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Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

The City of Paris Museum of Modern Art has 13,000 works, including paintings and sculptures by artists such as Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Amedeo Modigliani, and Marc Chagall. Admission to the public galleries is free.

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris entrance

ABOVE: The Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is open Tuesday through Saturday, and admission to the permanent collection is free.

By Durant Imboden

Paris has no shortage of modern-art museums, with institutions that range from big kahunas like the Centre Pompidou and Musée d'Orsay to single-artist museums such as the Musée National Picasso-Paris, the Musée Rodin, and the small but delightful Musée Bourdelle and Musée Zadkine.

Another museum that's well worth visiting, if you're a contemporary-art aficionado, is the Musée d'Art Modern de la Ville de Paris, a.k.a. the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art.

Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Eiffel Tower As its name implies, the museum is owned by the City of Paris, which operates a total of 14 museums under its municipal umbrella. It's housed in the eastern wing of the Palais de Tokyo, a monumental building that dates back to the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne of 1937.

In the museum's public galleries, you'll find works from a collection of some 13,000 paintings and sculptures by artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries. (Special exhibitions by world-renowned artists, both living and dead, are also on the museum's annual program.)

Visitor information:

The Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is open daily (except Mondays and a few public holidays) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Thursdays until 10 p.m. for temporary exhibitions.

Admission to the permanent collection is free. (If you're attending a temporary exhibition, you'll need to buy a ticket online or at the reception desk.)

The museum's entrance is at 12-14 Avenue de New-York, which runs along the Seine between the Trocadero and the Place de l'Alma in the 16h Arrondissement. The closest Métro stations are Alma-Marceau and Iéna (Line 9), and the nearest RER train station is across the Seine at Pont de l'Alma (Line C).

For more advice--including a map, bus routes, and the nearest Vélib bike-sharing station--see "Information" at the museum's English-language Web site.

More photos:

BELOW: The Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is in the Palais de Tokyo, next to the Seine.

Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris

BELOW: The galleries (renovated in 2019) are open and spacious, with plenty of natural light.

Gallery at Musee de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Paintings at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

BELOW: Paintings on display in the public galleries during our visit included Raoul Dufy's "Regatta with Flags Flying," Robert Delaunay's "The Cardiff Team," and "The Dream" by Marc Chagall.

"Regatta with Flags Flying," Raoul Dufy

"The Cardiff Team," Robert Delaunay

"The Dream," Marc Chagall

BELOW: Nearby, a visitor used her smartphone to capture "Women and Children" by Auguste Herbin.

BELOW: Another woman inadvertently turned her back on "Symphony in Color" by Robert Delaunay, which is dated 1915-1917.

BELOW: The museum isn't limited to "flat art." It also has sculptures and installations, such as "The Ski Sale" by Raymond Hains and a visual homage to the homeless titled "American Piece, Conscious Vandalism" by Arman (a.k.a. Armand Fernandez).

"The Ski Sale," Raymond Hains

"American Piece, Conscious Vandalism," Arman (Armand Fernandez)

BELOW: Fans of the vintage comic-book character Little Dot will appreciate "Le Cabinet de Peinture" by Niele Toroni.