Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume

The Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume is a museum of contemporary art in the north-west corner of the Tuileries Gardens in Paris.

The building was constructed in 1861 during the reign of Napoleon III. It originally housed real tennis courts; the name of this game in French is jeu de paume.

It was used from 1940 to 1944 to store Jewish cultural property looted by the Nazi regime in France (see Rose Valland). Some of the art was destined for the Fuehrermuseum in Linz, while the Nazis attempted to sell so-called 'degenerate art' (modern art "unworthy" in the eyes of the Nazis) on the international art market. Unsold art (including works by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali) were destroyed on a bonfire in the grounds of the Jeu de Paume on the night of 27 July 1942.

Before 1986, it contained the Musée du Jeu de Paume, which held many important impressionist works now housed in the Musée d'Orsay.

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