I just noticed that the Musée Marmonttan Monet, 2 rue Louis Boilly, 75016 is hosting Les Impressionnistes en privé. In honor of the museum's 80th birthday, it is sponsoring an exhibition of 100 privately held Impressionists works. Because these art pieces (80 paintings and 20 graphic works) have been part of private collections, many have not been available for public viewing. Visitors have a rare opportunity to see works from celebrated artists such Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Rodin and Camille Pissarro tracing the beginnings of the Impressionist movement to its demise in the late 1800s.
The exhibit runs through July 6, 2014. But even if the museum was not hosting this special exhibit, I would recommend a visit. This former hunting lodge has a permanent collection of Monet that is the largest in the world. In total, it has over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works with a wide-range of artists represented. But what I have to admit fascinated my kids the most was the story of the 1985 theft of nine paintings (valued at $12 million) from the museum in broad daylight by five masked men. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending and the paintings were later recovered. But whatever interests you the most about the museum, it is well worth the trip to the 16th arrondissement to see it. If you aren't able to make it to the museum, you can check out some of the pieces from the exhibition here.
Jardin du Ranelagh, 1 avenue Prudhon 75016, is a park just across the street from the museum that offers some fairly large open spaces for kids to play. And some days you might be able to find some small amusement rides as well as ponies in the park.
Image of painting via Musée Marmottan Monet
