Musée du Luxembourg

The Musée du Luxembourg is a museum apart: firstly it has no permanent collections. It is an exhibition space that presents different artists twice a year! To do this it borrows the works of other museums in France and abroad. In short, there is always something going on at the Musée du Luxembourg! But the museum has a long history that goes back into the mists of time.

In the time of King Louis XIII, when he was still a child, his mother, Queen Marie de Medici had the Palais du Luxembourg built between 1615 and 1630. In 1750, the Palais du Luxembourg became the first French museum to be opened to the public. Around 200 paintings were exhibited there. These then went into the collections of the Louvre, and in 1818 the museum became the “museum for living artists”, that means the work of artists who were still alive was exhibited here. This was where Parisians discovered the new works of painters like David, Ingres and Delacroix.

In 1886, the Senate inaugurated the current building of the Musée du Luxembourg. The museum then entered a long period of inactivity, and was closed between 1937 and 1979. This was because at that time the Museum of Modern Art had opened, and the Luxembourg was suddenly forgotten! From 1979, the museum started to hold exhibitions. And since 2000, the Senate has aimed to make it a particularly lively museum. The exhibitions organised here have been very successful, as the works found here are rare, and arouse a variety of emotions in those who come to see them.