Paris: New art exhibits on the Left and Right banks

Right Bank or Left Bank? Visitors have a choice of three exciting exhibitions at two major Paris art museums.

Running now through May 29, the Paris Pinacotheque celebrates the installation of its permanent art collection and the opening of its new 3,330-square-foot exhibition space with two shows featuring paintings drawn from the former collections of Russia’s royal Romanov and Hungary’s noble Esterhazy families. Jointly titled “The Birth of a Museum,” the Romanov and Esterhazy collections, with works by such artists as Rembrandt, Velasquez and Titian, became the foundations for the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary, and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Over on the Left Bank, from Feb. 9-May 23, the Musee du Luxembourg will reopen after a year’s renovation with expanded exhibition space and a major show of the works of German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach, known for his sensual female nudes. Cranach’s impact on his times and on the work of later artists will also be featured.