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Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay logo.svg
Gare d'Orsay (49570190081).jpg
The Musée d'Orsay as seen from the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor
Established 1986
Location Rue de Lille 75343 Paris, France
Type Art museum, Design/Textile Museum, Historic site
Visitors 3.9 million (2023)
Public transit access Paris Métro Paris Métro Line 12 Solférino
RER RER c Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay (which means Orsay Museum) is a famous museum in Paris, France. It sits on the Left Bank of the Seine River. This museum is special because it's inside an old train station called Gare d'Orsay. This station was built between 1898 and 1900 in a beautiful style called Beaux-Arts.

The museum mainly shows French art from 1848 to 1914. You can see paintings, sculptures, furniture, and old photographs there. It has the world's largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art. Famous artists like Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Gauguin have their masterpieces here. Many of these artworks were moved from another gallery before the museum opened in 1986. The Musée d'Orsay is one of the biggest art museums in Europe.

In 2022, about 3.2 million people visited the museum. It was the sixth most-visited art museum in the world that year. In France, it was the second most-visited art museum, right after the Louvre.

History of the Museum

Pont Royal and Musée d'Orsay, Paris 10 July 2020
Musée d'Orsay as seen from the Pont du Carrousel
MuseedOrsayParisFrance
Musée d'Orsay Clock, Victor Laloux, Main Hall
Paryż orsay
The interior of the museum

The building that is now the museum was first a railway station. It was called Gare d'Orsay and was built right next to the Seine River. Its location was perfect for travelers coming into Paris. The station was built for the Paris to Orléans railway company. It was finished just in time for the 1900 World's Fair. Three architects designed it: Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard, and Victor Laloux.

The station's design was seen as a bit old-fashioned for its time. Trains were very new and modern, so people expected a building that looked just as new. Instead, the Gare d'Orsay looked back to older styles. It even hid the modern technology inside its classic facade. It served as the main station for trains from southwestern France until 1939.

By 1939, the station's platforms were too short for the longer trains being used. After that, it was used for local train services. During World War II, part of it became a mailing center. Later, it was used as a set for movies and a temporary home for a theater company.

In the 1970s, work began on a new underground train line, line C. A new station was built beneath the old one. In 1970, there was a plan to tear down the old station. However, Jacques Duhamel, who was in charge of cultural affairs, stopped this plan. The station was then protected as a historic monument in 1978.

The idea to turn the station into a museum came from the Museum of France. They wanted a museum that would connect the art collections of the Louvre and the National Museum of Modern Art (at the Georges Pompidou Centre). This idea was approved, and a study began in 1974.

In 1978, a competition was held to design the new museum. A team of three young architects won the contract. They were Pierre Colboc, Renaud Bardon, and Jean-Paul Philippon. Their plan added 20,000 square meters (about 215,000 square feet) of new space across four floors. The construction was done by Bouygues.

In 1981, Italian architect Gae Aulenti was chosen to design the inside of the museum. She planned the layout, decorations, and furniture. Her design used the three main levels under the museum's large arched roof. On the main floor, a central area was created from the old train platforms. These structures helped organize the large sculpture and gallery spaces. By July 1986, the museum was ready for its art. It took six months to place over 2,000 paintings, 600 sculptures, and other artworks. The museum officially opened in December 1986.

Today, about 3,000 art pieces are always on display at the Musée d'Orsay. Inside, there's a cool 1:100 scale model of the Paris Opera and the area around it. This model is under a glass floor that visitors walk on. It helps people understand how Paris was planned, making it a very popular attraction.

The museum also has a special collection called "A Passion for France: The Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection." This collection was given by Marlene and Spencer Hays, who are art collectors from Texas. They started collecting art in the early 1970s. In 2016, the museum agreed to keep their collection of about 600 artworks together. This was the largest donation of foreign art to France since World War II. The collection mostly features post-impressionist works. Artists like Bonnard, Vuillard, and Edgar Degas are included.

To make space for new art, the Musée d'Orsay is undergoing a big change. This project, called Orsay Grand Ouvert (Orsay Wide Open), is partly funded by a generous donation of €20 million from an anonymous US supporter. The project is expected to be finished in 2026. It will add new galleries and educational areas.

Musée d'Orsay seen from the right bank of the Seine river
Musée d'Orsay seen from the right bank of the Seine river
Festival hall of the Musée d'Orsay
Festival hall of the Musée d'Orsay


Outside the museum, there are six large bronze statues in a row. These statues represent different continents and were first made for the 1878 World's Fair:

  • South America by Aimé Millet
  • Asia by Alexandre Falguière
  • Oceania by Mathurin Moreau
  • Europe by Alexandre Schoenewerk
  • North America by Ernest-Eugène Hiolle
  • Africa by Eugène Delaplanche

Art Collection

Starry Night Over the Rhone
Vincent van Gogh:
Starry Night Over the Rhône, 1888
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876
Card Players-Paul Cezanne
Paul Cézanne:
The Card Players 1894–1895
Paul Cézanne 179
Paul Cézanne:
Apples and Oranges
c. 1899

Paintings: Famous Artists and Works

The Musée d'Orsay has an amazing collection of paintings from many important artists. Here are some of the major painters and their famous works you can see:

Sculptures

In the 1800s, sculptures were very popular. They were often used to show a person's importance or power. However, by the mid-1900s, many of these sculptures were put away and not displayed anymore. When the Orsay railway station was turned into the Musée d'Orsay in the 1970s, many 19th-century sculptures were brought out again. The large open space inside the new museum was perfect for showing them off.

When the museum first opened in December 1986, it had 1,200 sculptures. These came from places like the Louvre and other collections. The museum also received over 200 sculptures as gifts from art lovers and artists' families.

Since then, the museum has added more sculptures. Some came from exchanges with other museums, like Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science by Louis-Ernest Barrias. They also acquired famous works like The Thinker and The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin. The museum also buys specific artworks to complete its collections, such as Maturity by Camille Claudel. Today, the Musée d'Orsay has more than 2,200 sculptures.

Some of the important sculptors whose works are in the collection include Auguste Rodin, Paul Gauguin, Camille Claudel, and Honoré Daumier.

Other Works of Art

Besides paintings and sculptures, the museum also has collections of:

  • Architecture and decorative arts (like furniture and design)
  • Photography


Selected Collection Highlights

Museum Directors

Here are the people who have been in charge of the Musée d'Orsay:

  • Françoise Cachin: 1986 – 1994
  • Henri Loyrette: 1994 – 2001
  • Serge Lemoine: 2001 – 2008
  • Guy Cogeval: March 2008 – March 2017
  • Laurence des Cars: March 2017 – September 2021
  • Christophe Leribault: October 2021 – present

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Museo de Orsay para niños

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