The world-renowned collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris attracts about three million art connoisseurs a year. A collection of first-class pieces is housed in a luxurious building. It is impossible to imagine that earlier it had a different purpose and that steam locomotives used to smoke here.
Museum history
In 1810, under Napoleon I, in an aristocratic area of Paris on the embankment of the left bank of the Seine, the building of the Ministry of External Relations was built. In 1871, a fire broke out in it and until 1898 it remained in a ruined state. Over the years, the remains of the palace have turned into an overgrown wild garden. A newspaper reporter wrote about this unusual place: “Amazing vegetation has grown here in some seventeen years. Blackberry bushes obscure the daylight, pilasters are covered with moss, and dense grasses grow in the wall openings. The roots of this virgin forest raise the tiles of the floor, crush the staircase steps and give this recent destruction the appearance of beautiful ancient ruins."
For the 5th World Exhibition of 1900 in the capital of France, the Orleans Railway Company proposed to build a station on the site of the palace. Which was done by the professor of architecture Victor Lalu. Moreover, the station building looked so luxurious that the French artist Edouard Detaille said words that turned out to be prophetic: “The Orsay station is simply amazing: it resembles a palace of fine arts, which, in turn, is very similar to a station; so I suggest Lalu, if it’s not too late, to change these buildings' roles.
The station was inaugurated on July 14, 1900, but by 1939 its building became morally obsolete to fulfill the functions of a railway station. Gradually it fell into desolation. The idea was born to use the building as an art museum. In December 1896, after the transformation of the former station building, it was opened by the then French President François Mitterrand.
By 2011, the museum had been significantly updated: they installed a modern artificial lighting system, got rid of white walls, removed narrow corridors and dead ends, and placed new cafes.
Collection of the Museum d'Orsay (Musée d'Orsay)
The painting collection of the versatile Museum d'Orsay includes works by French and European artists who worked on a small but fruitful period from 1848 to 1914. A wide range of artistic styles are represented here: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Romanism, Naturalism, Neoclassicism, Eclecticism, Secessionism, Pictorialism, Art Nouveau, etc. Graphic and painting masterpieces coexist with outstanding sculptures, objects of decorative and applied art, photographs, and architectural drawings.
In the photography section of the museum, there are about 45,000 works. In the architectural area - more than 20,000 exhibits.
The exposition of works of art is placed on three levels and divided by subject matter and technique. The first floor is a hall of sculptures and works from 1848-1870 by such painters as Delacroix, Manet, Ingres, Corot, Courbet, Cabanel, etc.
Second level - 1870-1914 (art nouveau, academic painting).
The upper level is impressionism and post-impressionism. Here are exhibited paintings by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Pizarro, Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Redon, Van Gogh, Cezanne and other artists, as well as the famous work of Edouard Manet "Breakfast on the Grass". Manet's painting with a naked lady in the company of dressed men in 1863 made a lot of noise due to the indignation of the conservative public.
The collection of the museum is enriched by a fine collection of furniture in the Art Nouveau genre.
Opening hours of the Orsay Museum
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 9:30 am to 6:00 pm (rooms will close at 5:15 pm)
Thursday: from 9:30 am to 9:45 pm (closing of the halls from 9:00 pm)
The museum is closed on Mondays, May 1 and December 25
Groups by reservation only from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 am to
16:00, Thursdays until 20:00
Address
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007, Paris
Entrance from the side of the square in front of the museum.
Travel
by bus routes 24, 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, 94
By metro: Line 12, Solférino station
By RER: Line C, Musée d'Orsay station
Website and phone
www.musee-orsay.fr
+33 (0)1 40 49 48 14
Buying tickets over the Internet on the sites:
www.digitick.com
www.ticketmaster.fr
www.parisinfo.com
Ticket prices for the Musée d'Orsay
Full rate: 12 €
Reduced rate: 9 €
- for young people aged 18-25 who are not citizens of the European Union and do not live on its territory
- for all visitors after 16:30 (except Thursday)
- for all visitors on Thursdays after 18:00
Is free
- for persons under the age of 18
- for young people aged 18-25 who are citizens of the European Union or living in its territory
- for members of the communities "Carte blanche", "Friends of the Orsay Museum", "American Friends"
- for all visitors on the first Sunday of every month
Groups
By reservation only:
+33 (1) 53 63 04 50
Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 am to 2:45 pm
Audio guide in Russian
Price: 5 €
The bookstore is located at the entrance to the museum. On the way - trading platforms
Opening hours: 9:30 am to 6:00 pm, Thursdays until 9:30 pm
Souvenir shops: from 9:30 to 18:00, Thursdays until 21:00
