Who knew that Cézanne had a sense of humour?

Tourists are attracted to queues, art lovers to quietude. So while the mass of Monet fans visiting Paris line up outside the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie, connoisseurs head to the Musée Marmottan, an institution so surprisingly little known that it had to rename itself the Musée Marmottan Monet to flag up the fact that it owns the world’s largest collection of Monets. Even so, it remains a haven of peace.

Now, on its 80th anniversary, this discreet museum in a charmingly furnished mansion overlooking the Jardins du Ranelagh is making another bid for attention with an exhibition of 100 rarely seen Impressionist works borrowed from 50 private lenders. The aim of the show is to highlight the contribution of private collectors to art history in a private museum, which — since its opening in 1934 to display its founder Paul Marmottan’s collection of Napoleonic era art and furniture — has copped far more than its fair share of bequests and donations.