Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (MAM Paris) occupies the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo, an Art Deco building designed by architects André Aubert, Marcel Dastugue, J.-C. Dondel and P. Viard for the International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques of 1937. Originally, the state and the city of Paris planned to set up two modern art museums: one national (to the west, the future Pompidou Centre), and the other municipal (to the east). The city received the latter as compensation for its financial commitment for the Exhibition.

Inaugurated in 1961, the museum inherited modern art collections from the Petit Palais, enriched by private bequests (Maurice Girardin, Ambrose Vollard) and public acquisitions. Its opening was marked by flagship works such as La Danse d'Henri Matisse, acquired in 1937, or La Fée Électricité de Raoul Dufy, installed in 1964. The museum became a key place for the avant-gardes, hosting the Biennale de Paris (1959–1982) and salons such as the Jeune Peinture.

The building, renovated several times (1972, 1994, 2006), has undergone major museum developments. In 1994, the creation of the Matisse Hall made it possible to exhibit the two versions of La Danse. In 2010, the museum was the victim of a spectacular flight: five paintings (Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Léger, Modigliani) were stolen, triggering a debate on security. The works, estimated at EUR 100 million, have never been found.

The collections, with 15,041 works in 2018, cover Fauvism with contemporary movements (new realism, arte povera). They are enriched by donations (Michael Werner, Henry Thomas) and targeted acquisitions. The museum also houses the ARC (Animation, Research, Confrontation), a contemporary department created in 1967 by Pierre Gaudibert, who played a pioneering role in promoting international and multidisciplinary art.

In 2024, the MAM Paris beat its attendance record with 409,162 visitors for the Nicolas de Staël exhibition, surpassing the 2010 Basquiat retrospective. The museum remains a major player in the Parisian artistic scene, combining historical heritage (Tokyo Palace) and contemporary dynamism, while preparing for the arrival in 2025 of an exceptional donation of 61 works by Henri Matisse.

Collection

La collection moderne est représentative des mouvements artistiques qui se sont développés à Paris depuis le Fauvisme en 1905 ; tandis que la collection contemporaine, à partir des années 1960, est plus ouverte sur la scène artistique européenne (Nouveau Réalisme, Figuration narrative, Cinétisme, Arte Povera, Supports/Surfaces, BMPT, artistes allemands et jeune scène française...).

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