The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, on the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

of the Seine. It is housed in the former

Gare d'Orsay Gare d'Orsay is a former Paris railway station and hotel, built in 1900 to designs by Victor Laloux, Lucien Magne and Émile Bénard; it served as a terminus for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans (Paris–Orléans Railway). It was the f ...

, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly

French art French art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including French architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Modern France was the main centre for the European art of the Upper Paleolith ...

dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Berthe Morisot,

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

, Cézanne,

Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, and

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

. Many of these works were held at the

Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume Jeu de Paume ( en, Real Tennis Court) is an arts centre for modern and postmodern photography and media. It is located in the north corner (west side) of the Tuileries Gardens next to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In 2004, Galerie Nationale ...

prior to the museum's opening in 1986. It is one of the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...

art museums in Europe. In 2021 the museum had one million visitors, up 30 percent from attendance in 2020, but far behind earlier years due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Despite the drop, it ranked fifteenth in the

list of most-visited art museums This article lists the most-visited art museums in the world in 2021. The primary source is '' The Art Newspaper'' annual survey of the number of visitors to major art museums in 2021, published 28 March 2022. Total attendance in the top one hu ...

in 2020.

History

Pont Royal and Musée d'Orsay, Paris 10 July 2020

The museum building was originally a railway station,

, located next to the Seine river. Built on the site of the Palais d'Orsay, its central location was convenient for commuting travelers. The station was constructed for the

Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of three architects:

Lucien Magne Lucien Magne (27 December 1849 – 25 July 1916) was a French architect specialising in religious buildings. He took a large part in the completion of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre on the death of Paul Abadie (1884). He created ...

Émile Bénard Henri Jean Émile Bénard (June 23, 1844 – October 15, 1929) was a French architect and painter. Bénard was the winner of the 1899 International Competition for the Phoebe A. Hearst Architectural Plan to design the campus of the University o ...

and

Victor Laloux Victor Alexandre Frederic Laloux (15 November 1850 – 13 July 1937) was a French Beaux-Arts architect and teacher. Life Born in Tours, Laloux studied at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts ''atelier'' of Louis-Jules André, with his studies i ...

. The Gare d'Orsay design was considered to be an "anachronism." Since trains were such a modern innovation for the time architects and designers alike expected a building that would embody the modern traits of this new mode of transportation. Gare d'Orsay instead gained inspiration from the past for the concept of the facade to the point of masking the cutting-edge technology within. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939. By 1939 the station's short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains that had come to be used for mainline services. After 1939 it was used for suburban services and part of it became a mailing centre during World War II. It was then used as a set for several films, such as

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typi ...

's ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and p ...

'' adapted by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, and as a haven for the

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

– Barrault Theatre Company and for auctioneers, while the

Hôtel Drouot Hôtel Drouot is a large auction house in Paris, known for fine art, antiques, and antiquities. It consists of 16 halls hosting 70 independent auction firms, which operate under the umbrella grouping of Drouot. The firm's main location, called D ...

was being rebuilt. In the 1970s work began on building a 1 km-long tunnel under the station as part of the creation of line C of the

Réseau Express Régional The Réseau Express Régional ( en, Regional Express Network), commonly abbreviated RER (), is a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. It acts as a combined city-centre underground rail system and suburbs-t ...

with a new station under the old station. In 1970, permission was granted to demolish the station but

Jacques Duhamel Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, Minister for Cultural Affairs, ruled against plans to build a new hotel in its stead. The station was put on the supplementary list of Historic Monuments and finally listed in 1978. The suggestion to turn the station into a museum came from the Directorate of the

Museum of France Museum of France (''Musée de France'') is a title given to the main state museums in France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and ter ...

. The idea was to build a museum that would bridge the gap between the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and the National Museum of Modern Art at the Georges Pompidou Centre. The plan was accepted by

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

and a study was commissioned in 1974. In 1978, a competition was organized to design the new museum. ACT Architecture, a team of three young architects (Pierre Colboc, Renaud Bardon and Jean-Paul Philippon), were awarded the contract which involved creating of new floorspace on four floors. The construction work was carried out by Bouygues. In 1981, the Italian architect

Gae Aulenti Gaetana "Gae" Aulenti (; 4 December 1927–31 October 2012) was an Italian architect and designer who was active in furniture design, graphic design, stage design, lighting design, exhibition and interior design. She was known for her contrib ...

was chosen to design the interior including the internal arrangement, decoration, furniture and fittings of the museum. The arrangement of the galleries she designed was elaborate and inhabited the three main levels that are under the museum's barrel vault atrium. On the main level of the building, a central nave was formed by the surrounding stone structures that were previously the building's train platforms. The central nave's structures break up the immense sculpture and gallery spaces and provided more organized units for viewing the art. In July 1986, the museum was ready to receive its exhibits. It took 6 months to install the 2000 or so paintings, 600 sculptures and other works. The museum officially opened in December 1986 by then-president François Mitterrand. At any time about 3,000 art pieces are on display within Musée d'Orsay. Within the museum is a 1:100 scale model created by

Richard Peduzzi Richard Peduzzi (born 1943 in Argentan, Orne) is a French scenographer. He was the director of the French Academy in Rome from September 2002 to August 2008. Since 1969, he has decorated the sets designed by Patrice Chéreau, and together they ...

of an aerial view of Paris Opera and surrounding area encapsulated underneath glass flooring that viewers walk on as they proceed through the museum. This installation allows the viewers to understand the city planning of Paris at the time, which has made this attraction one of the most popular within the museum. Another exhibit within the museum is "A Passion for France: The Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection". This collection was donated by an Marlene and Spencer Hays, art collectors who reside in Texas and have been collecting art since the early 1970s. In 2016 the museum complied to keeping the collection of about 600 art pieces in one collection rather than dispersed throughout other exhibits. Since World War II, France has not been donated a collection of foreign art this large. The collection favors mostly post-impressionist works. Artists featured in this collection are Bonnard, Vuillard,

Maurice Denis Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...

, Odilon Redon,

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Painting, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford ...

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France (region), Île-de-Franc ...

, Edgar Degas, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. To make room for the art that has been donated, the Musée d’Orsay is scheduled to undergo a radical transformation over the next decade, 2020 on. This remodel is funded in part by an anonymous US patron who donated €20 million to a building project known as ''Orsay Grand Ouvert'' (Orsay Wide Open). The gift was made via the American Friends of the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie.Gareth Harris (March 6, 2020)
Anonymous €20m donation kickstarts Musée d’Orsay transformation
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

''. The projected completion date is 2026, implementing new galleries and education opportunities to endorse a conductive experience. MuseeDOrsay

Festival hall of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris - 2019-01-19

The square next to the museum displays six bronze allegorical sculptural groups in a row, originally produced for the Exposition Universelle: * ''South America'' by Aimé Millet * ''Asia'' by

Alexandre Falguière Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière (also given as Jean-Joseph-Alexandre Falguière, or in short Alexandre Falguière) (7 September 183120 April 1900) was a French sculptor and painter. Biography Falguière was born in Toulouse. A pupil of the � ...

* ''Oceania'' by

Mathurin Moreau Mathurin Moreau (18 November 1822 – 14 February 1912) was a French sculptor in the academic style. Moreau was born in Dijon, first exhibited in the 1848 Salon, and finally received a medal of honor from the Salon in 1897. He was made may ...

* ''Europe'' by Alexandre Schoenewerk * ''North America'' by Ernest-Eugène Hiolle * ''Africa'' by

Eugène Delaplanche Eugène Delaplanche (28 February 1836 – 10 January 1891) was a French sculptor, born at Belleville (Seine). Life He was a pupil of Duret, gained the ''Prix de Rome'' in 1864 (spending 1864–67 at the Villa Medici in Rome), and the medal of ...

Collection

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette

Edouard Manet - Luncheon on the Grass - Google Art Project

Bouguereau - égalité devant la mort 1848

Paintings: major painters and works represented

* Frédéric Bazille – 6 paintings including '' The Family Reunion'', '' The Improvised Field Hospital'', ''

The Pink Dress ''The Pink Dress'' (''La robe rose'') is an oil-on-canvas painting by Frédéric Bazille, produced in 1864 when he was aged 23. The work is now in the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris. Dimensions and conservation The dimensions of the canvas, kept ...

'', '' Studio in Rue de La Condamine'' *

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American society portraitist, whose subjects included First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau. Trained in Philadelphia, she went on to study ...

– ''Sita and Sarita (Jeune Fille au Chat)'' *

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include ''Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fir ...

- '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'' * Pierre Bonnard – 60 paintings including ''The Chequered Blouse'' *

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summary ...

– 33 paintings including ''Trouville Beach'' *

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

– 12 paintings including ''The Birth of Venus'', '' La Danse'', ''

Dante and Virgil ''Dante and Virgil'' is an 1850 oil on canvas painting by the French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It is on display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The painting depicts a scene from Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', which narrates a jou ...

'' *

Louise Catherine Breslau Louise Catherine Breslau (6 December 1856 – 12 May 1927) was a German-born Swiss painter, who learned drawing to pass the time while bedridden with chronic asthma. She studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris, and exhibited at the salon of ...

- 4 paintings including '' Portrait of Henry Davison'' *

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

– ''

The Birth of Venus ''The Birth of Venus'' ( it, Nascita di Venere ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea ...

'', ''The Death of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta'' *

Gustave Caillebotte Gustave Caillebotte (; 19 August 1848 – 21 February 1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was known for his early ...

– 7 paintings including '' The Floor Scrapers'', ''

Vue de toits (Effet de neige) ''Vue de toits (Effet de neige)'' (English title: ''View of rooftops (Effect of snow)'') is an oil painting by French impressionist Gustave Caillebotte executed in the winter of 1878 and 1879. The canvas measures . It was originally gifted by Cai ...

'' * Eugène Carrière – 86 paintings including ''The Painting Family'', ''The Sick Child'', ''Intimacy'' *

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

– 1 painting *

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

– 56 paintings including ''Apples and Oranges'', '' The Hanged Man's House'', ''

The Card Players ''The Card Players'' is a series of oil paintings by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cézanne. Painted during Cézanne's final period in the early 1890s, there are five paintings in the series. The versions vary in size, the number of ...

'', '' Portrait of Gustave Geffroy'' *

Théodore Chassériau Théodore Chassériau (September 20, 1819 – October 8, 1856) was a Dominican-born French Romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to Alger ...

– 5 paintings (the main collection of his paintings is in the

) *

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beaux ...

– ''Young Girls by the Seaside'', ''The Young Mother also known as Charity'', ''View on the Château de Versailles and the Orangerie'' *

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

– 48 paintings including '' The Artist's Studio'', '' A Burial at Ornans'', ''Young Man Sitting'', ''

L'Origine du monde ("The Origin of the World") is a picture painted in oil on canvas by the French artist Gustave Courbet in 1866. It is a close-up view of the vulva and abdomen of a naked woman, lying on a bed with legs spread. History Identity of the model Ar ...

'', ''

Le ruisseau noir ''Le ruisseau noir (The Black Stream)'' (also known in En. as ''Stream in a Ravine'') is an oil-on-canvas landscape painted by French artist, Gustave Courbet, in 1865. It is currently held and exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. History ...

'', '' Still-Life with Fruit'', '' The Wave'', '' The Wounded Man'' * Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot – 32 paintings (the main collection of his paintings is in the

) including ''A Morning. The Dance of the Nymphs'' *

Henri-Edmond Cross Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, (20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910) was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of t ...

– 10 paintings including ''The Cypresses in Cagnes'' *

Leon Dabo Leon Dabo (July 9, 1864 – November 7, 1960) was an American tonalist landscape artist best known for his paintings of New York, particularly the Hudson Valley. His paintings were known for their feeling of spaciousness, with large areas of the ...

– 1 paintings ''Moore Park'' * Henri-Camille Danger - ''Fleau!'' *

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etchin ...

- '' The Harvest'' *

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second N ...

– 8 paintings including '' The Laundress'' * Edgar Degas – 43 works including paintings such as ''The Parade'', also known as ''Race Horses in front of the Tribunes'', The ''Bellelli Family'', ''The Tub'', ''Portrait of Édouard Manet'', '' Portraits, At the Stock Exchange'', '' L'Absinthe'', and pastels like '' Café-Concert at Les Ambassadeurs'' and ''

Les Choristes ''Les Choristes'' ("The Chorus" or "The Chorus Singers") is an 1877 pastel on monotype by French artist Edgar Degas. Part of a series of similar works depicting daily public entertainment at the time, it shows a group of singers performing a sc ...

'' *

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

– 5 paintings (the main collection of his paintings is in the

) *

– ''Portrait of the Artist Aged Eighteen'', ''Princess Maleine's Minuet'' or ''Marthe Playing the Piano'', ''The Green Trees or Beech Trees in Kerduel'', ''October Night'' (panel for the decoration of a girl's room), '' Homage to Cézanne'' *

– ''Charing Cross Bridge'', also known as ''Westminster Bridge'' * Édouard Detaille – ''The Dream'' * Albert Edelfelt - ''

Pasteur's portrait by Edelfelt ''Pasteur's portrait'' by Edelfelt is the best-known portrait of the French chemist Louis Pasteur. Painted by Albert Edelfelt (1854–1905) in 1885 the painting shows Pasteur in his laboratory at the rue d'Ulm, surrounded by his experimental ...

'' *

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

- '' Around the Piano'', ''

A Studio at Les Batignolles ''A Studio at Les Batignolles'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by Henri Fantin-Latour created in 1870. The work is now at the Musée d'Orsay. Description Its staging evokes the studio of French painter Édouard Manet and represents him seated and ...

'' *

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

– 24 paintings including ''

Arearea ''Arearea'' is an 1892 work by French painter Paul Gauguin. It was one of the works Gauguin exhibited at his 1893 Durand-Ruel exhibition in Paris. It was bequeathed to the French state in 1961, and was in the collection of the Louvre. From 1986, ...

'', '' Tahitian Women on the Beach'' *

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

– ''Portrait of the Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild'', ''Reception of Condé in Versailles'', ''La Comtesse de Keller'', '' The Cock Fight'', ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

'' *

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

– 24 paintings including ''L'Arlésienne'', ''

Bedroom in Arles ''Bedroom in Arles'' (french: link=no, La Chambre à Arles; nl, Slaapkamer te Arles) is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh's own title for this compos ...

'', ''Self Portrait'', portrait of his friend

Eugène Boch Eugène Boch (1 September 1855 – 3 January 1941) was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Vaast, La Louvière, Hainaut. He was the younger brother of Anna Boch, a founding member of Les XX. Life Eugène Boch was born into the fifth generation ...

, ''The Siesta'', ''

The Church at Auvers ''The Church at Auvers'' is an oil painting created by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh in June 1890 which now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. The actual church is in Place de l'Eglise, Auvers-sur-Oise, France, ...

'', ''View from the Chevet'', ''The Italian Woman'', ''

Starry Night ''The Starry Night'' ( nl, De sterrennacht) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provenc ...

'', ''

Portrait of Dr. Gachet ''Portrait of Dr. Gachet'' is one of the most revered paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It depicts Dr. Paul Gachet, a homeopathic doctor and artist with whom van Gogh resided following a spell in an asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Prove ...

'', '' Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers'', '' Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase'', '' Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy'', ''

Self Portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

'' * Armand Guillaumin – 44 paintings *

Ferdinand Hodler Ferdinand Hodler (March 14, 1853 – May 19, 1918) was one of the best-known Swiss painters of the nineteenth century. His early works were portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings in a realistic style. Later, he adopted a personal form of ...

– ''Der Holzfäller'' (The Woodcutter) * Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres – 4 paintings (the main collection of his paintings is in the

) including ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' *

Eugène Jansson Eugène Fredrik Jansson (18 March 1862, Stockholm – 15 June 1915, Skara) was a Swedish painter known for his night-time land- and cityscapes dominated by shades of blue. Towards the end of his life, from about 1904, he mainly painted male nu ...

– ''Proletarian Lodgings'' *

Johan Barthold Jongkind Johan Barthold Jongkind (3 June 1819 – 9 February 1891) was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He painted marine landscapes in a free manner and is regarded as a forerunner of Impressionism. Biography Jongkind was born in the town of Lattro ...

– 9 paintings * Gustav Klimt – 1 painting * Maximilien Luce - '' The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame'' *

– 34 paintings including '' Olympia'', ''The Balcony'', ''

Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets ''Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets'' () is an 1872 oil painting by Édouard Manet. It depicts fellow painter Berthe Morisot dressed in black mourning dress, with a barely visible bouquet of violets. The painting, sometimes known as ''P ...

'', '' The Luncheon on the Grass'', '' The Fifer'', '' The Reading'' *

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

- '' Luxe, Calme et Volupté'' *

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravin ...

- Master of Imagination collection *

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realism ...

– 27 paintings including ''The Angelus'', ''Spring'', ''

The Gleaners ''The Gleaners'' (''Des glaneuses'') is an oil painting by Jean-François Millet completed in 1857. It depicts three peasant women gleaning a field of stray stalks of wheat after the harvest. The painting is famous for featuring in a sympathet ...

'' * Piet Mondrian – 2 paintings *

– 86 paintings (another main collection of his paintings is in the

Musée Marmottan Monet Musée Marmottan Monet ( en, Marmottan Museum of Monet) is an art museum in Paris, France, dedicated to artist Claude Monet. The collection features over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, including his 1 ...

) including ''The Saint-Lazare Station'', The ''Rue Montorgueil in Paris. Celebration of 30 June 1878'', ''Wind Effect, Series of The Poplars'', ''Rouen Cathedral. Harmony in Blue'', ''Blue Water Lilies'', '' Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe'', '' Haystacks'', '' The Magpie'', ''

Women in the Garden ''Women in the Garden'' (French: ''Femmes au jardin'') is an oil painting begun in 1866 by French artist Claude Monet when he was 26. It is a large work painted ''en plein air''; the size of the canvas necessitated Monet painting its upper half w ...

'' *

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

– 8 paintings including ''

L'Apparition ''The Apparition'' (French: ''L'Apparition'') is a painting by French artist Gustave Moreau, painted between 1874 and 1876. It shows the biblical character of Salome dancing in front of Herod Antipas with a vision of John the Baptist's severed h ...

'' * Berthe Morisot – 9 paintings *

Henri-Paul Motte Henri-Paul Motte (13 December 1846 – 1 April 1922) was a French painter from Paris, who specialised in history painting and historical genre. Motte was a pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme and began to exhibit at the Paris Salon from 1874 onwar ...

- '' The Fiancée of Belus'' * Edvard Munch – 1 painting * Henri Ottmann - '' The Luxembourg Station in Brussels'' * Camille Pissarro – 46 paintings including ''White Frost'' * Odilon Redon – 106 paintings including ''Caliban'' * Pierre-Auguste Renoir – 81 paintings including '' Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre'', '' The Bathers'', '' Dance in the City'', ''

Dance in the Country ''Dance in the Country'' (French: ''Danse à la campagne'') is an 1883 oil painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is currently kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Background This painting was commissioned in 1882 by the merchant Pa ...

'', '' Frédéric Bazille at his Easel'', ''

Girls at the Piano ''Young Girls at the Piano'' (French: Jeunes filles au piano) is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. The painting was completed in 1892 as an informa ...

'', '' The Swing'' *

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Early years Born ...

– 6 paintings *

Paul Sérusier Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabis movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism. Education Sérusier was born in Paris. He studied ...

– ''The Talisman, the Aven River at the Bois d'Amour'' *

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

– 19 paintings including ''The Circus'' *

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the Pointillist style. Biography Paul Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863. ...

– 16 paintings including ''Women at the Well'' *

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

– 46 paintings including ''Inondation at Port-Marly'' *

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

– 18 paintings including '' La Toilette'' *

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as . He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

– ''Misia at Her Dressing Table'' *

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, he was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior sc ...

– 70 paintings * James McNeill Whistler – 3 paintings including ''Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother'', also known as ''

Whistler's Mother ''Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1'', best known under its colloquial name ''Whistler's Mother'' or ''Portrait of Artist's Mother'', is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American-born painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler in 1871. ...

Sculptures

Sculpture was in high demand in the 19th century and became widely used as a way to display a person's social and political standings. The style and ideology represented by many of the sculptures were out of fashion by the mid-20th century, and the sculptures were put into storage and no longer displayed. It wasn't until the conversion of the Orsay railway station into the Musée d'Orsay museum in the 1970s that many sculptures from the 19th century were placed on exhibit again. The substantial nave inside the new museum offered a perfect area for the display of sculptures. During the grand opening in December 1986 of the museum, 1,200 sculptures were present, brought in from collections such as

the Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, state loans, and

Musée du Luxembourg The Musée du Luxembourg () is a museum at 19 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' ...

. The museum also obtained more than 200 sculptures before opening though donations of art connoisseurs, the lineage of artists, and people in support of the Musée d'Orsay. Since the grand opening in 1986 the museum has collected works from exchanges that other museums or institutions once showcased such as '' Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science'' by

Louis-Ernest Barrias Louis-Ernest Barrias (13 April 1841 – 4 February 1905) was a French sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school. In 1865 Barrias won the Prix de Rome for study at the French Academy in Rome. Barrias was involved in the decoration of the Paris Opéra ...

that was initially commissioned for

Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

, as well as ''The Thinker'' and ''

The Gates of Hell ''The Gates of Hell'' (french: La Porte de l'Enfer) is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at ...

'' by Auguste Rodin. The museum also purchases specific works to fill gaps and finish the collections already in the museum such as one of the panels of ''Be Mysterious'' by

, the full set of

's ''Célébrités du Juste Milieu'', and ''Maturity'' by

Camille Claudel Camille Rosalie Claudel (; 8 December 1864 19 October 1943) was a French sculptor known for her figurative works in bronze and marble. She died in relative obscurity, but later gained recognition for the originality and quality of her work. The ...

. There are currently more than 2,200 sculptures in the Musée d'Orsay. Major sculptors represented in the collection include Alfred Barye,

François Rude François Rude (4 January 1784 – 3 November 1855) was a French sculptor, best known for the ''Departure of the Volunteers'', also known as ''La Marseillaise'' on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. (1835–36). His work often expressed patriotic the ...

, Jules Cavelier,

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (11 May 1827 – 12 October 1875) was a French sculptor and painter during the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Life Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux en ...

, Émile-Coriolan Guillemin, Auguste Rodin,

, Sarah Bernhardt,

and

Other works

It also holds collections of: *architecture and decorative arts *photography

Selected collection highlights

File:Eugène Delacroix - La Chasse aux lions.jpg,

, ''The Lion Hunt'', c. 1854 File:Théodore Chassériau - Tepidarium - Google Art Project.jpg,

, ''Tepidarium'', 1853 File:JEAN AUGUSTE DOMINIQUE INGRES - El Manantial (Museo de Orsay, París, 1820-56. Óleo sobre lienzo, 163 x 80 cm).jpg, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, ''

'', 1856 File:Millet Gleaners.jpg,

, ''

'', 1857 File:Manet, Edouard - Olympia, 1863.jpg,

, '' Olympia'', 1863 File:Monet dejeunersurlherbe.jpg,

, '' Le déjeuner sur l'herbe'', (right section), includes

, 1865-1866 File:Paul Cézanne 127.jpg,

, ''Portrait of

Achille Emperaire Achille is a French and Italian masculine given name, derived from the Greek mythological hero Achilles. It may refer to: People Artists * Achille Beltrame (1871–1945), Italian painter * Achille Calici (c. 1565–?), Italian painter * Achi ...

'', 1868 File:Boudin BathersTrouville 1869.jpg,

, ''Bathers on the Beach at Trouville'', 1869 File:Whistlers Mother high res.jpg, James McNeill Whistler, ''

'', 1871 File:Gustave Caillebotte - The Floor Planers - Google Art Project.jpg,

, '' Les raboteurs de parquet (The Floor Scrapers)'', 1875 File:EDGAR DEGAS - En un café o La Absenta (Museo de Orsay, París, 1873. Óleo sobre lienzo, 92 x 68.5 cm).jpg, Edgar Degas, '' L'Absinthe'', 1876 File:Pierre Auguste Renoir - Country Dance - Google Art Project.jpg, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ''

'' ('' Aline Charigot and Paul Lhote''), 1883 File:Serusier - the talisman.JPG,

, '' The Talisman/Le Talisman'', 1888 File:Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Self-portrait'' (1889) by

File:Vincent van Gogh - The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet - Google Art Project.jpg,

, ''

'', 1890 File:Paul Gauguin 056.jpg,

, '' Tahitian Women on the Beach'', 1891 File:Georges Seurat - The Circus - Google Art Project.jpg,

, '' The Circus'', 1891 File:Paul Gauguin, 1894, Oviri (Sauvage), partially glazed stoneware, 75 x 19 x 27 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.jpg,

, '' Oviri (Sauvage)'', 1894 File:Georges Lacombe, 1894, 1896, L'Existence, carved wood (Bas-relief en bois de noyer), 68.5 x 141.5 x 6 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. DSC09000.jpg, Georges Lacombe, ''L'Existence'', 1894–1896 File:Albert Lebourg, before 1918, Paris, l'écluse de la Monnaie. Soleil d'hiver, oil on canvas, 81.5 x 115.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris..jpg,

Albert Lebourg Albert Lebourg (1 February 1849, in Montfort-sur-Risle – 6 January 1928, in Rouen), birth name ''Albert-Marie Lebourg'', also called ''Albert-Charles Lebourg'' and ''Charles Albert Lebourg'', was a French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist la ...

, ''Paris, l'écluse de la Monnaie. Soleil d'hiver'' File:Rippl Female with Flower 1891.jpg,

József Rippl-Rónai József Rippl-Rónai (23 May 1861 – 25 November 1927) was a Hungarian painter. He first introduced modern artistic movements in the Hungarian art. Biography He was born in Kaposvár. After his studies at the High School there, he went to ...

, ''Female with Flower'', 1891 File:Breslau - Henry Davison.jpg,

, ''Portrait of Henry Davison'', 1880 File:Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida - La vuelta de la pesca.jpg,

Joaquín Sorolla Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida ( va, Joaquim Sorolla i Bastida, 27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923) was a Spanish Valencian painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes and monumental works of social and historical themes. ...

, ''La Vuelta de la Pesca'', 1894 File:Afrique Eugène Delaplanche musée d'Orsay RF3746.jpg,

, ''Africa'', 1878

Management

The Directors have been: *

Françoise Cachin Françoise Cachin (8 May 1936, Paris – 4 February 2011, Paris) was a French art historian and curator. She was the founding director of the Musée d’Orsay and the author of numerous books on 19th-century French painting. Life Françoise ...

: 1986 – 1994 *

Henri Loyrette Henri Loyrette (born 31 May 1952 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris) was the chairman of Admical, a French organisation dedicated to corporate philanthropy., and the former director of the Louvre Museum (2001–2013). He became first curato ...

: 1994 – 2001 * Serge Lemoine: 2001 – 2008 * Guy Cogeval: March 2008 – March 2017 *

Laurence des Cars Laurence des Cars (born Laurence Élisabeth de Pérusse des Cars on 13 June 1966) is a French general curator of heritage and art historian, since September 2021 Director of the Louvre Museum after having headed the Musée d'Orsay and Musée de ...

: March 2017 – present

References

External links

Official siteOfficial site

Orsay Museum – MusaliaVirtual tour of the Musée d'Orsay
provided by Google Arts & Culture * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee D'orsay Railway stations opened in 1900 Orsay, Musee d' Orsay, Musee d' 1986 establishments in France Repurposed railway stations in Europe Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris Art Nouveau collections Lists of painters Orsay, Musee d' National museums of France

History

Collection

Paintings: major painters and works represented

Sculptures

Other works

Selected collection highlights

Management

See also

References

External links