The Musée Cognacq-Jay ( en, Cognacq-Jay Museum) is a museum located in the Hôtel Donon in the 3rd arrondissement at 8 rue Elzévir,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is open daily except Monday; admission is free. The nearest Metro stations are Saint-Paul and Chemin Vert. The museum's collection was formed between 1900–1925 by Théodore-Ernest Cognacq (1839–1928) and his wife Marie-Louise Jaÿ (1838–1925), founders of

La Samaritaine La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: a samaʁitɛn is a large department store in Paris, France, located in the first arrondissement. The nearest métro station is Pont-Neuf, directly in front at the quai du Louvre and the rue de la Monnaie ...

department store. At his death, Cognacq gave the collection to the City of Paris, which in 1929 inaugurated the Musée Cognacq-Jay at 25 boulevard des Capucines, a building especially conceived for it by the Cognacq couple, who wished to display the collection in the intimacy of a seemingly inhabited home, without the conventions of a museum. In 1990 however, the City, arguing that the Boulevard des Capucines was not part of a "cultural circuit", sought the approval of the ''legal'' heirs (the owners of La Samaritaine), and, under silent disagreement of the Cognacq-Jay family,''Cognacq-Jay du Boulevard au Marais Le musée a quitté les Grands Boulevards où il avait été installé par son fondateur''
Le Monde, December 12, 1990 moved the collection to the ill-fitting Hôtel Donon (c. 1575) in the

Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (c ...

, where the collection is displayed in twenty paneled rooms (four floors) in the styles of Louis XV and Louis XVI. The renovation work of the Hôtel Donon was led by Paris' chief architect Bernard Fonquernie, whilst the interior renovation was done by Reoven Vardi. The museum contains an exceptional collection of fine art and decorative items, about 1200 items in total, with an emphasis on 18th century France, ranging from European and Chinese ceramics, jewels, and snuffboxes, to paintings by

Louis-Léopold Boilly Louis-Léopold Boilly (; 5 July 1761 – 4 January 1845) was a French painter and draftsman. A gifted creator of popular portrait paintings, he also produced a vast number of genre paintings vividly documenting French middle-class social life. ...

, François Boucher,

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

, Jean-Siméon Chardin,

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...

Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Biography Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...

Maurice Quentin de La Tour Maurice Quentin de La Tour (5 September 1704 – 17 February 1788) was a French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. Biography Maurice ...

, Sir Thomas Lawrence,

Hubert Robert Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux. ...

, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and Jean-Antoine Watteau; sculpture by

Jean-Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (15 February 1704 – 1778) was a French sculptor of the 18th century who worked in both the rococo and neoclassical style. He made monumental statuary for the Gardens of Versailles but was best known for his expressive p ...

, and

Jacques-François-Joseph Saly Jacques François Joseph Saly, also known as Jacques Saly (20 June 1717 – 4 May 1776), French-born sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Malta. He is commonly associated with his time in Denmark he served as Director of the Royal Danis ...

; and fine furniture attributed to

Jean-François Oeben Jean-François Oeben, or Johann Franz Oeben (9 October 1721 Heinsberg near Aachen – Paris 21 January 1763) was a German ébéniste (cabinetmaker) whose career was spent in Paris. He was the maternal grandfather of the painter Eugène Delacroix. ...

and

Roger Vandercruse Lacroix Roger Vandercruse Lacroix (1728–1799), often known as Roger Vandercruse, was a Parisian ''ébéniste'' whose highly refined furniture spans the rococo and the early neoclassical styles. According to Salverte, he "is counted among the great ebe ...

. 17th century is also represented, notably with two paintings by Rembrandt while 19th century is represented with works by Camille Corot,

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

and also Edgar Degas. The Cognacq-Jay Museum is one of the 14 City of Paris' Museums that have been incorporated since 1 January 2013 in the public institution

Paris Musées Paris Musées is a public institution that has incorporated in the same entity the 14 City of Paris Museums plus staff in charge of management, collection monitoring and production of exhibitions, events and editions, bringing together about 1000 e ...

Gallery

File:Musee cognac jay paris 9g1010.jpg, Artwork by François Boucher in Cognac-Jay museum, Paris, France File:Musee cognac jay paris 9g1007.jpg, Artwork by François Boucher in Cognac-Jay museum, Paris, France File:Musee cognac jay paris 9g1005.jpg, exteriors of Cognac-Jay museum, Paris, France

External Links and Bibliography

*
Musée Cognacq-Jay
- Paris Musées official website
ParisInfo entry

* Seymour de Ricci, ''Musée Cognacq-Jay: catalogue'', Paris, 1929. * Isabelle Néto, ''Musée Cognacq-Jay, musée du XVIIIe siècle de la Ville de Paris: catalogue des collections; le mobilier'', Paris, Paris-Musées, 2001. * Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard, ''Musée Cognacq-Jay, musée du XVIIIe siècle de la Ville de Paris: catalogue des collections; les miniatures'', Paris, Paris-Musées, 2002. * Thérèse Burollet, ''Musée Cognacq-Jay, musée du XVIIIe siècle de la Ville de Paris: catalogue des collections; les peintures'', Paris, Paris-Musées, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee Cognacq-Jay Cognacq-Jay Buildings and structures in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris Le Marais Cognacq-Jay Cognacq-Jay 1929 establishments in France Paris Musées

Gallery

See also

External Links and Bibliography

References