8 Art Bookstores to Discover in Paris

An art bookstore is not unlike a museum. We stroll, looking for a good book, a rare edition, an old exposition catalogue or maybe even a biography. In these atypical libraries, competent and passionate people will, beyond a doubt, help guide you to what you’ve been looking for.

Image above © Le Marais Mood

1. The bookstore at the Palais du Tokyo

Contemporary art, essays on art, architecture, design, graphic design, fashion, photography; every domain that testifies to the livelihood of current creation is represented—and in their original setting! A little extra: on certain nights it’s open until midnight.

2. Artcurial Bookshop

The Artcurial Bookshop offers 18,000 titles in the domain of 20th Century Art with a very important department of out of print books and catalogues/ Foreign books, and exposition catalogues are particularly represented.

3. The Courant d’Art Bookshop

The Courant d’Art books store is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It specialises in the documentation of out of print, hard to find, and rare art (books, references works, monographs, exposition catalogues, reviews, works of art ). It’s little extra: real specialists on the matierial.

4. The Louvre Bookstore

One of the biggest bookstores in Europe! The bookstore offers millions of works, especially on the collections and exhibitions of French and foreign museums as well as reviews of specialized film magazines. It boats a rich selection of publications about the Louvre museum, it’s history, it’s collections, and it’s exhibitions. It’s little extra: It’s location under the Ming Pei Pyramid!

5. The Jeu de Pomme Bookstore

This bookstore excels in it’s selection of bibliographies. We’re given an inexhaustible choice that allows us to fully visit the depths of our knowledge on the artists or film-makers present in the institute. It’s little extra: the bookstore has developed a delivery system for those who don’t live in Paris.

6. Ofr Bookshop

This bookshop, found in the Marais, specializes in works on fashion, photo, graphic design, and design. As soon as you step inside, the background music will soothe you. It’s little extra: the back of the shop or the exposition space that regularly hosts private sales at nearly cost as well as art openings.

7. The Galignani Bookshop

Since 1520 the Galignani’s were among the first to use the new invention of the printing press in order to diffuse their books to a larger public. Leaving Venice for London and then Paris, the Galignani books store now specializes in Anglo-American and French works as well as on international fine arts. It’s little extra: the giant bookstore hosted under the arcades on the rue de Rivoli.

8. The Guggenheim on-line Library

The innovative Guggenheim museum of New York now offers 109 exceptional books on modern art for free perusal on their website. You can therefore flip through the magnificent works of Calder, Munch, Bacon, and Kandinsky all in high definition from your own home!

Have a good visit and happy reading!