In a pretty posh street at the borders of the 8th and the 17th districts of Paris, adjacent to the Monceau Park, is the attractive neoclassical mansion (1873-1874) which houses the Cernuschi museum since 1898.
Former home of Henry Cernuschi, financier and a big traveler, he bequeathed the City of Paris in 1896 to his large collection of art from the Far East of objects that he had collected during a trip from 2 years through Asia. Cernuschi with the Guimet Museum (16th district) is the second museum in Paris which is dedicated to Asian art.
Cernuschi museum is divided into two main areas. The first one is free and is dedicated to the permanent collections; the second side, one has to pay for it, hosts several temporary exhibitions during the year.
In the permanent collections, you will discover a large number of Neolithic pottery, archaic vases, Buddhist statues … all structured chronologically from the Neolithic to the 13th century. Art is mainly Chinese and some of it is Japanese, unlike the Guimet museum that exhibits almost all of the Asian countries.
On the first floor, do not miss the mighty Buddha Meguro (13th century Japanese bronze), emblem of the museum, who meditates facing a large window overlooking the Monceau Park … Besides for the temporary exhibitions, you can also admire the rooms normally provided for this purpose a collection of modern Chinese painting.
A pleasant walk of about 45 minutes which deserves to be completed with the ongoing exhibitions, and which an essential remainder for the Guimet Museum.
Can be seen during a walk in the 17th arrondissement.
