Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée de Montmartre is a French art museum located in the Montmartre district of Paris. Set in a set of historic buildings, it includes Hotel Demarne, the Bel Air House (1660) and the studio-apartment of Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo. Inaugurated in 1960 as the "Musée du Vieux-Montmartre", it was redesigned from 2011 to host temporary exhibitions and a permanent collection dedicated to the history of Montmartre and its artists.

The museum buildings have a rich history. The house of the Bel Air, built in 1660, is one of the oldest of the Montmartre hill. A 2012 study that has been wrongly associated with the Rosimond mansion has shown that this attribution was incorrect. The Demarne Hotel, dating from 1680, housed the lodge of Father Tanguy, a color merchant of Impressionist painters. These places were high places of creation, welcoming artists like Auguste Renoir, who painted major works such as Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876.

The museum maintains a collection of 6,000 works of art (paintings, posters, sculptures, photographs) and more than 100,000 archival pieces, illustrating Montmartre's artistic, religious, political and folkloric history. The collections highlight the bohemian montmarthree of the 19th and 20th centuries, emblematic workshops such as the Bateau-Lavoir, and famous cabarets such as the Black Cat or the Moulin Rouge. A room is dedicated to the Dark Theatre of Henry River, symbol of the Black Cat cabaret.

The museum was created in 1960 by Paul Yaki, a member of the Old Montmartre History and Archaeology Society, with Claude Charpentier as its first curator. Since 2003, he has enjoyed the label "Musée de France". In 2011, its management was entrusted to the company Kléber-Rossillon, in partnership with the company Le Vieux Montmartre. Major renovations took place, such as the reconstitution of Suzanne Valadon's workshop in 2014 and the creation of Renoir gardens, inspired by the painter's paintings.

The Renoir Gardens, renovated in 2012, are inspired by the works of Auguste Renoir and house fruit trees, roses and hortensias. They offer a view of the Montmartre vineyard, replanted in 1933. The Café Renoir, inaugurated in 2014, allows visitors to enjoy an evocative setting at the Ball du Moulin de la Galette. In 2023, permanent collections were redesigned to showcase iconic artists who lived at 12 Cortot Street, such as Renoir, Valadon, Utrillo or Dufy.

The museum regularly organizes temporary exhibitions, such as the Spirit of Montmartre and Modern Art (1875-1910) in 2014-2015, or Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen: the centennial exhibition in 2023-2024. These events highlight major figures of Montmartre art and their influence on artistic avant-gardes. The museum remains a living place, preserving the memory of a mythical district of Paris.

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