Palais de Tokyo

The Palais de Tokyo is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Facing the Trocadéro and separated from the River Seine by the Avenue de New-York, the structure is divided into two distinct wings. The eastern wing belongs to the City of Paris and houses the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris. The western wing belongs to the French state and, since 2002, has hosted the Palais de Tokyo / Site de création contemporaine. Following a major expansion in 2012, this contemporary art center became the largest museum in France and Europe dedicated to temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, operating without a permanent collection and producing all of its exhibitions.

Originally named the Palais des Musées d'art moderne, the building was inaugurated by President Albert Lebrun on 24 May 1937 for the International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life. It was designed to house two separate museums: the state's Musée national d'art moderne in the west wing and the city's Musée d'art moderne in the east wing. Due to the Second World War, the state museum did not fully open until 1947 under director Jean Cassou. In 1977, the state collections relocated to the newly built Centre Georges Pompidou. The west wing subsequently hosted various institutions, including the Musée d'art et d'essai (1977 to 1986), the Centre national de la photographie, the FEMIS, and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques. Plans for a Palais du cinéma were ultimately abandoned in 1998 after partial demolition. In 1999, the Ministry of Culture launched a competition for a contemporary art center. Nicolas Bourriaud and Jérôme Sans opened the Site de création contemporaine in the west wing in March 2002, which quickly became known simply as the Palais de Tokyo. Subsequent directors have included Marc-Olivier Wahler (2006 to 2012), Jean de Loisy (2012 to 2018), Emma Lavigne (2021 to 2022), and Guillaume Désanges (2022 to present).

The contemporary art center in the west wing is a non-collecting institution, reputed to be the largest such museum in Europe. It focuses exclusively on temporary exhibitions and produces all of its shows, specializing in the emerging French and international art scene. Its programming embraces the newest trends in artistic creation in the broadest sense, encompassing painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, video, design, fashion, literature, and dance. From 2001 to 2017, the center also ran the Pavillon, an experimental studio and laboratory space for resident artists and curators, directed by Ange Leccia, which facilitated over 130 international artists. In contrast, the eastern wing's Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris maintains a permanent municipal collection divided into chronological blocks exploring art movements from 1901 to the present, including Fauvism, Cubism, the École de Paris, New Realism, and abstract art movements.

The permanent holdings reside exclusively in the eastern wing's Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris. The collection features major works by artists such as Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, André Derain, and Édouard Vuillard, alongside large-scale murals by Robert and Sonia Delaunay. Its historical galleries include significant Fauve, Cubist, Post-Cubist, and Orphic paintings, with notable works by Delaunay and Fernand Léger, as well as a wing devoted to Surrealism featuring Francis Picabia. The contemporary galleries trace post-1960s movements, including New Realism and Fluxus, with works by artists such as Yves Klein and Pierre Soulages. The basement Boltanski Gallery and the Salle Noire present contemporary video works by artists including Absalon, Pilar Albarracin, and Rosemarie Trockel. During its tenure in the building, the state's Musée national d'art moderne acquired foundational works by Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi, and Marc Chagall before moving to the Centre Pompidou.

The Palais de Tokyo occupies the site of the former Savonnerie manufactory, which produced soap before being converted into a military supply depot. The winning design by architects Jean-Claude Dondel, André Aubert, Paul Viard, and Marcel Dastugue was selected from 128 competition entries. The neoclassical structure features two symmetrical wings connected by a large porticus surrounding a courtyard and a water mirror on a terrace overlooking the Seine. The exterior is entirely clad in marble and features Art Deco decorations, including Alfred Janniot's bas-reliefs, Antoine Bourdelle's statue of La France, bronze doors by Adalbert Szabo, and gilded bronze allegories by Gabriel Forestier. The building takes its name from the adjacent street, formerly the Quai de Tokio (renamed Avenue de New-York in 1945). For the 2002 contemporary art center, architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal embraced the raw, open spaces revealed by the aborted cinema palace demolition. Their design utilized industrial skylights and preserved the building's natural light and transparencies, creating a flexible, porous environment. They further overhauled and expanded the space in 2012, increasing the exhibition area to 22,000 square meters.

The Palais de Tokyo is located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, 75116 Paris, France. The site is accessible via the Paris Metro at the Iéna and Alma-Marceau stations on Line 9, as well as the RER C line at Pont de l'Alma. The contemporary art center in the west wing operates with extended hours, opening from noon to midnight, and is closed on Tuesdays. Admission to the contemporary art exhibitions is 12 euros, with reduced rates available for students, disabled visitors, and teachers. The permanent collection of the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in the eastern wing is free to the public. The building and its museums were inscribed as historical monuments on 22 December 2025.