Acquired by the State in 1959 and 1963, the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection turned the Musée de l'Orangerie, home since 1926 of Monet’s last Waterlily cycle, into one of the greatest museums of modern art in Europe. Domenica Walter (1898-1977), widow of the art dealer Paul Guillaume (1891-1934) and later of the architect and industrialist Jean Walter (1883-1957), fulfilled her first husband's wish to create "the first museum of modern French art" in Paris, accessible to the public.

Paul Guillaume was one of the greatest dealers of Modern and African art in early 20th century Paris. He was a close friend of the influential art critic Guillaume Apollinaire, one of the first patrons of Modigliani, and also the key advisor to the great Philadelphia collector of French art, Albert Barnes. His collection at the Orangerie, now on display in newly renovated galleries, contains masterpieces of French art from the Impressionist period – Cézanne, Renoir, Monet – to the 1930s – Picasso, Matisse, Douanier Rouseau, Soutine, Modigliani, Derain.

Our lecture will cover many of the 148 masterpieces of the collection as well as the story and fascinating career of Paull Guillaume.