The Best Of The Paris Museum Exhibitions For The 2020 Season

A lot has happened in the Paris museum scene since the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020 and the resulting pandemic and lockdown. Many museum exhibitions were push forward, rescheduled for later 2020 or even 2021. So, let's take a look at the refreshed calendar of the top Paris museum exhibitions for 2020 and into 2021. It's an exciting lineup at musées in every corner of Paris — the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Quai Branly, Petit Palais, and even the Picasso Museum.

Museum Exhibitions at the Louvre in 2020/21

When the most popular museum in the world announces its new exhibitions art lovers sit up and pay attention. Even with the difficulties, 2020/21 is shaping up to be another good season at the Louvre with dynamic art exhibitions. Schedule of Louvre exhibitions 2020…

The Advent of the Artist

In the new season of this ongoing museum event, the Louvre's Petite Galerie will continue its series The Advent of the Artist. In 2021, Renaissance artists Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Albrecht Altdorfer will be featured.

• Louvre, Petite Galerie
• September 21, 2020 to July 5, 2021
• Information…

Albrecht Altdorfer

An exhibition that showcases the richness and diversity of Albrecht Altdorfer's (1485-1538) work as a painter, draftsman, and printmaker. A major artist of the German Renaissance, Altdorfer produced highly inventive compositions in art and architecture; he is considered one of the founders of landscape painting.

• Louvre, Rotonde Sully
• October 1, 2020 to January 4, 2021
• Information…

Body and Soul – Sculpture in Italy from Donatello to Michelangelo

This exhibition brings together the themes and ideas of Italy in the second half of the Quattrocento and shows how pivotal events led to the defining moment in the history of Renaissance sculpture, with the greatest creator of all time, Michelangelo.

• Louvre, Hall Napoleon, under the Pyramid
• October 22, 2020 to January 18, 2021
• Information…

Museum Exhibitions at Musée d'Orsay 2020/21

Once a Belle Epoque train station, in 1986 Musée d'Orsay was transformed into the world's greatest museum dedicated to Impressionism and 19th century art. A few years ago the museum underwent a facelift with a nifty reshuffling of the paintings and a new paint job (white walls are so 20th century) to better highlight the artwork.

Léon Spilliaert – Light and Solitude

This show featuring Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946) — the first in France for nearly forty years — ill concentrate on the years from 1896 to 1919, the most intense in Spilliaert's career, and will showcase the Belgian artist's most radical works.

• Musée d'Orsay
• October 13, 2020 to January 10, 2021
• Information…

Aubrey Beardsley

Although British illustrator and engraver Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) died at the tender age of 25 from tuberculosis, he left a legacy of work that has endured. He received his first major commission at the age of 20 and became famous for his illustrations for Oscar Wilde's Salomé. His vivid and elegant drawings depict a strange and erotic universe. The exhibition's 100 drawings show Beardsley's influences from Pre-Raphaelite to Lautrec.

• Musée d'Orsay
• October 13, 2020 to January 10, 2021
• Information…

Girault de Prangey, Photographer

Discover this important figure of early French photography. De Prangey (1804-1892) was also a gifted painter, illustrator, and archaeologist. This exhibition features his photographs as well as his paintings, watercolors, lithographs, and illustrated books.

• Musée d'Orsay
• November 3, 2020 to February 7, 2021
• Information…

The Origins of the World – The Invention of Nature in the 19th Century

For the first time the d'Orsay, in partnership with the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle is devoting an exhibition to the sciences and the arts.

• Musée d'Orsay
• November 10, 2020 to February 14, 2021
• Information…

Laurent Grasso

In 2017, Laurent Grasso was invited by the Musée d'Orsay to produce a large-scale work in collaboration with The Origins of the World exhibition.

• Musée d'Orsay
• November 10, 2020 to February 14, 2021
• Information…

Swiss Modernities, 1890 to 1914

By the end of the 19th century, the artistic scene in Switzerland was vibrant. A generation of painters — Cuno Amiet, Giovanni and Augusto Giacometti, Felix Vallotton, Ernest Bieler and Max Buri — radically transformed the art of their time.

• Musée d'Orsay
• March 2, 2021 to June 27, 2021
• Information…

Impressionist Decorations

This exciting exhibition explores the decorative arts through the lens of Impressionism with rare works by Cassatt, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, and Renoir. See eighty paintings, fans, ceramics, and drawings, that demonstrate how the Impressionists forged a new path.

• Musée d'Orsay
• April 13, 2021 to August 1, 2021
• Information…

Museum Exhibitions at Centre Pompidou 2020/21

It's been well over forty decades since the opening of the Pompidou and, while not as magnificent as the 40th anniversary celebrations a couple of years ago, we're sure there are going to be fascinating exhibits for modern art fans in 2020 and 2021. Upcoming exhibits at the Pompidou…

Matisse

Sparked by the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henri Matisse (1869-1954) the Pompidou is staging this show that pays tribute to Matisse, bringing together his essential works. This is going to be good!

• Centre Pompidou
• October 21, 2020 to February 22, 2021
• Information…

Alice Neel (1900-1984)

The retrospective devoted to Alice Neel — "one of the greatest portrait artists of the 20th century" — highlights the political and social commitment of this painter largely ignored during her lifetime. The exhibition includes 70 paintings and drawings, as well as many documents, from the 1920s to the last paintings, completed before her death in 1984.

• dRescheduled for 2022
• Centre Pompidou

Exhibitions at Musée du Quai Branly 2020/21

Dedicated to the study of mankind and the world, the Quai Branly museum showcases world cultures — African, Asian, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum is relatively new to the landscape of Paris museums, opening in 2006. It's very close to the Eiffel Tower.

Architect Jean Nouvel gets around. After he designed the controversial Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris, he went onto to create Musée du Quai Branly. The museum is a jumble of forms that also features tranquil gardens with a natural aesthetic — no formal French gardens, no lawns, no lavish entrance staircase. Instead, the garden is a series of small landscapes with native French plants.

The Olmecs and the Cultures of the Gulf of Mexico

Learn about the Olmec civilization and the little-known world of pre-Columbian cultures of the Gulf of Mexico. Take a fascinating journey into its three millennia of history, and artistic traditions. The exhibition sheds light on the Olmec civilization with over two hundred rare items, shown for the first time outside Mexico.

• Quai Branly
• October 9, 2020 to July 25, 2021
• Information…

Petit Palais Exhibitions 2020/21

If you're in the mood for a small museum, make your way to the impossibly adorable Petit Palais, found directly across the street from big brother, the Grand Palais on Avenue Winston Churchill in the 8th Arrondissement (easy walking distance from Place de la Concorde). Built for the 1900 Universal Expo, the Petit Palais is now the home to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Paris, the fine arts museum. There's a pretty interior courtyard and a cafe to relax in before or after viewing the museum. We always stop in when we're in the area, especially since it's free!

The Golden Age of Danish Painting, 1800 to 1864

For the first time in thirty-five years, the Petit Palais is celebrating the golden age of Danish painting, 1800 to 1864. The exhibition includes 200 works by leading artists such as Christoffer Eckersberg, Christen Købke, Martinus Rørbye, and Constantin Hansen. It also provides a broad overview of life in Copenhagen during this period.

• Petit Palais
• Ends January 3, 2021
• Information…

Laurence Aëgerter

Contemporary French artist Laurence Aëgerter has cultivated a passion for paintings, antiques, encyclopedias and museum catalogues since childhood. Inspired by the Petit Palais' architecture and collections, her exhibition weaves its way from room to room and spills into the garden.

• Petit Palais
• Ends January 17, 2021
• Information…

Musée Picasso Exhibitions in 2020/21

The Musée Picasso is a jewel in the Marais, set in the historic and grand Hotel Salé. There are over 5,000 works that cover Picasso's paintings, sculptures, engravings, drawings, studies, drafts, notebooks, etchings and letters. If you are a Picasso fan, this is a must-see destination in Paris.

Picasso. Comics

The first exhibition dedicated to highlighting the connection between Pablo Picasso and comics. Through drawings, prints and original plates, the exhibition links Picasso's passion for the genre and how it influenced his art.

• Musée Picasso
• Ends January 3, 2021

Picasso. Poet

This exhibit explores Picasso and the written word. Poetry featured in his creative process and here, his manuscript of poems reveal the parallels between Picasso's words and his paintings.

• Musée Picasso
• Ends January 3, 2021

Picasso-Rodin

This stunning exhibition will be running at both the Picasso Museum and the Rodin Museum, at the same time. It will demonstrate how the two artists, individually and jointly, heralded a turning point in modern art.

• Musée Picasso, Musée Rodin
• February 9, 2021 to July 18, 2021
• Information…

Musée de l'Orangerie 2020/21

Tucked into the Jardin des Tuileries right at the Place de la Concorde, the 1852 stone structure facing the Seine was once the greenhouse that helped to nurture orange trees for the garden. (There's also an orangerie in the Jardin du Luxembourg, and it's still used to store plants during the winter.) Now, it's home to Monet's stellar waterlily murals. But, the Orangerie Museum has more artistic surprises in store, including this year's exhibitions. Upcoming exhibits at l'Orangerie…

Giorgio de Chirico – Metaphysical Painting

The exhibition retraces the career and influences of Giorgio de Chirico, from Munich to Turin to Paris, where he was discovered as an avant-garde artist. It also explores the connection between de Chirico and the famous art dealer Paul Guillaume.

• Musée de l'Orangerie
• Ends December 14, 2020
• Information…

Janaïna Tschäpe, Counterpoint 5

Contemporary German artist Janaïna Tschäpe unveils her large-scale paintings inspired by Monet.

• Musée de l'Orangerie
• October 21, 2020 to February 15, 2021
• Information…

Magritte in Full Sunlight – The Renoir Period, 1940-1947

This exhibition brings together paintings and drawings from the end of the 1930s, when Magritte predicted the imminent outbreak of war. Along with his works are some of Renoir's masterpieces plus contemporary paintings by Jeff Koons.

• Musée de l'Orangerie
• February 10, 2021 to June 21, 2021
• Information…

Soutine/De Kooning

In this exhibition you can see works by Russian painter Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943), alongside those of Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), the American Abstract Expressionist. The exhibition explores the impact of Soutine's painting on the American painter. At the end of 2021.

• Musée de l'Orangerie
• September 15, 2021 to January 10, 2022
• Information…

Musée Marmottan-Monet

If you love Claude Monet and the Impressionists you won't want to miss the Marmottan Monet Museum in the 16th Arrondissement. (Its name is a clue!) Set in the charming Parc Ranlegh in the posh neighborhood of Passy, this museum contains the largest collection of Monet paintings in the world. Claude's son Michel left his father's art to the state of France at the time of his death in 1966, including the iconic Impression: Sunrise, the painting that gave the movement its name.

Cézanne and the Master Painters – A Dream of Italy

For the first time ever, 60 masterpieces from around the world by Tintoretto, El Greco, Ribera, Giordano, Poussin, Carrà, Sironi, Soffici, Pirandello, Boccioni and Morandi will be featured in a unique exhibition showcasing the influences on Paul Cézanne's work.

• Musée Marmottan-Monet
• February 27, 2021 to January 3, 2021
• Information…

Colombet/Monet – From The Floating World

Contemporary Franco-American abstract painter Vicky Colombet shares her works inspired by Monet.

• Musée Marmottan-Monet
• Ends May 2, 2021
• Information…

The Blue Hour

Discover the works of Danish painter Peder Severin Krøyer (1851-1909). The exhibition is the result of a partnership between the Musée Marmottan-Monet and the Skagen Museum, under the High Patronage of Queen Margrethe II.

• Musée Marmottan-Monet
• January 28, 2021 to July 25, 2021
• Information…

Jeu de Paume 2020/21

It's one of our favorite spots in Paris. Formerly a tennis court for royalty during the reign of Napoleon III set right on the edge of Jardin des Tuileries, it's now a museum dedicated to photography and modern media art. Like most things in Paris, it has a long history. In between its time from tennis court to photography museum, Jeu de Paume is where the Nazis stored the art they plundered from France. After the war and until the Musée d'Orsay opened in 1986 it was where the overstock of important Impressionist paintings was kept. In 1991, after a serious renovation, the Jeu de Paume opened as France's first national gallery of contemporary photography.

The Jeu de Paume is closed for renovations until some time in 2021.