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Musée d'Orsay
Located in central Paris close to the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens, the Musee d’Orsay exhibits art collections dating from the period 1848 to 1914. Paintings, sculptures, objets d'art, photographs, drawings and pastels, and architectural drawings fill the vast building that was originally built as a railway station. Notable museum works include paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin.
History of the Musee d’Orsay
The grounds of the current Musée d’Orsay were once the garden of Queen Marguerite de Valois, the wife of King Henri IV, who died in 1615. After her death, wealthy aristocrats built mansions in the neighborhood. During the 1800s the Palais d'Orsay and barracks were constructed in the area, but the buildings burnt down during the 1871 rule of the Paris Commune. It was nearly three decades before the Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station, was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, or Paris world fair. Architects Émile Bénard, Victor Laloux, and Lucien Magne designed the station and the elaborate steel-framed structre was built over two years.
The station served its intended purpose through to 1939. But by then, modern trains had become too long to stop at the station’s platforms. During World War II, Gare d'Orsay was used as a postal center to send care packages to prisoners of war.
In the 1970s, plans set the site aside to be redeveloped as a hotel. But local authorities recognized the building’s architectural value, re-planned the site as a museum, and listed the steel-beam structure as a historic monument. The Musee d’Orsay opened in December 1986, in a ceremony presided over by President François Mitterand.
Visiting the Museum
Receiving about 3 million visitors annually, the Musee d’Orsay exhibits collections from the years 1848 to 1914. The works on display range from paintings and sculptures to architectural drawings and photography. Visitors will see impressionist and post-impressionist pieces by renowned artists such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
Outside the museum stand six bronze sculptures that are named for the world’s continents and were made for the 1900 world fair. There is a restaurant and bookstore at the museum, in addition to the auditorium and galleries.
Musee d'Orsay is open Tuesday through Sunday, but is closed on Mondays.
Major Works of Art
The Musee d’Orsay collection covers the years 1848 to 1914. It is intended to slot, historically, between the works housed at the Louvre and those on display at the National Museum of Modern Art. Walking through the historic train station, visitors will see dozens of paintings by Vincent van Gogh, such as his Self Portrait, The Church at Auvers, and Starry Night Over the Rhone. Works by Claude Monet range from The Saint-Lazare Station and Rouen Cathedral to Harmony in Blue and Blue Water Lilies. Paintings by Edgar Degas include Portrait of Edouard Manet, At the Stock Exchange, and L’Absinthe.
Visitors can also view Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian Women on the Beach, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Montmartre, Odilon Redon’s Caliban, as well as Paul Cézanne’s Apples and Oranges. Also known as Whistler’s Mother, Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother by James McNeill Whistler is housed here, along with lesser known works by Edvard Munch and Gustav Klimt.
Getting to the Museum
Located on the left bank of the Seine River, the museum is opposite the Tuileries Gardens. Two bridges are nearby: the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor passenger bridge and Pont Royal, which was built between 1685 and 1689 and was funded by King Louis XIV.
The C route of the RER express train also stops at Musee d’Orsay, en route to Versailles.
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