Musée de l'Orangerie: An exhibition gallery for
many years, the ancient orangerie of the Tuileries Garden has displayed the Water
Lilies by Monet and the famous collection of Walter-Guillaume since 1977. Domenica
Walter and her two successive husbands, the art dealer Paul Guillaume and the
architect and art patron Jean Walter, put together the collection. The first floor
includes impressionist masterpieces and works up to the 1930's, Soutine, Cézanne,
Renoir, Derain, Picasso, Le Douanier Rousseau and Utrillo. The ground floor has
been reserved since 1927 for the Water Lilies of Claude Monet. Painted during
the First World War in his house at Giverny, the water lily pattern ripples in
the changing reflections of light. The eight large paintings were given by Monet
to the State and installed according to his indications on the site.