The Women Who Sculpted Paris: Five Artists to Rediscover
Paris can also be discovered through sculpture: in the movement of a couple, the contours of a hand or the colours of a fountain. Behind these works, women developed their own artistic languages, leaving a lasting presence in the capital that can sometimes go unnoticed.
From the Musée Rodin to Villa Seurat, via the Tuileries Garden and Beaubourg, discover five artists during your stay in Paris. Some are celebrated names, others less familiar, yet each offers a different way of seeing the city.
Louise Bourgeois, The Welcoming Hands, Tuileries Garden, Paris. Image source: Time Out.
Rue La Boétie: An Artistic Starting Point
At 97 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement, Le Monna Lisa by Inwood Hotels celebrates the sculptor’s art of living. Close to the Champs-Élysées, this four-star boutique hotel draws inspiration from materials, shapes and volumes.
The street itself preserves the memory of artistic Paris. In 1910, art dealer Paul Rosenberg opened his gallery at number 21; Picasso and Matisse would be among the artists he represented. This history adds another dimension to the start of your walk, before you explore the capital’s museums and gardens.
Camille Claudel: Movement Turned into Emotion
In front of a sculpture by Camille Claudel, your eye follows a gesture, a shifting balance or a figure that seems to remain in motion. In La Valse (The Waltz), two bodies draw close and sweep each other into the dance; in Les Causeuses (The Gossips), an intimate scene becomes a miniature theatre of everyday life.
Although her career intersected with that of Auguste Rodin, her work expresses a sensitivity and inventiveness entirely her own. Her skilful compositions, attention to posture and use of coloured materials invite visitors to discover her on her own terms.
Where can you discover her work in Paris? At the Musée Rodin, 77 rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris, a room within the museum’s galleries is dedicated to Camille Claudel. The museum highlights La Valse and Les Causeuses among the works to discover, subject to loans and changes to displays.
Discover Camille Claudel at the Musée Rodin · Plan your visit
Camille Claudel, La Valse ou les Valseurs, Musée Rodin, Paris. © Agence photographique du musée Rodin – Jérôme Manoukian. Source.
Germaine Richier: Unexpected Encounters in the Tuileries
A king, a queen, a knight, a bishop and a rook: the characters seem familiar, their silhouettes rather less so. With L’Échiquier, grand, created in 1959, Germaine Richier transforms chess pieces into hybrid beings, combining human, animal and plant forms.
In the Tuileries, the bronze version of this ensemble offers an unexpected encounter amid the garden’s sweeping perspectives. Walk around the sculptures, study their profiles and discover new associations as your viewpoint changes.
Richier holds a significant place in 20th-century sculpture: in 1956, she became the first female sculptor to have an exhibition at the Musée national d’art moderne in Paris. This recognition offers another reason to spend time exploring her distinctive artistic world.
Where can you see this work? In the Tuileries Garden, 75001 Paris.
Explore L’Échiquier, grand on the Centre Pompidou website
Germaine Richier, L’Échiquier, grand, 1959, Tuileries Garden. © Adagp, Paris. Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist. GrandPalaisRmn. Source.
Louise Bourgeois: The Power of a Gesture
You may already know her monumental spiders, including Maman. In Paris, Louise Bourgeois can also be discovered through a more intimate work: The Welcoming Hands, created in 1996 and installed in the Tuileries in 2000.
On granite plinths, bronze hands and arms reach towards one another. The gesture appears simple, yet it evokes ideas of support, attachment and separation. Each visitor may recognise a story, a memory or a presence within it.
Born in Paris, Louise Bourgeois settled in New York in 1938, making memory and family relationships central themes in her work. This stop offers an opportunity to approach her art through an immediately accessible emotion, without needing to know her entire story.
Where can you see this work? In the Tuileries Garden, 75001 Paris, where you can also discover Germaine Richier’s sculptures.
Discover The Welcoming Hands in the City of Paris’s selection of public artworks
Louise Bourgeois, detail of The Welcoming Hands, Tuileries Garden. © The Easton Foundation / Adagp, Paris. Source: City of Paris.
Niki de Saint Phalle: Colour in the Heart of Beaubourg
In Beaubourg, sculpture takes on a festive spirit. Created by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, the Stravinsky Fountain, inaugurated in 1983, brings together sixteen sculptures paying tribute to the composer Igor Stravinsky.
Niki de Saint Phalle’s colourful forms enter into a dialogue with Tinguely’s metal constructions. Among them, L’Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) invites visitors to see this Parisian square differently: the colours and silhouettes create a scene that unfolds as you move around the basin.
This collaborative work is a reminder of how naturally sculpture can become part of city life. Pause during a walk, notice one detail and then another, and let art become the focus of your stroll.
Where can you see the fountain? Place Igor-Stravinsky, 75004 Paris, near Saint-Merri Church.
Discover the history of the Stravinsky Fountain
Stravinsky Fountain, a work by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, Paris. Photo: Clément Dorval / City of Paris. Source.
Chana Orloff: Inside an Artist’s Studio
For your final encounter, head to Villa Seurat, in the 14th arrondissement. The Chana Orloff studio-museum offers an opportunity to discover a sculptor of the School of Paris in the very place where she lived and worked.
Designed for her by architect Auguste Perret in 1926, the house and studio contain almost two hundred sculptures. Portraits, female figures, depictions of motherhood and animals form a world in which attention centres on the subjects’ postures and presence.
The visit has the distinctive charm of a place devoted to creation: alongside the works, take in the working spaces, the glazed roof and the light. It is an address to remember if you wish to continue exploring beyond the major museums.
Where can you discover her work? At the Chana Orloff studio-museum, 7 bis villa Seurat, 75014 Paris. Visiting days and options vary according to the calendar; advance booking is recommended.
Discover the studio-museum · View available visits and book
The Chana Orloff studio-museum, Villa Seurat, Paris. © Atelier-musée Chana Orloff. Image source: AD Magazine.
Continue Your Discovery at Le Monna Lisa
After exploring gardens, museums and studios, return to a place whose inspiration echoes your discoveries. At Le Monna Lisa by Inwood Hotels, the sculptor’s world shapes your stay, from the lobby to the rooms.
Whether you are planning your first cultural escape or a few days devoted to discovering another side of Paris, our address in the 8th arrondissement invites you to make room for curiosity.
The lobby of Le Monna Lisa by Inwood Hotels, 97 rue La Boétie, Paris. Official hotel photograph.
Book Your Stay at Le Monna Lisa
Before your visit, please check each venue’s visitor information: opening hours, access and the display of artworks may change, particularly during loans or restoration work.
