Paris - Grand Palais

The Grand Palais - now rivalled by the Centre Pompidou - is the setting of Paris's most important art exhibitions, devoted either to the work of individual artists (e.g. Monet, Matisse, Chagall, Miró, Picasso, Gauguin, Renoir) or to particular periods (e.g. Impressionism, Symbolism) or countries. Other regular shows held here are the Salon d'Automne, FIAC (the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain) and the Salon des Antiques (Antiques Fair).

The Grand Palais was built for the 1900 International Exhibition. It has an Art Nouveau interior, with a structure of iron and steel; the exterior is predominantly neo-Baroque. The mighty glass dome is 43m/141ft high.

The west wing of the Grand Palais is occupied by the natural history museum called the Palais de la Découverte, which was installed here in 1937.