Established in 1986, The Musée d'Orsay contains one of the world's greatest collection of arts from 1848-1914, and after the Musée du Louvre it is a must visit for any art lover.
The museum's collection contains around 6,000 works of art (not including photographs), and has about 3000 works on permanent display. The collection is comprised of Painting, Sculpture, Decorative arts, Photography, Graphic arts and Architecture.
Important works in the museum include paintings by
Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh and others. Highlights include: van Gogh's 'Starry Night over the Rhone,' and his 'Self-Portrait'; Renoir's 'Le Moulin de la Galette'; and Paul Cézanne's 'Apples and Oranges,' to name a few. And sculptures including Edgar Degas' Small Dancer Aged 14.
It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay railway station, which opened in 1900 and was the world's first urban electrified rail terminal. A competition, held to see who could best design a 'modern' station that would blend in with its prestigious surroundings, was won by Victor Laloux, whose design hid all the buildings metalwork by encasing it in a stone facade.
The station's short platforms meant it was unable to be used by modern, longer trains and it was eventually closed as a railway station in 1958. The building was then used for multiple purposes, until it eventually laid vacant with the closure of the station's hotel in 1973.
In 1977 the French Government made the decision to turn the disused building into a museum that would display works of art from 1848-1914 - allowing more works in the collections of the Louvre, Jeu de Paume and National Museum of Modern Art (Pompidou Centre) to be on permanent display.
The Italian architect 'Gae Aulenti' was responsible for the redesign of the building from railway station to art museum, with the renovation taking place from 1980 - 1986. The Musée d'Orsay was opened by President Mitterrand on 1 Dec 1986
Prices
Admission: 8 Euro
Opening Times
Tue, Wed & Fri - Sun 9:30am to 6pm
Thu: 9:30am - 9:45pm
Closed Mondays
Closed 1 Jan, 1 May and 25 Dec
Address
Musée d'Orsay
Rue de Lille,
75007 Paris
Tel: 01 40 49 48 14
How to Get There
Métro: Assemble station - line 12.
RER: Musée d'Orsay station - line C
External Links
Musée d'Orsay Official Web Site
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