Musée d’Orsay

The Musée d’Orsay is also known as the “Musée d’Impressionisme” because it holds the largest collection of works from the 19th and 20th centuries, an important period in the history of art, and in particular many works representing “Impressionism”! The museum’s collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture, posters and objects from the second half of the 19th century (1848-1914), mainly from the Impressionist period, has been transferred from the Louvre, the Petit Palais and the Jeu de Paume, making it a chronological bridge between the Louvre, which houses ancient and medieval works, and the Centre Pompidou, a museum of contemporary art.

Overview :

The Musée d’Orsay offers a chronological overview of 19th-century Western art, from the February Revolution of 1848 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and its collections cover a wide range of genres, including painting, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts, as well as photography, film, literature, music, and more, providing an overview of the overall cultural movements of the period.

The interior uses large windows from the station and a massive 32-meter-high glass dome to bring in natural light, while the 40-meter-wide, 138-meter-long central corridor is perfect for viewing the works of Impressionist painters who sought to depict nature and people as they changed with the changing light, and features a lighting system that combines artificial light with computer-adjusted artificial light in response to changes in natural light.

History :

Inaugurated on December 9, 1986, it was designed by architect Victor Laloux (1850-1937) as the first electrified station in Paris, connecting Orleans to Paris for the World Fair on July 14, 1900, with a facade that mimicked the Louvre on the other side of the Seine, concealing a glass-and-steel structure that was a symbol of industrialization.

The ultra-luxurious station, which includes a hotel, restaurants, cafes and other facilities, once served 200 trains a day to Orleans, but fell on hard times when the trains were electrified to allow for more cars. In November 1939, the long-distance lines were abandoned in favor of local routes around Paris, and the station’s function as a train station declined, and it was later left in a state of disrepair.

In 1977 it was decided to turn it into a museum, and in 1979 the renovation work began, with Gae Aulenti designing the interior and furnishing the exhibition rooms, which opened in 1986. A large clock still adorns the exterior of the museum, a reminder of its former use as a railway station.

Featured Collections :

Niveau 0 (Downstairs)

A free map is available at the entrance to the Musée d’Orsay.
The museum is divided into four main areas: sculpture, fine arts, architecture and decorative arts.

The center aisle on the first floor is home to sculptures by Rodin, Camille Claudel, Bourdelle, and Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, while the right-hand rooms feature works by Jaean Dominique Ingres from Eclecticism and Neo-Classicism and Eugène Delacroix from Romanticism, The room on the left displays “L’Angelus” and “The Gleaners” by Jean-Francois Millet, as well as “Realism” works such as “Painter’s atelier” and “A burial at Oranans” by Gustave Courbet. At the end of the aisle are works related to architecture, including models of 19th-century opera surroundings and a scale model of the Opera House.

Niveau 5 (Upstairs)

The third floor displays works by “impressionist” painters of light and color.
Edouard Manet’s “Lunch on the Grass” “Olympia” and “The Fife Player”, Renoir’s “Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette” and “La Liseuse”, Claude Monet’s “Woman with a Paraso” and “Saint Lazare Station”, Camille Pissarro’s “Red Roofs”, Edgar Degas’ “Absinthe”, “Ballet”, Berthe Morisot’s “Woman at the Toilet”, “Self-Portrait” and “Dr. Paul Gachet” by Vincent van Gogh, and “The Church at Auvers” and “The Church at Auvers” by Paul Cézanne, the father of modern art, and “The Circus” by Georges Seurat, “Panneau pour la barque de la Goulue, à la Foire du Trône à Paris” by Toulouse Lautrec, and “Self-Portrait” and “Tahitian Women on the Beach” by Paul Gauguin.

Niveau 2(Middle Floor)

Finally, the second floor contains the core of the Musée d’Orsay’s collection: salon paintings from 1880-1900, including important Post-Impressionist works by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, as well as works by Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis from Naturalism, Symbolism and the early 20th century. There are also sculptures by Rodin, Camille Claudel, Bourdelle, Aristide Maillol, and others in the corridors, so if you’re pressed for time, this is a good place to start.

Visiting Detail:

Musée d’Orsay

Hours : Tue/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun 09:30~18:00
Thursday night open 09:30 – 21:45
Closed on Mondays

Average dwell time : more than 3 hours

Location : 1 Rue De La Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris France

Founded : 1986

Annual attendance : Approximately 2,590,000 and more.

Official Website : https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr