Musée national Gustave Moreau

The Musee national Gustave Moreau is a rare survival of an artist who acted as his own curator, designing his family home to serve as a shrine to his own career before he passed away. Located in the former townhouse where Moreau lived and worked, the building was extensively renovated in 1895 to include soaring, light-filled studios specifically constructed to display his massive, mythological canvases. He lived on the lower floors in a space that remains largely as he left it, complete with family furniture and personal effects, while the upper levels represent a temple to his symbolist vision. By the time he died in 1898, he had already carefully organized thousands of his own drawings, paintings, and watercolors, bequeathing them to the French state with the strict condition that his collection never be dispersed or modified. This creates an immersive experience where you view his art in the same environment where he spent his days surrounded by his work.