Musée Guimet

The Guimet Museum (full name in ; ''MNAAG''; ) is a Parisian art museum with one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia that includes items from Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Tibet, India, and Nepal, among other countries.

Founded in the late 19th century, it is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, at 6, place d'Iéna. Its name literally translated into English is the ''National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet'', or ''Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts''.

History

Founded by Émile Étienne Guimet, an industrialist, the museum first opened at Lyon in 1879 but was later transferred to Paris, opening in the place d'Iéna in 1889. Devoted to travel, Guimet was in 1876 commissioned by the minister of public instruction to study the religions of the Far East, and the museum contains many of the fruits of this expedition, including a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and objects relating not merely to the religions of the East, but also to those of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. One of its wings, the Panthéon Bouddhique, displays Buddhist artworks.

Some of the museum's artifacts, originating from Cambodia, are connected with the studies conducted by the first scholars to be interested in Khmer culture, Louis Delaporte and Etienne Aymonier. They sent examples of Khmer art to France at a time when museums were not existing in Southeast Asia, with the agreement of the King of Cambodia, to show to Europe the high level of the ancient Khmer culture.

From December 2006 to April 2007, the museum harboured collections of the Kabul Museum, with archaeological pieces from the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum, and the Indo-Scythian treasure of Tillia Tepe.

In early 2024, the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration was joined by a group of Asian scholars published on 03 September by Le Monde,Op-Ed, Group letter, "French museums are bowing to China's demands to rewrite history and erase peoples' ", ''Le Monde'', 03 September 2024 and by the French Senate's Tibet Support GroupIsa Farfan, "Paris Museum Apologizes for Contentious Tibetan Artifact Labels", ''Hyperallergic'', 02 October 2024 in strongly criticizing the museum for removing the word "Tibet" from its catalogues and exhibitions.Massimo Introvigne, "Renaming Tibet “Xizang”: Are French Museums Backing Off?", ''Bitter Winter'', 09/24/2024 Guimet Museum had changed the appellation of Tibet to "Himalayan World", while a second museum, ''Musee du Quai Branly'' changed their appellation of Tibet to the Chinese government's 2023 internal legal term, "Xizang". The use of the name "Xizang" is considered an "historical fraud" by the group of Asian scholars published by ''Le Monde''. By 25 September, ''Musee du Quai Branly'' had formally apologized to a delegation of six Tibetan activist groups.

Works of art of the museum

Greco-Buddhist art

File:BuddhaHead.JPG, Gandhara Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE
File: GandharaScrolls.JPG, Hellenistic decorative scrolls from Hadda, northern Afghanistan
File:StandingBuddha.jpg, Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Afghanistan, 1st century
File: NereidAndKetos.JPG, Stone palette of a Nereid sea-goddess riding a Ketos sea-monster, Sirkap, 2nd century BCE
File:Indo-GreekBanquet.JPG, Wine-drinking and music, Hadda, 1st–2nd century CE
File:Buddha Capitol 2.jpg, A Corinthian capitol with a Buddha at its center, 2nd century, Surk Kotal, Afghanistan
File: GandharanAtlas.JPG, The Greek god Atlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Hadda
File:KushanMaitreya.JPG, The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Gandhara
File:Gandhara Buddha scene.jpg, Scene of the life of the Buddha. 2nd–3rd century. Gandhara
File:HaddaTypes.JPG, Portraits from the site of Hadda, 3rd century
File:Dharmarajika statuette.jpg, Statuette excavated from the Dharmarajika Stupa site at Sirkap, Pakistan

Serindian art

File:SerindianGroup.jpg, "Heroic gesture of the Bodhisattva", 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang)
File:SerindiaHead.JPG, Head of a Bodhisattva, 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang)

Chinese art

File:HanHorse.jpg, Han dynasty Horse (1st–2nd century)
File:EasternWeiBuddha.JPG, Buddha triad, Eastern Wei (534–550), China
File:ForeignMerchant.jpg, Tang dynasty Foreign Merchant
File:SogdiansNorthernQiStellae550CE.jpg, Northern Qi depiction of Sogdians
Image:Flickr - dalbera - Statue de l'Arhat Tamrabhadra (musée Guimet).jpg, One of the Group of glazed pottery luohans from Yixian, c. 1000

File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 231104.jpg, A sitting celadon lion, dated 11th to 12th century, Song dynasty
File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 271108.jpg, A porcelain vase with design of men fighting on horseback, from the Jiajing reign period (1521–1567), Ming dynasty
File:Plat rond Dynastie Tang Musée Guimet 2418.jpg, A round '' sancai'' dish from the Tang dynasty, 8th to 9th century
File:Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way, Musée Guimet.png, Painting ''Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way'' from Mo-kao caves, 900–950 A.D.

Indian art

File:MaraAssault.jpg, An aniconic representation of Mara's assault on the Buddha, 2nd century, Amaravati style, eastern India
File:MathuraBodhisattvaSide.jpg, The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Mathura
File:MathuraBuddha.JPG, A Buddha, 2nd century, Mathura
File:GuptaBuddha.jpg, Buddha of the Gupta period, 5th century, Mathura
File:MathuraBuddhaHead.JPG, Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century
Madhya pradesh, epoca candella, tirthankara rishabhanatha, x-xi sec.JPG, Rishabhanatha, sandstone, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela period, 10th–11th century
File:IndianBuddha11.JPG, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire
File:Flickr - dalbera - Vishnou (musée Guimet).jpg, Vishnu, Madhya Pradesh, 11th–12th century
File:Flickr - dalbera - Shiva Natarâdja, Seigneur de la Danse (musée Guimet).jpg, Shiva from Tamil Nadu, Chola period, 11th century
File:Orissa, tirthankara rishabhanatha, xi-xii sec, 01.JPG, Rishabhanatha, 11th–12th century, Orissa

Southeast Asian art

File:Jina java Andesite Canon Eos 500 D 17092017 1.jpg, Head of Buddha taken from Borobudur, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia
File:Indonesia, agastya, da candi nagasari, arte di giava centrale, viii-ix sec.JPG, Agastya, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia
File:Brahma Musée Guimet 1197 1.jpg, Hindu deity Brahma, Cambodia
File:Cambogia, brahma, da dintorni di vat baset, stile di koh ker, 925-950 ca. 00.JPG, Brahma 10th century, Khmer art, Cambodia
File:Vietnam, shiva, da thap banh it (torre d'argento), stile di transiz. tra my son A1 e thap mam, Xi-Xii sec, 01.JPG, Shiva from Vijayapura, Vietnam
File:Vietnam, vishnu garudasana, dalle montagne di marmo presso ngu hanh son, prolungam. dello stile my son E1, VIII-IX sec.JPG, Vishnu on Garuda, Champa art, Vietnam
File:Nuit des musées (Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet)) (7233496060).jpg, Ganesha, Siem Reap, Cambodia, c. 12th–13th century
File:MonWheel.jpg, Mons Wheel of the Law ( Dharmacakra), art of Dvaravati, c. 8th century
File: CambodianBuddha.JPG, A Cambodian Buddha, 14th century
File:Bodhisattva Lokesvara statue.jpg, Bodhisattva Lokiteśvara, Cambodia 12th century

See also

* List of museums in Paris

Notes

External links

Musée GuimetMusée national des arts Asiatiques Guimet
special issue of art magazine '' Connaissance des Arts'', available in French and English

{{Authority control

National museums of France
Asian art museums in France
Asian-French culture
Art museums and galleries in Paris
Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris
Art museums and galleries established in 1879
1879 establishments in France