The Guimet Museum (full name in , MNAAG; , ) is a Parisian art museum with one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art outside of Asia which includes items from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, India, and Nepal, among other countries.

Founded in the late 19th century, it is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, at 6, Place d'Iéna. Its name literally translated into English is the National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet, or Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts.

History

thumb|left|Émile Guimet in his Museum, by [[Ferdinand Jean Luigini, 1898|449x449px]]

thumb|Panoramic view of the library in the Guimet Museum

thumb|Ground floor of the museum in September 2006

Founded by Émile Étienne Guimet, a French industrialist and traveler, the museum first opened in Lyon in 1879 but was later transferred to Paris, opening on the Place d'Iéna in 1889. Devoted to travel, Guimet was in 1876 commissioned by the minister of public instruction to study the religions of the Far East, and the museum contains many of the fruits of this expedition, including a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and objects relating not merely to the religions of the East, but also to those of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. One of its wings, the Panthéon Bouddhique, displays Buddhist artworks.

Some of the museum's artifacts, originating from Cambodia, are connected with the studies conducted by the first scholars to be interested in Khmer sculpture, Louis Delaporte and Etienne Aymonier. They sent examples of Khmer art to France at a time when museums were not existing in Southeast Asia, with the agreement of the King of Cambodia, to show to Europe the high level of the ancient Khmer culture.

From December 2006 to April 2007, the museum harboured collections of the Kabul Museum, with archaeological pieces from the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum, and the Indo-Scythian treasure of Tillia Tepe.

Works of art of the museum

Greco-Buddhist art

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File:BuddhaHead.JPG|Gandhara Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE

File: GandharaScrolls.JPG|Hellenistic decorative scrolls from Hadda, northern Afghanistan

File:StandingBuddha.jpg|Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Afghanistan, 1st century

File: NereidAndKetos.JPG|Stone palette of a Nereid sea-goddess riding a Ketos sea-monster, Sirkap, 2nd century BCE

File:Indo-GreekBanquet.JPG|Wine-drinking and music, Hadda, 1st–2nd century CE

File:Buddha Capitol 2.jpg|A Corinthian capitol with a Buddha at its center, 2nd century, Surk Kotal, Afghanistan

File: GandharanAtlas.JPG|The Greek god Atlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Hadda

File:KushanMaitreya.JPG|The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Gandhara

File:Gandhara Buddha scene.jpg|Scene of the life of the Buddha. 2nd–3rd century. Gandhara

File:HaddaTypes.JPG|Portraits from the site of Hadda, 3rd century

File:Dharmarajika statuette.jpg|Statuette excavated from the Dharmarajika Stupa site at Sirkap, Pakistan

</gallery>

Serindian art

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File:SerindianGroup.jpg|"Heroic gesture of the Bodhisattva", 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang)

File:SerindiaHead.JPG|Head of a Bodhisattva, 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang)

</gallery>

Chinese art

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File:HanHorse.jpg|Han dynasty Horse (1st–2nd century)

File:EasternWeiBuddha.JPG|Buddha triad, Eastern Wei (534–550), China

File:ForeignMerchant.jpg|Tang dynasty Foreign Merchant

File:SogdiansNorthernQiStellae550CE.jpg|Northern Qi depiction of Sogdians

Image:Flickr - dalbera - Statue de l'Arhat Tamrabhadra (musée Guimet).jpg|One of the Group of glazed pottery luohans from Yixian, c. 1000

<!-- Deleted image removed: Image:MuseeGuimetCaption.JPG|A tag describing a Chinese artifact, with both Chinese and French captions -->

File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 231104.jpg|A sitting celadon lion, dated 11th to 12th century, Song dynasty

File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 271108.jpg|A porcelain vase with design of men fighting on horseback, from the Jiajing reign period (1521&ndash;1567), Ming dynasty

File:Plat rond Dynastie Tang Musée Guimet 2418.jpg|A round sancai dish from the Tang dynasty, 8th to 9th century

File:Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way, Musée Guimet.png|Painting Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way from Mo-kao caves, 900–950 A.D.

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Indian art

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File:MaraAssault.jpg|An aniconic representation of Mara's assault on the Buddha, 2nd century, Amaravati style, eastern India

File:MathuraBodhisattvaSide.jpg|The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Mathura

File:MathuraBuddha.JPG|A Buddha, 2nd century, Mathura

File:GuptaBuddha.jpg|Buddha of the Gupta period, 5th century, Mathura

File:MathuraBuddhaHead.JPG|Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century

Madhya pradesh, epoca candella, tirthankara rishabhanatha, x-xi sec.JPG|Rishabhanatha, sandstone, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela period, 10th–11th century

File:IndianBuddha11.JPG|Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire

File:Flickr - dalbera - Vishnou (musée Guimet).jpg|Vishnu, Madhya Pradesh, 11th–12th century

File:Flickr - dalbera - Shiva Natarâdja, Seigneur de la Danse (musée Guimet).jpg|Shiva from Tamil Nadu, Chola period, 11th century

File:Orissa, tirthankara rishabhanatha, xi-xii sec, 01.JPG|Rishabhanatha, 11th–12th century, Orissa

</gallery>

Southeast Asian art

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File:Jina java Andesite Canon Eos 500 D 17092017 1.jpg|Head of Buddha taken from Borobudur, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia

File:Indonesia, agastya, da candi nagasari, arte di giava centrale, viii-ix sec.JPG|Agastya, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia

File:Brahma Musée Guimet 1197 1.jpg|Hindu deity Brahma, Cambodia

File:Cambogia, brahma, da dintorni di vat baset, stile di koh ker, 925-950 ca. 00.JPG|Brahma 10th century, Khmer art, Cambodia

File:Vietnam, shiva, da thap banh it (torre d'argento), stile di transiz. tra my son A1 e thap mam, Xi-Xii sec, 01.JPG|Shiva from Vijayapura, Vietnam

File:Vietnam, vishnu garudasana, dalle montagne di marmo presso ngu hanh son, prolungam. dello stile my son E1, VIII-IX sec.JPG|Vishnu on Garuda, Champa art, Vietnam

File:Nuit des musées (Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet)) (7233496060).jpg|Ganesha, Siem Reap, Cambodia, c. 12th–13th century

File:MonWheel.jpg|Mons Wheel of the Law (Dharmacakra), art of Dvaravati, c. 8th century

File: CambodianBuddha.JPG|A Cambodian Buddha, 14th century

File:Bodhisattva Lokesvara statue.jpg|Bodhisattva Lokiteśvara, Cambodia, 12th century

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Controversies

In early 2024, the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration was joined by a group of Asian scholars published on 03 September by Le Monde, and by the French Senate's Tibet Support Group in strongly criticizing the museum for removing the word "Tibet" from its catalogues and exhibitions. Guimet Museum had changed the appellation of Tibet to "Himalayan World".

When questioned on the subject by deputy Charles de Courson in March 2025, the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, defended the museum, arguing that the reference to the Himalayan world is long-standing and that other museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, use a similar categorization.

In July 2025, four associations filed a lawsuit with the administrative court to compel the Guimet Museum to rewrite the labels relating to Tibet, arguing that the museum's statutory mission is to be a tool for disseminating culture and knowledge, and that removing all references to Tibet contravenes this mission. For the France-Tibet association, this controversy illustrates China's political and cultural influence over the Guimet Museum.

See also

  • List of museums in Paris

Notes

  • Musée Guimet
  • Musée national des arts Asiatiques Guimet, special issue of art magazine Connaissance des Arts, available in French and English