Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume
The
Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume is a
museum of
contemporary art in the north-west corner of the
Tuileries Gardens in
Paris.
The building was constructed in 1861 during the reign of
Napoleon III. It originally housed
real tennis courts; the name of this game in French is
jeu de paume.
It was used from 1940 to 1944 to store Jewish cultural property looted by the
Nazi regime in France (see
Rose Valland). Some of the art was destined for the
Fuehrermuseum in
Linz, while the Nazis attempted to sell so-called '
degenerate art' (modern art unworthy in the eyes of the Nazis) on the international art market. Unsold art (including works by
Pablo Picasso and
Salvador Dali) were destroyed on a bonfire in the grounds of the Jeu de Paume on the night of 27 July 1942.
Before 1986, it contained the Musée du Jeu de Paume, which held many important
impressionist works now in the
Musée d'Orsay.
See also
