Mysterious, morbid, and exotic, Moreau added to his mythical subjects with intricate drawing details.
Moreau occupies an important place in the history of French painting. Moreau was a student of the Romantic painter Théodore Chassériau, and greatly influenced by Eugène Delacroix. Until the late 19th century, the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the most prestigious art school in France, favored neoclassical art which focused on themes from antiquity. As the century progressed, new movements began to challenge the rigid teachings of the Académie, including realism and impressionism. Moreau is credited as one of the earliest in yet another artistic movement: symbolism. A talented teacher in his later years, Moreau taught some of the next generation’s great artists, including Fauvist Henri Matisse.
The Musée Gustave Moreau is intertwined with Moreau’s own personal story. Despite his talent, Moreau was harshly critiqued at the Paris Salons, 19th century exhibitions which showcased artists’ work. Eventually, Moreau receded into his house where he spent the bulk of his career. He never married. He lived alone with his mother and when she died Moreau decided to turn his Renaissance-style mansion into a museum after he died.
Getting to the Musée Gustave Moreau
Located at 14, rue de la Rochefoucauld, the museum is certainly off the beaten path. In a quiet, residential neighborhood, to its north is the famed Montmartre, to its south are Les Grands Magasins – the department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette – on the big shopping street, boulevard Haussmann. To reach the Musée Gustave Moreau, visitors take the Paris Metro line 12, and exit at either stop St. Georges or Trinité-d’Estiennes d’Orves. After a five minute walk, visitors will enter a house which looks like every other house on the block, into the very home of the artist: into Moreau’s 19th century studio.
About the Musée Gustave Moreau, Museum Collection, What Makes it Special
A kind of hermit, Moreau lived a private and secretive life. When the museum opened in 1903, its layout was meant to provide a window into the hidden life of the artist. Nothing has been changed or moved in over 100 years, even the basement living quarters where visitors can see his bedroom as it was over a century ago
Don’t plan a quick trip to the Musée Gustave Moreau; the museum houses around 6,000 works by the prolific artist. However, the display is not always conventional. Moreau’s old home has four floors. Unlike traditional museums, in which paintings are neatly organized in sparse rows along the wall, Moreau was so prolific and his home so relatively small that each wall may contain dozens of paintings. Along the walls are drawers and cabinets containing thousands of sketches that visitors can browse through.
The cramped exposition style, the old carpets and wooden walls, the bedroom with its birdcage, and the dark, seductive themes which pervade the paintings themselves create an intoxicating and dreamy world.
Like Lucy when she stepped through the wardrobe into the Land of Narnia, the Musée Gustave Moreau is a perfectly preserved universe of beauty and mystery, clustered and bizarre, but well worth the adventure.
Hours and Admission Prices at the National Gustave Moreau Museum
The Museum is open everyday except Tuesdays from 10am - 12:45pm and 2pm - 5:15pm. It is closed on January 1st, May 1st, and December 25th.
The general admission price is € 3,50.
Related Articles
Save with the Paris Museum Pass
Sources
Clement, Russel T. Four French Symbolists: A Sourcebook on Pierre Puvis de Chavanne, Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Maurice Denis. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996, 150-152.
 |
