Paris Museum of Modern Art

The Palace of Tokyo, where the museum is located, is the work of architects André Aubert, Marcel Dastugue, J.-C. Dondel, and P. Viard. It was designed as part of the International Exposition of Art and Technology of 1937. Architecturally, it belongs to the Art Deco style. In 1934, the State decided to build a national museum of Modern Art. However, as the city of Paris, owning the land, had committed to guarantee the loan raised for financing the 1937 Exposition, the State eventually agreed, in return, to take on the construction of two modern art museums, committing to give one of them to the city of Paris to relieve the Petit Palais museum: the State's museum in the west, namely the National Museum of Modern Art from 1947 to 1977, and the city's museum in the east.

In 1940, to prevent the palace from being requisitioned by the German authorities, the Prefect of the Seine decided to make the building available to the Artists' Aid for organizing artistic salons.

In 1953, the contribution of Maurice Girardin's legacy was decisive and led the Parisian authorities to break free from the now too narrow walls of the Petit Palais to open a dedicated space within the Palace of Tokyo. In 1954, the building hosted the Salon de la jeune peinture, which continued until 1969, and then again from 1972 to 1975. In 1959, André Malraux inaugurated the first Paris Biennale with Jean Tinguely's "A Sculpture that Makes Painting". It was held at MAMVP until 1982, except in 1971. The museum also hosted the Salon de mai and the Salon des réalités nouvelles (1946-1969), until new refurbishment works in 1976 ended these events and allowed the installation of Henri Matisse's "The Dance" in the former dark room, while the Department of Animation, Research, Confrontation (ARC) was set up on the first floor.

On July 6, 1961, after six years of construction, the municipal museum finally opened its doors with a core collection of works from the modern art collections of the Petit Palais, supplemented by purchases made by the fine arts acquisition commission and enhancements thanks to the generosity of private collectors, such as Ambroise Vollard, Count Emanuele Sarmiento, Mathilde Amos, and the collection of Dr. Girardin.

Moreover, the 1937 exhibition had been an opportunity for significant acquisitions, including: Henri Matisse's The Dance of Paris, Gaston Suisse's Art and Technique, Pierre Bonnard's Nude in the Bath and The Garden, Robert Delaunay's The Cardiff Team, André Derain's The River, Fernand Léger's The Disks, André Lhote's The Stopover, Jean Metzinger's The Blue Bird, four Artist Portraits by Édouard Vuillard, furniture by Pierre Chareau, André Arbus, Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, not to mention the monumental decorations by Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, and Jacques Villon.

In 1964, The Electricity Fairy, designed by Raoul Dufy for the electricity and light pavilion during the 1937 World's Fair, was installed in the museum's grand hall of honor.

The first project after the museum's opening in 1971, led by Pierre Faucheux and Michel Jausserand, was completed in 1972, involving the rearrangement of the upper ground floor rooms. Twenty years later, renovation included updating the air conditioning and making these rooms accessible to disabled people. In the 1990s, further remodeling was done, including creating a specific room for Henri Matisse's artwork.

In 2000, the Paris City Hall initiated security upgrades, with work carried out in the Dufy room in 2002. By 2017, room no. 1 was renamed the Albert Amon Room, and from 2018 to 2019, further renovations improved public accessibility and restored the forecourt. Following controversy, Jeff Koons' "Bouquet of Tulips" sculpture was eventually placed near the Petit Palais instead of the originally planned location.

The museum's collections feature over 15,000 pieces representing significant art movements of the 20th century. Its exhibitions showcase a diverse range of European and international art from this era, including both monographic and thematic displays that reflect current artistic trends. The museum regularly updates its exhibitions every six weeks.

Included in its permanent collection are works by notable artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Friesz, Lehmbruck, de Vlaminck, Rouault, Dufy, Laurencin, Bonnard, Vuillard, Marquet, Laurens, Lipchitz, Metzinger, Gleizes, Lhote, Gris, Archipenko, Csaky, Zadkine, Duchamp, Picabia, Kupka, the Delaunays, Léger, Hélion, Herbin, Torres-García, Gontcharova, Russolo, Modigliani, de Chirico, Magnelli, Severini, van Dongen, van der Leck, the Arps, Utrillo, Valadon, Derain, Kisling, Gromaire, Chagall, Soutine, Foujita, Calder, Giacometti, Crotti, Man Ray, Ernst, Masson, Brauner, Bellmer, Matta, Lam, Fautrier, Dubuffet, Buffet, Soulages, de Staël, Wou Ki, Alechinsky, Michaux, Étienne-Martin, Tàpies, Fontana, Klein, Arman, Raysse, Tinguely, Christo, Vasarely, Morellet, Cruz-Diez, Riley, Buren, Paik, Merz, Penone, Fabro, Hantaï, Coindet, Frize, Othoniel, Rauschenberg, Haring, Heartfield, Byars, Doig, Freundlich, Höch, Hartung, Richter, Baselitz, Polke, Immendorff, Vostell, Gursky, Lüpertz, Schütte, Ruff, Freund, Trockel, Turner, Oehlen, Kirkeby, Broodthaers, Fanzhi, Suisse, and many others.