A rich industrialist from Lyon, he was passionate about arts from Antiquity, especially those from the Egyptian and Greek civilisations, and by Asian art. He brought back numerous works and documents from his travels all around the world.
Émile Guimet would grant an increasingly large place to Asian arts. This was the period of the great exhibitions and European missions which set off to rediscover the Far East.
In 1927, the Guimet Museum became a national museum. The collections were enhanced in particular by Khmer art works from Cambodia.
Since 1945, the museum has been solely devoted to Asian art. Its Egyptian collections were sent to the Louvre and the Louvre’s Asian art joined the Guimet Museum.
Since then it has continued to be enhanced by purchases and donations. After closing in the 1990s for complete renovation, the museum reopened its doors in 2001.
The museum presents a rich collection of art from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, south-east Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, Laos), Korea, China and Japan.
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To find out more and prepare for your visit, you can visit the museum’s website