Musee d'Orsay

The Musee d'Orsay holds the greatest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in the world, magnificently housed in a former Beaux-Arts railway station on the left bank of the Seine, its great clock face and glass roof a treasure in themselves. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne and Van Gogh fill its galleries, a feast for lovers of the movement.

Background

The building began as the Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts station built from 1898 to 1900 for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans, ready for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Its architects were Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux. In 1978 the station was listed as a historic monument, and a design competition that year went to ACT Architecture, whose plan added 20,000 sq m of floor area over four floors. Gae Aulenti was chosen in 1981 to design the interior. Installing about 2,000 paintings and 600 sculptures took six months, and the museum opened in December 1986. Around 3,000 works are on show at any time, drawn mainly from French art of 1848 to 1914.

Source: Wikipedia, "Musée d'Orsay"

Highlights

• The Impressionists - the great galleries of Monet, Renoir, Degas and Manet.
• Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists - the works of Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gauguin.
• The station building - the Beaux-Arts hall and the giant clock.
• The clock-face view - the view over Paris through the great glass clock.

When to go

Year-round; a fully indoor museum, worth a half day. Book a timed ticket and go early or on a late opening to avoid the worst crowds.

What to expect

It is very popular, so it is crowded, especially around the famous Van Goghs and Monets. It is smaller and more manageable than the Louvre, which many prefer. Book ahead to avoid queues.

Nearby

The Louvre is across the river; the Tuileries and the Latin Quarter are nearby.

Key facts