Musée de Montmartre: Parisian History Museum

Musée de Montmartre is a history and art museum documenting the life and times of this bohemian Parisian neighborhood.

I skipped visiting the museum last October as I ran out of time after my walking tour of Montmartre.

But I didn’t forget that my Paris Walks guide raved about this museum (click here to read about the guided Montmartre walking tour). So when I returned to Paris in June, I dedicated a morning to visiting it.

Historic Home

Musée de Montmartre opened in 1960 in one of the oldest buildings on the Butte: La Maison du Bel Air. This house dates back to the 17th century. 

“Surrounded by gardens, it was the place of creation of many artists such as Auguste Renoir, Émile Bernard, Raoul Dufy, Charles Camoin, Suzanne Valadon or Maurice Utrillo.”—Musée de Montmartre 

Click this link to my Instagram page to take a stroll through the museum and the gardens with me.

The Walk

I arrived at the museum after a long walk up the hilly terrain that leads to the Sacré-Cœur (the Catholic Basilica) and Place du Tertre. The off-white stucco museum almost seems to be hiding in its leafy setting in Montmartre. A maroon sign hangs on a pole below a window.

The street where the museum is located (rue Cortot) is narrow. I walked up the grey brick sidewalk. The museum hides behind a fence that blocks the extraordinary views from its second-story rooms. 

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, I walked into the gift shop to purchase my ticket (16 euros). Then I walked out the door and stepped back into the past, documenting Montmartre’s 19th-century history. 

Jardins Renoir

I entered a courtyard that was a sanctuary. Upstairs, the windows were left open to allow the breeze to flow into the hot rooms. (There is no air conditioning in the museum!) Pink flower bushes flank a forest green bench where you can stop to admire the view.

This green world of trees, bushes, and leaves engaged all my senses. I listened to the birds trill a melody and sucked in a gulp of country air. This peaceful enclave seemed a world away from Paris’ bustling city streets. (Click this link to watch my YouTube video of these gardens.)

A leaning tree branch looks like a penitent. Bright pink and red flowers are packed in a round urn. A wall lined with leaves growing up the side blocks the view of the cafe.

Ancien Bois

Since I knew rain was forecast, I decided to explore the gardens on the hillside below the historic mansion. I walked down a long flight of steps to reach this private area. The view overlooking Montmartre’s rooftops took my breath away.

Reading a placard, I learned that the Abbesses of Montmartre sold this land in the 17th century. New owners turned it into an ornamental garden in the 18th century. Currently, it belongs to the city of Paris. It is an ecological reserve. The gardens have been planted with maple trees, sycamores, white chestnut trees, and locust trees. “Only cats have access to it!” Meow.

Renoir

Did you know that this museum, located at 12 rue Cortot, is the oldest house in Montmartre? Pierre-Auguste Renoir lived in this residence from 1875 to 1876. He painted many of his masterpieces, including Bal du moulin de la Galette and La Balançoire, in this studio. (You can view these paintings at the Musée d’Orsay.)

But my favorite place to imagine Renoir painting is standing in front of the swing in the lush gardens (now known as Jardins Renoir). This is where he painted the young woman flying in the air on a swing. Blue bows adorn her white lace dress. A little girl waits for her turn.

He painted La Balançoire (The Swing) in 1876. While the painting is currently housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, it was created in this Montmartre garden. Renoir had rented a cottage to be near the location where he was also painting Bal du moulin de la Galette. 

Artists’ Studio

After a quick push of the swing, I walked through the gardens and past the lovely cafe to the former studio apartment of Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Utrillo, and Andre Utter.

I felt like I caught the painters during their lunch break, as easels, paint boxes, brushes, and canvases seemed to wait for their return in this cluttered studio. An ornate frame was waiting for a painting set on top of a walnut wardrobe. A melted candle leaned in its metal dish.

“Sadly, not much was left of their original workplace, but thanks to its refurbishment, the spirit of the infernal trio has been restored . . .”— Musée de Montmartre 

Refurbished Atelier-Studio Apartment 

The designer Hubert Le Gall recreated their atelier-apartment by studying old photographs and reading their letters and writings. 

I delighted in the personal touches, including the wrinkled coverlet and the black and white photographs tacked on the walls of Utrillo’s bedroom.

Their living room included plush armchairs, rugs, and paintings. I imagine logs burned long into the night, as the painters sat near their fireplace, sipped wine, and talked.

You can tour the studio apartment by clicking this link to review my YouTube video.

Suzanne Valadon’s Paintings

I also toured an exhibition entitled “Around Suzanne Valadon: The Body Beyond Stereotypes” in the museum which was dedicated to this Parisian model-turned-painter.

Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938) originally moved to Paris with her mother. She posed as a model for painters in the 1880s, including Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. She learned how to paint from watching them.

Valadon attended art school under Puvis de Chavannes for seven years. Degas taught her soft-ground etching. In 1894, the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts accepted her as one of the first female artists.

Le Chat Noir

The museum recreated Montmartre’s famous 19th-century bar inside the old house. After I opened the front door, I walked down the hallway to see Le Chat Noir cafe.

The room features artifacts from the 19th-century bar, including a piano and stool, a walnut bar, and wicker chairs. You can even see the types of alcohol that Parisians would have ordered, as dusty wine bottles are displayed on the counter. The museum also displays sapphire, blue, brown, and clear glass bottles on shelves above the bar.

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

The cafe’s name is based on artist Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s painting of a black cat. This iconic poster is named Tournée du Chat Noir. He was a true ailurophile (lover of cats).

Steinlen created this poster in 1896 for Le Chat Noir. Rodolphe Salis founded this Parisian cafe, which is considered the first modern cabaret.

“A bohemian venue known for its nightly staged entertainment, Le Chat Noir attracted avant-garde writers, artists, and other creatives living and working in the Montmartre quarter of the city.”—ArtNet

As a cat lover, I adored all the cat paintings displayed in Musée de Montmartre. But I think my favorite was Chats et lunes. Steinlen painted this night painting of felines cavorting in the moonlight in 1885.

A sign below the painting documented the role of cats in the artist’s life. The presentation of the variety of cats related to the artist’s work in 1884-1885 for the Chat Noir journal.

“Cats played a dominant role in Steinlen’s art: his illustrations, posters, prints, paintings and sculptures, all pay homage to the feline personification of human traits. Steinlen’s home in Montmartre at 58 rue Caulaincourt was filled with cats to the point that it was nicknamed Cat’s Cottage.”—Musée de Montmartre 

Campagne de la Ville

I suggest you end your tour of Musée de Montmartre in the basement of the historic home. This is where I learned more about the history of Montmartre. The exhibition covers the neighborhood’s transition over the centuries. First, an abbey was founded in the 12th century. Then, the millers settled on the Butte, followed by the mining of gypsum in quarries.

A wall-sized sign displays 12 illuminated photographs of Montmartre, including houses and landscapes. There was even a vineyard that grew grapes in the neighborhood.

The quarries were closed in 1860 when they weakened the Butte. Montmartre was formally annexed. It became part of Paris’ 18th arrondissement. The countryside soon disappeared as the avenues were created. Artists moved into cheap studios. Cabarets flourished.

The history museum includes paintings of Montmartre at different critical periods of its development, including the building of the Sacre-Coeur, the Paris Commune, and the Moulin de la Galette.

“Montmartre, with its bourgeois ladies, its ordinary working women, and its young shopgirls, whether at work or out at dances, reminds me of a slender, spruce, prettily-dressed little person, cheerful and artless.”—Pierre-Auguste Renoir