In a time where huge institutions compete with the size of their buildings (the bigger the better), certain organisations or families open small spaces to pay tribute to one particular artist. 

These spaces allow visitors to share first hand the private life, working process and vision of one unique and passionate individual. These small museums are usually hidden, off road from the more  popular city walks. When one visits a grand museum, it's the History of Mankind what opens before our eyes. In small museums, you'll discover the fragile story of an only artist and how his works were influenced by his personal life. 

Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) was a pioneer: with only 36 years old, this French painter (one of the masters of Simbolism) had already decided to turn his atelier-house into a museum. What makes this place unique is the combination between his works and his sketches and objects. The Metropolitan Museum in New York displays Moreau's Oedipus and the Sphinx, one of his most iconic works, however it is sometimes neglected by visitors who pay more attention the the neighbouring Van Goghs and Cézannes, a few steps away, on the same floor. In the artist's own museum, on the other hand, you will be able to see the many sketches used for such painting, allowing us to submerge deeply in the creative process. 

Moreau dedicated the last years of his life to transform each room into museum halls, sometimes doing copies of his own paintings on display in other institutions.

Gustave Moreau Musée, Paris. 

Artist's room. The walls include family portraits and a Moreau portrait by Edgar Degas

Up the impressive spiral stairs you'll reach the new rooms added when the house was finally  converted into a museum. The larger one offers the chance to witness the strange phenomenon typical of Moreau's painting: the illusion that the light comes from the paintings themselves.

The artists' studios or houses turned into museums usually offer us the chance to see the works in the context they were created and thus discover their true meaning.

Keep reading... "Small Museums", by Orhan Pamuk, at The New York Times Style Magazine, March 23, 2014 (112-115)