Culture and Education in Paris

For centuries, Paris was the cultural and intellectual center of the Western world, a magnet drawing representatives of the international intellectual and artistic communities.

The city has been the birthplace of new ideas, such as the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment; of new artistic movements, such as impressionism, fauvism, cubism, and surrealism; and of new art forms, such as photography and film.

*** Culture ***
Parisians place a high value on the arts.

Theaters, concert halls, repertoire cinemas (those devoted to nonmainstream films), museums, art galleries, and annual festivals enjoy large attendance and substantial funding from both the civic and national governments.

(a) Museums
Paris contains around 150 museums (musées), ranging from the Louvre—one of the largest and most famous museums in the world—to the very small Musée Zadkine, located in the onetime home and studio of cubist sculptor Ossip Zadkine, by the Jardin du Luxembourg.

The Louvre houses an exceptional collection of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, and great paintings of the French, Italian, Dutch, and Flemish schools.

The Mona Lisa (1503-1506) of Leonardo da Vinci and the ancient Greek statues Venus de Milo (150-100 bc) and Victory of Samothrace (about 200 bc) are among its world-renowned treasures.

The museum was remodeled and enlarged in the 1980s, and its entrance is now located under a large glass pyramid designed by Chinese American architect I. M. Pei.

The Musée d'Orsay, located in a converted railway station, is devoted to French painting, sculpture, photography, and other works of art created between 1848 and 1914. It is best known for its impressionist collection, the largest in France.

The Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art) is located in the Pompidou Center, near Les Halles.

Devoted to 20th-century and contemporary art, the museum contains significant fauvist, cubist, and surrealist collections, among others.

The neighborhood of La Villette, located on the northeastern edge of the city, is a major cultural hub for the city.

The Parc de la Villette is the site of the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (City of Science and Industry) and the Cité de la Musique (City of Music), which houses both the Musée de Musique (Museum of Music) and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (National Higher Conservatory of Music).

Medium- and small-sized museums are scattered all over the city, with an exceptional concentration located in palatial former townhouses in the Marais neighborhood of east central Paris.

Le Musée de l’Histoire de Paris (Museum of the History of Paris) in the Hôtel Carnavalet and the Musée Picasso in the Hôtel Salé are the most popular museums in the Marais.

The Musée de l’Histoire du Judaïsme (Jewish History Museum) is located in the Hôtel Saint-Aignan. The Marais is also home to various cultural institutions and libraries.

Many artists’ and writers’ homes have been turned into museums, notably the Musée Rodin near the Invalides, the Musée Victor Hugo in the Marais, the Musée Delacroix in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Musée Zadkine and Musée Bourdelle in Montparnasse, and the Musée Balzac near the Trocadéro in western Paris.

There are several other museums in the Trocadéro area, notably the Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Man), which features anthropological and ethnographical exhibits, and the Musée Guimet, with its collections of East Asian art.

Also nearby is the Musée Marmottan where 80 paintings by Claude Monet are housed, including Impression, Sunrise (1872-1873), which gave the impressionist movement its name.

Major temporary exhibitions are held at the Grand Palais by the Champs-Élysées, while the artworks donated to the city are housed at the neighboring Petit Palais.

Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art are shown at the Musée du Jeu de Paume, on the western edge of the Jardins des Tuileries.

The neighboring Musée de l’Orangerie houses French art from 1880 to 1930, including Monet’s Nymphéas (1916-1926).

In the Latin Quarter, the Musee National du Moyen Age (National Museum of the Middle Ages, also known as the Cluny Museum), houses a series of world-renowned tapestries known as La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn, 1484-1500). The museum is located in the Hôtel de Cluny, a 15th-century mansion.

(b) Theatre and Film
There are well over 100 theaters (théâtres) in Paris. Most are privately owned and they vary in size and fame, from the well-established to the experimental.

The oldest and best known is the state-run Comédie Française, founded by Louis XIV, located at the Palais-Royal by the Louvre.

The Théâtre de l’Odéon on the Left Bank (opened in 1782 as the new home of the Comédie Française) and the Théâtre National at the Palais de Chaillot are also run by the French government.

Parisians are keen filmgoers. In addition to the many multiscreen commercial cinemas, there are scores of repertoire cinemas in Paris, predominantly on the Left Bank, where quality films from around the world are screened.

(c) Opera and Music
The French national opera company performs large-scale operas at the Opéra de la Bastille, inaugurated in 1989, and stages chamber operas and ballets at the Palais Garnier, formerly the main opera house, at Place de l’Opéra.

Operas are also produced at the Opéra-Comique and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, both privately owned.

The Théâtre Musical de Paris also performs operas, and the Théâtre de la Ville specializes in ballet and chamber music. Both are located at Place du Châtelet, and are run by the city.

The Salle Pleyel, northeast of the Arc de Triomphe, is home to the Paris Orchestra. Concerts are also held at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Louvre Auditorium, at the Musée d’Orsay, and in many churches and auditoriums.

The Musée de Musique and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique are located in the Cité de la Musique at the Parc de la Villette.

Jazz and pop music concerts are also held at La Villette, as well as a variety of other entertainment.

(d) Annual Cultural Events
The most popular annual events are the military parade along the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day (July 14) and the Fête de la Musique on June 21, when free concerts of every kind of music are held in different areas.

There are several other important annual cultural festivals, notably the Paris Quartier d’Eté (“Summer Quarter”), a series of neighborhood music and dance performances; and the Festival d’Automne (“Autumn Festival”), during which numerous theatrical productions, including many premieres, are staged. Sacred music performances are held in churches around Christmas and Easter.

An annual jazz festival, called Banlieue Bleue (literally “blue suburbs”) is held in the suburbs of northeastern Paris in February and March, and the Festival Internationale de Dance (International Dance Festival) is held in the city every fall.

*** Education ***
The Universities of Paris are the nation’s main institutions of higher learning.

Founded in the early 13th century as the University of Paris, it was reorganized into 13 autonomous faculties in the wake of student uprisings in 1968. These faculties are spread throughout the greater Paris region.

The most famous unit is the Sorbonne, located in the Latin Quarter. The Sorbonne was founded in about 1257 as a college, and up until 1968 it was home to the schools of arts and science.

Today, the Sorbonne and other nearby buildings house six faculties of the Universities of Paris system.

Paris also has a number of grandes écoles, or highly selective schools.

The most prestigious are the École Normale Supérieure and the École Polytechnique, both founded in 1794, during the French Revolution, to train teachers and civil and military administrators, respectively.

The École Polytechnique is now a school of engineering, mathematics, and science.

The École Nationale d'Administration was founded in 1945 to provide the nation with high-ranking civil servants.

Most of the high-ranking executives in French government and industry are alumni of the grandes écoles.

Admission to the grandes écoles is granted only after difficult, competitive examinations.

Advanced education in the fine arts is provided by the École des Beaux Arts, and in music by the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique.

Paris is also the location of the Institut de France, which comprises five academies, or learned societies.

The best-known academy is the Académie Française, founded in 1635 by royal decree to set the standards of French language. Its members, who are elected for life, are in charge of updating the dictionary of the French language and awarding prestigious literary prizes.

In addition, located near the Sorbonne is the Collège de France, an independent research and teaching institute founded in 1530. It provides free scholarly lectures to the public.

Paris has a number of major libraries.

The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (French National Library), containing 9 million books as well as numerous priceless manuscripts, moved its main collection to new premises in southeast Paris in 1996.

The Fine Arts department remained at the library’s old location in central Paris.

The national archives are stored in the 18th-century Hôtel de Soubise, in the Marais.

The Bibliothèque Mazarine is part of the Institut de France and has valuable collections of 17th- and 18th-century works.

The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève is a university library and caters to Latin Quarter students.

The Pompidou Center houses one of the largest public libraries in the city.

The Videothèque de Paris, in the Forum des Halles is a comprehensive video archive of all the films ever made in or about Paris.

The city’s public libraries are well used by children and adults alike.