Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Art museum in the 1st arrondissement, Paris, France
The Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume is an art museum housed in a Second Empire style building at the northwest corner of the Tuileries Garden in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The 19th-century structure now contains exhibition spaces across multiple levels with high ceilings and large windows for natural light.
The rectangular building was constructed in 1861 at the request of Napoleon III, with Charles Delahaye overseeing construction and Hector-Martin Lefuel as architect, for jeu de paume, a precursor of tennis. It was transformed into a gallery in 1909, opening with an exhibition of one hundred portraits of women from the 18th-century English and French Schools. From 1947 to 1986 it housed the Musée du Jeu de Paume, an offshoot of the Louvre holding impressionist works now in the Musée d'Orsay.
The name of the museum refers to a ball game played with the flat hand that once took place here and later evolved into tennis. The rooms now host rotating exhibitions featuring contemporary photographs and video works by international artists.
The museum opens Tuesday through Sunday starting at 11 in the morning and stays open until 9 in the evening on Tuesdays. The spaces are accessible at ground level or via elevators and offer full wheelchair access.
During the German occupation between 1940 and 1944 the building served as a warehouse for artworks and cultural property looted from Jewish families. The objects were sorted there and prepared for transport to Germany.
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