Musee du Montparnasse: France

The Musee du Montparnasse is a museum at 21. Avenue du Maine in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. The museum opened its doors on May 28, 1998. Located at the site of the former early 1900s atelier of the Russian painter, Marie Vassilieff, it was founded by Roger Pic and Jean-Marie Drot as a non-profit operation.

The museum provides visitors with a history of the multitude of artists who came from around the world to live and work in Montparnasse at the beginning of the 20th century plus it puts on temporary exhibitions of works by Montparnasse artists, both past and present. During the years before and during World War I, Marie Vassilieff operated a canteen for artists where food and drink was provided as cheaply as possible to struggling painters such as Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Pablo Picasso and others. Before long it became the gathering place for others in the area and by 1913, Vassilieff’s canteen was so widely known that Fernand Leger gave two lectures there on the topic of Modern art.

Today, as part of a membership program, the Musee du Montparnasse offers a once-a-month evening where members gather to enjoy a variety of cultural events.