7 Intimate Museums Offering World-Class Art Without the Crowds
A new initiative showcases seven lesser-known museums around the globe, providing visitors with close encounters with art treasures. In Paris, the Musée de l'Orangerie, established in 1852, exhibits eight panels of Water Lilies by Claude Monet, which were installed in 1927. The Frick Collection, located in a mansion built between 1913 and 1914 in New York, reopened in 2025 following a $220 million renovation, featuring works from Vermeer, Holbein, Rembrandt, and El Greco. London’s Sir John Soane's Museum is home to Hogarth's 'Rake's Progress' series and Seti I's sarcophagus, acquired in 1824 for £2,000. The Menil Collection in Houston offers free entry and includes a Cy Twombly Gallery, while the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi in Lucca showcases Baroque art. Lastly, the Wallace Collection in London highlights French 18th-century masterpieces, including 'The Laughing Cavalier.'
Key facts
- The Musée de l'Orangerie was built in 1852 as a greenhouse and now houses eight Monet Water Lilies panels installed in 1927.
- The Frick Collection reopened its original mansion in 2025 after a five-year, $220 million renovation.
- Sir John Soane's Museum displays Hogarth's complete 'Rake's Progress' series and the sarcophagus of Seti I, purchased in 1824 for £2,000.
- The Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi is a 17th-century palace with original furnishings and works by Pontormo, Tintoretto, Veronese, and Bronzino.
- The Menil Collection, opened in 1987 in a Renzo Piano building, offers permanently free admission and includes a Cy Twombly Gallery.
- The Rothko Chapel, near the Menil Collection, contains fourteen large paintings by Mark Rothko.
- The original Museo Soumaya at Plaza Loreto in Mexico City is smaller and quirkier than the Plaza Carso branch, with an eclectic collection assembled by Carlos Slim.
- The Wallace Collection, bequeathed to the British nation in 1897, includes Frans Hals's 'The Laughing Cavalier' and Fragonard's 'The Swing'.
Entities
Artists
- Claude Monet
- Henry Clay Frick
- Sir John Soane
- William Hogarth
- Seti I
- Pontormo
- Tintoretto
- Veronese
- Bronzino
- John de Menil
- Dominique de Menil
- Renzo Piano
- Cy Twombly
- Carlos Slim
- Fernando Romero
- Richard Wallace
- Frans Hals
- Fragonard
- Cézanne
- Renoir
- Matisse
- Picasso
- Modigliani
- Rousseau
- Vermeer
- Holbein
- Rembrandt
- El Greco
- Bellini
- Leonardo
- Michelangelo
- Velázquez
- Rubens
- Titian
- Poussin
Institutions
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- The Frick Collection
- Sir John Soane's Museum
- Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi
- The Menil Collection
- Rothko Chapel
- Museo Soumaya
- The Wallace Collection
- Louvre
- British Museum
- Bank of England
- Centre Pompidou
Locations
- Paris
- France
- New York City
- USA
- London
- England
- Lucca
- Italy
- Houston
- Texas
- Mexico City
- Mexico
- Tuileries Garden
- Fifth Avenue
- Lincoln's Inn Fields
- Manchester Square
- Plaza Carso
- Plaza Loreto