🎨MuseumClosed · Opens 10:00 AMFree

Musée Cognacq-Jay

Name: Musée Cognacq-Jay
Rating: 4.4

4.4 ·

Step into the Hôtel Donon, a Marais mansion turned treasure box of 18th-century art. Wander period paintings, furniture and decorative pieces gathered by Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay, including a Canaletto view of Venice's Grand Canal, then unwind at the on-site café.

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Reasons to go

The collection was assembled by Ernest Cognacq, founder of the La Samaritaine department store, and his wife Marie-Louise Jay, who bequeathed it to the City of Paris.
Alongside Fragonard, Boucher, Chardin and Watteau, the museum holds a rare youthful painting by Rembrandt.
The Hôtel Donon housing the museum is itself a classified historic monument in the Marais.

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Full description

Set in the Hôtel Donon in the Marais, this museum displays 18th-century paintings, furniture and decorative art collected by department store magnate Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay between 1900 and 1927. Highlights include a Canaletto view of Venice's Grand Canal.

The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions, talks and a café, though it is not accessible to visitors with reduced mobility.

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Address

8 Rue Elzevir, 75003 Paris, France · Le Marais

Website

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Hours

🎫

Booking

Walk-in

Duration

1h15

Best time

morning, lunchtime or afternoon

Intensity

Easy pace

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Good to know

Free permanent collection entry with typically no wait, though temporary exhibitions may charge a fee
note the museum isn't wheelchair accessible.

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Reviews

Entry free and there was no wait. Small museum and somewhat neglected. A few rooms were closed - one for the preparation of a temporary expo. In the permanent collection, several works had been (re-)hung in the wrong place so the captions didn’t correspond to the works. The entire visit can be done in well less than…

James

3/5

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