French art

The visual and plastic arts of France have had an unprecedented diversity — from the Gothic cathedral of Chartres to Georges de la Tour’s night scenes to Monet’s “Waterlilies” and finally to Duchamp’s radical “Fontaine” — and have exerted an unparalleled influence on world cultural production. To cover the vastness of the subject, the French art article has been divided into a series of separate articles navigatible through the template to the right. One can also directly access French art category indexes, such as alphabetical lists of painters or sculptors. For those searching for artists from a particular period or art movements, the relatively comprehensive manual lists of painters and artistic movements in chronological order are recommended.

Art museums in France

Paris
Musee du Louvre
Musee d’Orsay - 19th century art (national collection)
Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg) - 20th century art (national collection)
Musee national du Moyen age (Musee de Cluny) - medieval collection
Palais de Tokyo - 20th century art
Musee Guimet - Asian art
Grand Palais - changing expositions
Petit Palais
Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume - changing expositions
Musee Picasso - the artist
Musee Rodin - the sculptor
Musee Zadkine - the sculptor
Fondation Dubuffet - the sculptor and painter
Musee Carnavalet - Paris and the 17th century in a former mansion
Musee Jacquemart-Andre - private collection from the renaissance to the 19th century
Fondation Cartier - contemporary Art
Centre National de la photographie
Musee Bourdelle - the sculptor
Musee Dapper - African art
Musee Gustave Moreau - the symbolist painter
Manufacture des Gobelins - tapestries and weaving from the 17th century
Musee Nissim de Camondo - private collection of 18th century works
Musee Maillol - Fondation Dina Vierny - the sculptor
Maison Europeenne de la Photographie
Musee de Ceramique a Sevres
Musee du Montparnasse