Halle Saint-Pierre

Overview

Nestled at the foot of the Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre, Halle Saint-Pierre is a unique cultural center housed in a beautiful 19th-century Baltard-style glass and iron pavilion. It is dedicated exclusively to Art Brut (Outsider Art) and singular contemporary art.

Highlights

• The Architecture: A stunning, light-filled former market hall featuring graceful iron columns and a massive glass roof, providing an airy contrast to the dense surrounding streets of Montmartre.
• Outsider Art: The museum specializes entirely in raw, visionary, and unconventional art created by self-taught artists, psychiatric patients, and eccentrics, entirely outside the traditional art establishment boundaries.
• The Café: The ground floor houses a wonderfully relaxed café right among the bookshelves, perfect for grabbing a coffee while surrounded by independent art publications.

History

Built in exactly 1868 explicitly as a covered market by an absolute protégé of Victor Baltard (the legendary architect of Les Halles). After functioning successfully as a market for decades, it was repurposed into a school and eventually transformed into its current iteration as a pioneering museum of Outsider Art in 1986.

Visitor Tips

• The Bookshop: Do not strictly skip the bookstore on the ground floor; it arguably holds the most wildly comprehensive collection of books purely on bizarre, avant-garde, and outsider art in Paris.
• Duration: 45–60 gracefully quiet minutes.