Paris Museum : Jacquemart-Andre

I avoided accents in the title because it tends to mess up the link, but the museum name should be Musée Jacquemart-André. It’s located on a quiet leafy Parisian street at 158 Boulevard Haussmann in the 8th arrondissement, within walking distance of the Champs-Elysées.

I went last May when there was a Mary Cassatt exhibit, which was absolutely enchanting. Do you know about her? I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the exhibit, but she was an American woman who was recognised alongside other impressionist painters of her time, and her specialty is mothers and children. You can read more about her and see some of her paintings here.

This museum is more intimate than most because it was the home of Édouard André and his wife, Nélie Jacquemart. He had it built starting in 1869 as a “hôtel particulier”, which is a luxurious residence meant for one family, built in the middle of the city. What’s particularly interesting about this couple is that they met because he needed a portrait done and he had heard of her skill as a portraitist. She realised his portrait in 1872, and they became friends.

In one count, I learned that he proposed marriage in 1881 after he’d gotten a diagnosis of syphilis, an illness that rendered him sterile. She accepted his proposal from a desire to remove the taint of her illegitimate birth by contracting a proper marriage. Theirs was a platonic relationship, unified by a common passion for art.

On the official website, their story is not quite so unromantic. It states that theirs was a marriage between two radically different entities – he, a Protestant Bonapartist, she a Catholic Royalist. They had 13 happy years together before he died. I imagine that no matter what initially brought them together, the latter statement is probably true.

You enter through the narrow arch that used to be used for carriages.

And this is what the entrance to the museum looks like.

Henri Parent, having lost the bid to design the Paris Opéra to Charles Garnier, served as the architect for this residence, and he was inspired to follow a classical design in its façade and interior. The residence was finished in 1876, and the notables of the period lauded its success as heartily as they had the grand foyer of the Opéra Garnier.

Leading up to the front entrance …

The winter garden

And the staircase

I love the smaller details in these museums, such as the iron work here.

André began his art collection in 1860 and was asked by Napoleon III to lend his collection to the Universal Exposition in 1867. When he and Nélie married, she had a strong hand in choosing which art to add to the collection and also in deciding where to place it. They traveled to Italy together, and also to the Middle-East, where they acquired more transportable works of art.

So let’s take a look at some of the apartments. I was not careful in noting which picture is from which room, so there might be some errors here. You’ll just have to come in person to see it all yourself!

I’m not sure I have photos of the Picture Gallery, the Library or the Dining Room, but the following is from one of the three (given its red cloth wall covering).

Here’s the Grand Salon

The Music Room

 

Then there are the museums : Florentine Gallery

(Yes, I believe that’s his tomb up there).

The Venetian Gallery, which owes its influence to André.

 

 

And here are the private apartments: Madame’s bedroom

Monsieur’s bedroom

And the informal apartments: the Tapestry Room:

The Study

The Smoking Room

There’s also the Boudoir and Library, which I don’t have pictures of. And below is the room that normally contains a work by Francesco Botticini from 1471 (The Virgin between St John the Baptist, St Pancrace, St Sebastian, and St Peter, on wood) but it was under construction.

So you see, just a quick, and incomplete, photo tour to introduce you to this hidden gem that merits a visit if you have time.

When André died in 1893, his cousins tried to contest the will and regain control of his fortune. Distraught by her husband’s death and having been born into poverty (with no one to come to her aid), she would have lost everything had her husband not remade the will specifying he was leaving everything to her. After his death, she traveled alone to the Far East to acquire yet more works of art and continued to add to their collection.

Before her own death in 1912, she had in mind to open her home to the grand public, rather than just a small circle of art experts — this in the interest of educating the public. She went so far as to stipulate when the museum would be open and where the art should be placed.

The Musée Jacquemart-André was inaugurated on December 8, 1913, a year after her death, and is still open for the public more than a century later.  Do go and visit, as much for the unique works of art, as for its charm as a private museum and its unique history.

And why not stop at the café there, as well?

Since you’re already in a haven from the streets of Paris.

* Information for this post gleaned from the official website and from here.

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