Paris Museum of Modern Art (MAM Paris)
The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris — known as MAM Paris — is a major municipal museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement, it occupies the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo, the monumental building constructed for the 1937 Paris International Exposition. The museum is renowned for its monumental murals by Raoul Dufy, Gaston Suisse, and Henri Matisse, and its free permanent collection makes it one of the most accessible great museums in Europe.
At a glance
- Type
- Municipal museum of modern and contemporary art
- Period
- Building constructed 1937; museum inaugurated 1961
- Style
- Neo-classical modernism (Palais de Tokyo building)
- Location
- 11 Avenue du Président Wilson, 16th arrondissement, Paris, France
- Coordinates
- 48.8643° N, 2.2978° E
Overview
MAM Paris holds one of France’s most significant collections of 20th and 21st-century art, encompassing Fauvism, Cubism, the École de Paris, and contemporary practice. The permanent collection — free of charge — includes works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and Amedeo Modigliani alongside major works by later artists. The museum also presents a dynamic programme of temporary exhibitions that regularly draw international attention.
History
The Palais de Tokyo was built in 1937 for the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, designed by architects Dondel, Aubert, Viard, and Dastugue in a stripped neo-classical style. The east wing was assigned to the City of Paris and developed as a municipal art museum, opening in 1961. The collection was enriched over subsequent decades through gifts, bequests, and acquisitions, and the building underwent major refurbishment in the early 2000s. Today the west wing is occupied by the contemporary art centre Palais de Tokyo (separate institution).
What you see
The highlight of the permanent collection is Raoul Dufy’s monumental painting La Fée Électricité (1937), one of the largest paintings in the world at 600 square metres, covering an entire curved room. Henri Matisse’s two versions of La Danse (1931–1932) are another focal point. The galleries trace the full arc of French and international modernism, from the vivid colour experiments of Fauvism through mid-century abstraction to installation-based contemporary work.
Cultural significance
As a free municipal museum in one of the world’s great cultural capitals, MAM Paris democratises access to major works of modern art. Its collection represents a vital public record of artistic production across more than a century, and its position within the Palais de Tokyo complex — alongside one of Europe’s most experimental contemporary institutions — makes it a node in Paris’s living cultural infrastructure.
Practical information
- Address
- 11 Avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris, France
- Opening hours
- Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00–18:00 (Thursdays until 22:00 for temporary exhibitions); closed Mondays — confirm at mam.paris.fr
- Admission
- Permanent collection free; temporary exhibitions ticketed
Getting there
The museum is best reached by Metro lines 9 (Iéna or Alma–Marceau) or line 1 (Alma–Marceau). The RER C stops at Pont de l’Alma. Bus routes 32, 63, 72, 80, and 92 serve the Avenue du Président Wilson. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) is connected to central Paris by RER B (about 30–35 minutes to Châtelet–Les Halles).