Opened in 1977 as part of the audacious postmodern undertaking that marked the opening of the Georges Pompidou Center, the National Museum of Modern Art (MNAM) houses one of the most prestigious collections of 20th century art in the world.
With nearly 50,000 works of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other media, the permanent collection at the National Museum of Modern Art is recently preserved each year to reflect new acquisitions and allow for greater circulation. Two floors cover the major movements of the 20th century, from cubism to surrealism to pop art. Temporary collections are almost always newsworthy.
Location and contact information:
Address: Center Georges Pompidou, Place Georges Pompidou, 4th district
Note : The museum is located on floors 4 and 5 of the Center Pompidou. Ticket sales and cloakrooms are on the ground floor.
Telephone : +33 (0) 1 44 78 12 33
Metro: Rambuteau or Hotel de Ville (line 11); Les Halles (Line 4))
RER: Chatelet-Les-Halles (Line A)
Bus: Lines 38, 21, 29, 47, 58, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 81, 85, 96
Parking: Rue Beaubourg Underpass
Telephone: 33 (0) 144 78 12 33
Visit the website
Nearby areas and attractions:
- The Marais district
- Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall)
- Rue Montorgueil neighborhood
- Picasso museum
Opening hours:
The museum is open every day, except Tuesday and May 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Ticket counters close at 8:00 p.m. and galleries close at 8:50 p.m.
For select exhibits , the galleries are open until 11:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (ticket counters close at 10:00 pm). See the agenda page for more information.
Admission
Purchasing a museum ticket (from the stalls inside the main hall or “lobby” at the Pompidou) allows unlimited access during the day to the permanent collections, all current exhibits, “space 315”, the galleries children and the panoramic view of Paris on the 6th floor. Free entry for children under 18 and every first Sunday of each month. Check the official website for current ticket prices.
The Paris Museum Pass includes entry to the Pompidou Center.
One-Year Passes: For unlimited one-year access to exhibitions, cinema, shows and more at the Center, consider purchasing the Center Pompidou membership card.
Online Resources:
For detailed information and visual representations of the Museum of Modern Art collections, see the Museum Tour page. A searchable database lets you browse the museum’s collections by artist, period, and other criteria, and there’s also a sizeable free online video collection that lets you take a look at past collections and temporary exhibits and events .
To view detailed maps of the museum’s layout, click here.
For virtual tours of the museum and the Center Pompidou, click here.
Guided tours in the «Pomp»:
There are two types of tours of the permanent collections available:
( Please note that the prices listed here were accurate at the time of publication, but are subject to change at any time.)
- General visits: Saturday to Sunday, 4 pm (except the first Sunday of the month; in French); Tours in English Saturday 3 pm
Prices: - Regular ticket: exhibition ticket of 4.50 euros at a reduced price (8 euros).
- Reduced ticket: exhibition ticket of 3.50 euros at a reduced price (8 euros).
- In-depth visits focus on specific aspects of the collections. The admission prices are the same as for the general tours. For information on current and future tours, see this page. Visits to temporary exhibitions are also available. For information on current and future tours, click here.
Accessibility:
The Museum of Modern Art is generally accessible to disabled visitors. For hotspots and information on how to visit the museum and the Center Pompidou, see the accessibility tab on this page. For more detailed information on the services available for disabled visitors, visit the special website (in French only). If you cannot read French and need specific information, call the general helpline at (33) (0) 1 44 78 12 33.
Gifts and souvenirs:
- Three Flammarion art bookstores on the ground, 4th and 6th floors of the Center Pompidou feature an excellent selection of books, posters and gifts, including material related to exhibitions and current events.
- The bookstores on the fourth and sixth floors focus on temporary exhibits, while the ground floor offers more general books and gifts related to contemporary art, photography, architecture and design.
Information on temporary exhibitions and events at the museum:
Temporary exhibits at MNAM reflect the museum’s bold and eclectic choices, as well as its position as one of the world’s most important influences on contemporary art. Temporary exhibitions at the Center Pompidou are often interdisciplinary, transcending the usual boundaries between art forms. Avant-garde and experimental movements have traditionally been privileged. However, in more recent years, the museum has begun to focus on solo artists, often very popular, such as Yves Klein. This trend is not to everyone’s taste, as the museum was originally established as a breakaway.
Find more information about current exhibitions
The Permanent Collection at the National Museum of Modern Art:
The permanent collection currently occupies floors 4 and 5 of the Center Pompidou. Plans are underway to extend the collection to unoccupied galleries at the Palais de Tokyo in western Paris.
Please note that the National Museum of Modern Art should not be confused with the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris.
The fifth floor encompasses modern works from 1905 to 1960. Approximately 900 paintings, sculptures, photos, pieces of design and architecture are displayed in the modern galleries. Around 40 galleries focus on individual artists and movements.
Fifth Floor Highlights:
- Fauvism: The works of Matisse, Dufy or Derain exemplify the use that the Fauvists make of bold colors and simplified forms.
- Cubism: The works of Braque and Picasso show how Cubists took form to radical new dimensions, ignoring traditional concepts of anatomy and perspective.
- The Dada Movement: Invented in the midst of World War I, the Dada movement infused art with a sense of arbitrariness and absurdity that reflected the horror of war. Dada artists juxtapose objects that are not normally associated and invent the notion of “found objects”: any mundane object can be a work of art.
- Expressionism: Artists like Modigliani, Kandinsky, and Klee reinvent the 19th century movement known as Expressionism, taking color and form to a new level of abstraction.
- Bauhaus and Functionalism: A new focus on functionality and design simplicity in sculpture, architecture, photography, and other media is reflected in the works of Bauhaus and functionalist artists such as the Delaunay couple and Paul Klee. These artists continued to push the envelope by reaching increasingly “pure” forms of abstractionism.
- Surrealism: Inspired by the Dada movement, surrealist artists such as Dali, Bréton, Miro and Magritte positioned the world of dreams and the unconscious mind as the new center of artistic expression. Works such as Magritte’s “Seated Figure” (representing a standing figure) show acceptance of the movement of the absurd and incongruous. The abstract expressionist works of the American artists Pollock and Newman follow a natural succession.
- The final galleries show important sculptures by Brancusi and Matisse.
4th floor highlights:
This floor covers numerous exciting contemporary works from 1960 to the present.
- Pop Art – Andy Warhol’s works are the main highlight of the Pop Art movement, appropriating cultural icons and commercial objects as art.
- Other important movements and artists include the new realism of Klein or Saint-Phalle, or experimentation in architecture and design since 1960.
