What to see at the Musée de l'Orangerie?
Oval Room 1
You reach it after the security check, through a vestibule that serves as a light lock. The first four panels show the pond in Giverny at different times, from morning to sunset. Sit on the central bench and slowly turn around. The light comes from the ceiling, it is natural, and it changes while you look. This is what Monet requested, and it is the only room in Paris where you are painted from all sides.
Oval Room 2
The second room is the one with the weeping willows and tree reflections. Visitors go through it faster, wrongly: it is here that the painting becomes almost abstract, with trunks cutting the panel and water that no longer has a surface. The two rooms are linked, oriented east-west, in the historical axis of Paris. The page Monet's Water Lilies tells how the panels arrived here.
Level -2: the Walter-Guillaume collection
Two floors below, in 1,300 m² of galleries dug during the 2000-2006 renovation, the collection of the dealer Paul Guillaume and his widow Domenica: 25 Renoir, 15 Cézanne, 29 Derain, 22 Soutine, 12 Picasso, 10 Matisse, 10 Utrillo, 9 Rousseau, 5 Modigliani, 5 Marie Laurencin, plus a Gauguin, a Sisley, a Monet and a Van Dongen. The Renoir “Young Girls at the Piano” is the one everyone photographs. The Soutines are the ones nobody expects. The complete list is on the artists on display.
This is where a guide changes the visit. The Water Lilies are viewed in silence; the 146 paintings in the basement are understood with someone who knows why Guillaume bought Derain and why Domenica sold to the State. The guided tour in small groups (six people per art historian) spends most of its two hours here.
Temporary exhibitions
The museum programs exhibitions included in the entrance ticket. They are presented in the basement, and it is during these periods that the Friday evening opening exists. The guided tour does not cover them, nor does the audioguide.
Included
- The two oval rooms and the eight panels of the Water Lilies
- The Walter-Guillaume collection on level -2
- The current temporary exhibition, if there is one
- The cloakroom, Wi-Fi and water fountain on level -2
Not included
- Comments on temporary exhibitions in guided tours and the audioguide
- The Jeu de Paume, opposite, which is another museum
- Re-entry after exit
Do the Water Lilies at 9 h, then go down. If you do the opposite, you will arrive in the oval rooms with the first group at 10 h and you will not see the bench. The museum recommends the same direction.
After the visit
You exit into the Tuileries Garden, a stone's throw from Concorde. What's around is on around the museum. How long each step takes, it's on visit duration.
Book the guided tour
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the Water Lilies in the museum ?
On the ground floor, in two connected oval rooms, just after the entrance. The collection is two levels below. See Monet's Water Lilies.
Which artists are seen in the basement ?
Renoir, Cézanne, Derain, Soutine, Picasso, Matisse, Utrillo, Rousseau, Modigliani, Laurencin, plus un Gauguin, un Sisley, un Monet et un Van Dongen. Liste sur les artistes exposés.
Do I need a guide to visit the Orangerie?
Not for the Water Lilies. For the -2 level collection, an art historian changes a lot of things. See la visite guidée.
Are temporary exhibitions included?
Yes, in the entrance ticket. They are not commented on by the guides or the audioguide. See tous les billets.