Museum under name of Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (Palace of Fine Arts of the City of Paris), the Petit Palais was created on the occasion of the 1900 Universal Exhibition and inaugurated on December 12 1902. It is located by the Jardins des Champs Elysees, from the Alexendre III Bridge and facing the Grand Palais. Back to construction times, this architecture is a real revolution: picture windows allow visitors to take advantage of the daylight on all floors and remain in touch with the nature from outside.
The Petit Palais was closed for renovation in 2000. The works will last 4 years and solve the air-conditioning problem and light filtering due to the big picture windows.
Totally renovated, the Petit Palais hosts today a permanent collection (Art from the Antiquity till 1900), as well as rooms that can host major international exhibitions. It belongs to the City of Paris, hence its entrance is gratis.
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