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If you get to Paris, don’t miss the Musée de Montmartre. I went there for the second time and found it just as relaxing, intimate, and inspiring as the first time (five years ago).

The oldest building in Montmartre (1600s), it overlooks a small historic & preserved vineyard and has a stunning view of Paris behind it.

There is a feeling about the place, as if the artists were still living here and time stood still.  

At least six artists lived and worked here, among them, painter Suzanne Valadon, her son Maurice Utrillo, Auguste Renoir, Emile Bernard, and Raoul Dufy. Eric Satie lived around the corner, Picasso lived in the neighborhood - you get the picture!

The museum has exhibits showing the evolution of Montmartre from a remote windy hillside with windmills to the center of creative life in Paris at the turn of the century.

Above is a series of Utrillo’s gouache paintings of Montmartre on display. Different from the large oil paintings we see in museums throughout the world, they are more direct and informal, and I suspect done en plein air. 

The museum was not crowded and I had lunch in the garden café.   

The best part of this (my second visit) was discovering the studio of Suzanne Valadon which had been closed during my first visit in 2013.  I opened the door to her apartment and walked right into 1912.

The apartment and studio have been carefully restored to show the décor as it was when Valadon lived there.

Peeking around the corner I saw a child’s room with a small metal bed, and a desk with art supplies.

This was the bedroom of her son, artist Maurice Utrillo, born when she was only 18.

Next, I opened the door to her studio and this is what I saw: 

With glass on the north ceiling and wall, the light was perfect for painting.

It was as if she had just walked out of the room - easels, paint brushes in cans and jars, and palettes with paint on them were there to see. I spent over an hour in the studio, long enough to do some sketching.

"View from Suzanne Valadon's Studio" 10"x 7" 

Watercolor & Ink by Simonne Roy. Available here.

Here is an watercolor and ink painting of the view from the window next to Valadon's studio.  You can see the garden below in afternoon sun, with some gold leaves on the trees, the grass still green, and a few black-eyed susans still in bloom. The large house with the red roof houses the museum. Paris is in the distance.

Being able to paint in this space was amazing to me. I was so glad no one stopped me.

This is a place to inspire artists and non artists alike! I left with ideas for a future studio...

For more information: website for the museum.