3 Best Sights in Montparnasse, Paris

The sculptor Ossip Zadkine spent nearly four decades living in this bucolic retreat near the Jardin du Luxembourg, creating graceful, elongated figures known for their clean lines and simplified features. Zadkine, a Russian-Jewish émigré, moved to Paris in 1910 and fell into a circle of avant-garde artists. His early works, influenced by African, Greek, and Roman art, later took a Cubist turn, no doubt under the influence of his friend, the founder of the Cubist movement, Pablo Picasso. This tiny museum displays a substantial portion of the 400 sculptures and 300 drawings bequeathed to the city by his wife, artist Valentine Prax. There are busts in bronze and stone reflecting the range of Zadkine's style, and an airy back room filled with lithe female nudes in polished wood. The charming, leafy garden contains a dozen statues nestled in the trees, including The Destroyed City, a memorial to the Dutch city of Rotterdam, destroyed by the Germans in 1940.

There's no shortage of museums in Paris, but this eye-catching gallery may be the city's premier place to view cutting-edge art. Funded by luxury giant Cartier, the foundation is at once an architectural landmark, a traveling corporate collection, and an exhibition space. Architect Jean Nouvel's 1993 building looks rather like a glass house of cards, layered seamlessly between the boulevard and the garden. The foundation regularly hosts Soirées Nomades (Nomadic Nights) featuring lectures, dance, music, film, or fashion on various evenings. Some are in English. Family tours and creative workshops for children ages 6 to 12 are also available as are free guided tours (in French) of exhibits on Tuesday through Friday, depending on space.  There are plans for the Fondation Cartier to move to a new location in the Place du Palais-Royal in the 1e in late 2025.

Antoine Bourdelle was a lifelong artist and prolific sculptor who worked with Auguste Rodin before breaking away to pursue his own style. He received commissions for prestigious projects, both small and monumental, many of which are documented in his cavernous, former workplace. This lesser-known museum has undergone a few renovations and extensions but still has preserved some of the artist's original spaces as well as the small garden with towering sculptures.