A Perfect Day Out for Art Lovers in Paris

Paris is often cited as the City of Love, but there is no doubt that it is also a city of art. The French capital is home to a number of museums and galleries, celebrating various art movements and artists which people visiting should not miss. To help you out, we have compiled a list of the arty attractions of Paris that are absolutely not to be missed.

The Louvre

Paris Musuem

Iconic, vast and home to the Mona Lisa, the Louvre is likely to be number one on the sightseeing itinerary of any art fan visiting the French capital. Its iconic glass pyramids were central to Dan Brown's novel the Da Vinci Code (and the subsequent adaptation), and within its walls are a number of pieces of art that any art lover will be desperate to lay eyes on at least once in their life.

A Perfect Day Out for Art Lovers in Paris

The museum first opened its doors back in 1793, and is now home to a massive 380,000 different pieces of work, from the aforementioned Mona Lisa by Leonard Da Vinci to the ancient Greek Venus de Milo sculpture.

Dali Museum

The Dali Museum provides a fascinating day out for anyone, but fans of the flamboyant Spanish artists will be especially delighted by the items within it. Located in Montmatre, the two-floor museum displays a great collection of Dali's most famous surrealist works, including paintings, drawings, cartoons and sculptures.

They can also learn a bit more about Salvador's outrageous personal life, which reflected his innovative take on art. On occasion his flamboyant personal life grabbed more headlines than his innovative art - something many of his fans and critics were highly disappointed by.

Dali said that his "love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes," was down to his claimed Arab ancestry.

Rodin Museum

Auguste Rodin is another art figure who is celebrated in the museums of Paris. He is widely regarded as the progenitor of modern sculpture, but at the time he took a very craftsman-like approach to his work, and despite a longing for academic recognition, was never accepted into the predominant Parisian school of art.

The Rodin Museum, which opened in 1919, contains a huge number of marble, bronze, plaster, wax and terracotta sculptures, as well as ceramics, paintings and drawings. There are also a number of works from his collection which were created by other famous artists, including Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh.

Visitors to the Rodin Museum can also enjoy a stroll in its picturesque gardens, where they are likely to happen upon some of the artist's most famous sculptures, including The Kiss and The Thinker.

Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou is the National Modern Art Museum and is therefore a must-see for lovers of contemporary art visiting Paris. From its eye-catching exterior to the intriguing exhibits within, the Centre Pompidou is much more than your standard art gallery.

Works by artists including Kandinsky, Matisse, Miró, and Picasso are featured in the museum, with the art movements represented including Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Impressionism.

It constantly holds fascinating temporary exhibitions, with current ones including Bertrand Lavier since 1969 and New Architectures.

A Perfect Day Out for Art Lovers in Paris Couperin (5): Les Ombres Errantes (performed by Rebecca Pechefsky) Tube. Duration : 5.40 Mins.

Harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky performs François Couperin's "Les Ombres Errantes," the conclusion of his 25th Ordre (Paris, 1730), in New York City's historic Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum, built in 1765. This final movement of the suite is, like the first movement, filmed in the Octagon Room, where Ms. Pechefsky and Brooklyn Baroque perform in a yearly concert series, presenting 18th-century music in an 18th-century room. Unlike the first movement, filmed in the morning, this movement was shot at night. The brief opening sequence of this video was shot in the main vestibule and the basement. George Washington slept directly above the Octagon Room during one of his campaigns in 1776. The other movements, all shot in different parts of the mansion, are posted on the Quill Classics YouTube channel. Produced for Quill Classics by Overtone Films, LLC Producer and Director: Hilan Warshaw Videographer: Zach Kuperstein Video Editor: Hilan Warshaw Audio Engineer: Erik Ryding Camera Assistant: Corey Stambler Recorded at the Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum New York, NY, January 24, 2011 Harpsichord: Yves Beaupré (Montreal, 2010), after Hemsch and Blanchet Thanks to the Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum and Kenneth Moss, its director, for use of these historic rooms for this video recording © 2011 Quill Classics

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