Musee de la vie Romantique, Pierre-Joseph Redoute

You can take Bus 67 all the way from Central Paris to Pigalle, 18eme. Then walk 5 minutes to the musee de la vie Romantique. Metro ligne 12 goes too. For some unknown reason the bus dumped us out at Hotel de Ville. I could not resist buying a few peonies/pivoines on sale as I waited for the next 67...

Musee de la Vie Romantique is one of Paris' prettiest small museums. 16, rue Chaptal 75018

Take a tea outside, relax

And smell the roses.

Inside more roses at the first Joseph-Pierre Redouté exhibiton in Paris just opened on till October 1.

A major botanical artist (1759-1840) and Belgian, Redouté recorded the floral varieties in Empress Josephine Bonaparte's garden at Malmaison.

His technique of fine stipple engraving, using tiny dots rather than fine lines allowed for more subtle color gradations.

A number of his oils are on view.

Redouté, the 'Raphael of flowers' is still revered for his exquisite floral renderings, especially his roses. 'He lead the way in an era of natural sciences, classifying and identifying plants collected over five continents - then reproducing them in watercolor on precious vellums of unequaled scientific accuracy and artistic talent'.

More than 250 paintings, watercolors, objets d'art are presented in 3 rotating 'saisons' so you can return several times to see different artworks.

Floral Sevres porcelain inspired by Redoutë's botanical engravings.

I was smitten with these fragile gold bouquet holders. 19th century fans, jewelry, embroidaries, wall hangings in the exhibit reflect the craze for botany.

To be painted with a rose wreath in your hair! You'll find wreaths like this at 14, rue des St-Peres at Flower.com

Stunning examples of wallpaper designs based on Redouté's engravings

Close-up of endpapers from the museum's Redouté catalog, 'Le Pouvoir des Fleurs'

Contemporary works by 26 artists are included in the exhibit.

They gave us brown paper wrapped bouquets as we left the preview. I had my 3 peonie buds tucked in my bag waiting to be painted. Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  If you'd like to receive Paris letters and maps in your mailbox, do visit my Etsy shop. 

And don't miss musee de la vie Romantique if you're a flower-lover!