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

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, on the Left Bank of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

and

post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

masterpieces in the world, by painters including

Berthe Morisot Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (; January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895) was a French painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the highly e ...

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. During ...

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. Bor ...

, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley,

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 fro ...

, 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 prior to the museum's opening in 1986. It is one of the largest 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 in 2020.

History

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

The museum building was originally a railway station, Gare d'Orsay, 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 and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of three architects: Lucien Magne,

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. 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's '' The Trial'' 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 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 with a new station under the old station. In 1970, permission was granted to demolish the station but Jacques Duhamel, 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. It was set up by a law of 4 January 2002, known as ''loi musée'' (museum law), now codified in the ''code du patrimoine''. As of 1 January 2019, the list ...

. 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 ...

and the National Museum of Modern Art at the Georges Pompidou Centre. The plan was accepted by Georges Pompidou 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 Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip in the CAC 40 stock market index. The company was founded in 1952 by F ...

. In 1981, the Italian architect Gae Aulenti 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 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, Odilon Redon, Aristide Maillol,

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, just outside Paris. In ...

, 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 Aimé Millet (September 28, 1819 – January 14, 1891) was a noted French sculptor, who was born and died in Paris. Millet was the son of miniaturist Frédéric Millet (1796–1859) and uncle to Chicago architectural decorator Julian Louis ...

* ''Asia'' by Alexandre Falguière * ''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 Ernest-Eugène Hiolle (5 May 1834 – 5 October 1886) was a French sculptor who specialized in classical and allegorical figures in plaster and bronze, as well as many contemporary portrait busts. Hiolle was born in Valenciennes, where he stu ...

* ''Africa'' by Eugène Delaplanche

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 Jean Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted '' en plein air'' ...

– 6 paintings including ''

The Family Reunion ''The Family Reunion'' is a play by T. S. Eliot. Written mostly in blank verse (though not iambic pentameter), it incorporates elements from Greek drama and mid-twentieth-century detective plays to portray the hero's journey from guilt to rede ...

'', '' 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 a ...

'', '' Studio in Rue de La Condamine'' * Cecilia Beaux – ''Sita and Sarita (Jeune Fille au Chat)'' * Rosa Bonheur - ''

Ploughing in the Nivernais ''Ploughing in the Nivernais'' (french: Labourage nivernais), also known as ''Oxen ploughing in Nevers'' or ''Plowing in Nivernais'',D'Anvers 91. is an 1849 painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur. It depicts two teams of oxen ploughing the land, ...

'' *

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist grou ...

– 60 paintings including ''The Chequered Blouse'' * Eugène Boudin – 33 paintings including ''Trouville Beach'' * William-Adolphe Bouguereau – 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 jo ...

'' *

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 t ...

- 4 paintings including '' Portrait of Henry Davison'' * Alexandre Cabanel – '' The Birth of Venus'', ''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)'' *

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. He ...

– 86 paintings including ''The Painting Family'', ''The Sick Child'', ''Intimacy'' * Mary Cassatt – 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 Hanged Man's House'' (in French: ''La maison du pendu, Auvers-sur-Oise'') is an 1873 oil-on-canvas painting by Paul Cézanne. The painting is exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Background ''The Hanged Man's House'' was presented ...

'', ''

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 – 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 Beau ...

– ''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'', '' Le ruisseau noir'', '' 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 ...

– 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 t ...

– 1 paintings ''Moore Park'' *

Henri-Camille Danger Henri-Camille Danger (1857 – 1939) was a French artist known for history paintings, allegorical and mythological subjects, genre scenes, landscapes and designs for tapestries. Early life and education Henri-Camille was the son of Jules Félix ...

- ''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 etch ...

- '' 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 s ...

'' *

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

) * Maurice Denis – ''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 Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish-Swedish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, before ...

- ''

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 a ...

'' *

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'' *

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'', ''

Tahitian Women on the Beach ''Tahitian Women on the Beach'' () is an 1891 painting by Paul Gauguin. The painting depicts two women on the Pacific island of Tahiti on the beach. The painting is currently in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay, located in Paris, France. ...

'' * Jean-Léon Gérôme – ''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'', ''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, no ...

'', ''View from the Chevet'', ''The Italian Woman'', '' Starry Night'', '' Portrait of Dr. Gachet'', '' 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 Armand Guillaumin (; February 16, 1841 – June 26, 1927) was a French impressionist painter and lithographer. Biography Early years Born Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin in Paris, he worked at his uncle's lingerie shop while attending even ...

– 44 paintings * Ferdinand Hodler – ''Der Holzfäller'' (The Woodcutter) *

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the a ...

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

) including '' The Source'' * Eugène Jansson – ''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 Lattr ...

– 9 paintings *

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's pr ...

– 1 painting *

Maximilien Luce Maximilien Luce (13 March 1858 – 6 February 1941) was a prolific French Neo-impressionist artist, known for his paintings, illustrations, engravings, and graphic art, and also for his anarchist activism. Starting as an engraver, he then c ...

- ''

The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame ''The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame'' is a 1901 oil on canvas painting by the French artist Maximilien Luce. Luce was part of the Neo-Impressionist movement between 1887 and 1897 and used the technique of employing separate dabs of color ( ...

'' *

– 34 paintings including '' Olympia'', ''The Balcony'', '' Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets'', ''

The Luncheon on the Grass ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', ''

The Fifer ''The Fifer'' or ''Young Flautist'' is a painting by French painter Édouard Manet, made in 1866. It is usually kept in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris. History On a trip to Spain in 1865, Édouard Manet visited the Prado, where the art of Diego Velázq ...

'', '' 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 draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

- ''

Luxe, Calme et Volupté ''Luxe, Calme et Volupté'' is a 1904 oil painting by the French artist Henri Matisse. Both foundational in the oeuvre of Matisse and a pivotal work in the history of art, ''Luxe, Calme et Volupté'' is considered the starting point of Fauvism. ...

'' * Gustave Doré - Master of Imagination collection * Jean-François Millet – 27 paintings including ''The Angelus'', ''Spring'', '' The Gleaners'' * Piet Mondrian – 2 paintings *

– 86 paintings (another main collection of his paintings is in the Musée Marmottan Monet) 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 ...

'' *

– 9 paintings * Henri-Paul Motte - '' The Fiancée of Belus'' *

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, '' The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the d ...

– 1 painting *

Henri Ottmann Henry Ottmann (also Henri Ottmann) (10 April 1877 – 1 June 1927) was a French painter and printmaker. Biography Henry Ottmann was born on 10 April 1877 in Ancenis (Loire-Atlantique). He made his debut at the Salon La Libre Esthétique ...

- ''

The Luxembourg Station in Brussels ''The Luxembourg Station in Brussels'' is a 1903 painting by Henri Ottmann. It's displayed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

– 46 paintings including ''White Frost'' * Odilon Redon – 106 paintings including ''Caliban'' *

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

– 81 paintings including ''

Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre ''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' (commonly known as ''Dance at Le moulin de la Galette'') is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpi ...

'', '' The Bathers'', ''

Dance in the City ''Dance in the City'' is a painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The 1883 work is in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay. The dancers are model and artist Suzanne Valadon and Renoir's friend Paul Auguste Lhôte. This work, along with ...

'', ''

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'', '' The Swing'' * Henri Rousseau – 3 paintings *

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 i ...

– 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 – 19 paintings including ''The Circus'' * Paul Signac – 16 paintings including ''Women at the Well'' * Alfred Sisley – 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 – ''Misia at Her Dressing Table'' * Édouard Vuillard – 70 paintings * James McNeill Whistler – 3 paintings including ''Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother'', also known as '' Whistler's Mother''

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 centra ...

, state loans, and Musée du Luxembourg. 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 that was initially commissioned for Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, as well as ''The Thinker'' and '' The Gates of Hell'' by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

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

Alfred Barye Alfred Barye "Le Fils" or Alf Barye (Paris, France, 21 January 1839 – Paris, France, 1882) was a French sculptor, of the Belle Époque, pupil of his father the artist Antoine-Louis Barye. In cooperation with Émile-Coriolan Guillemin, Barye ...

, François Rude, Jules Cavelier, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Émile-Coriolan Guillemin,

, Camille Claudel,

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including ''La Dame Aux Cameli ...

, Aristide Maillol 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, Théodore Chassériau, ''Tepidarium'', 1853 File:JEAN AUGUSTE DOMINIQUE INGRES - El Manantial (Museo de Orsay, París, 1820-56. Óleo sobre lienzo, 163 x 80 cm).jpg,

, '' The Source'', 1856 File:Millet Gleaners.jpg, Jean-François Millet, '' The Gleaners'', 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'', 1868 File:Boudin BathersTrouville 1869.jpg, Eugène Boudin, ''Bathers on the Beach at Trouville'', 1869 File:Whistlers Mother high res.jpg, James McNeill Whistler, '' Whistler's Mother'', 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,

, ''

'' (''

Aline Charigot Aline Victorine Charigot (23 May 1859 – 27 June 1915) was a model for Auguste Renoir and later became his wife while continuing to model for him and then caring for him when he became disabled. She is pictured in many of his paintings over ver ...

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,

, ''

'', 1891 File:Georges Seurat - The Circus - Google Art Project.jpg, Georges Seurat, '' 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, ''Paris, l'écluse de la Monnaie. Soleil d'hiver'' File:Rippl Female with Flower 1891.jpg, József Rippl-Rónai, ''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, ''La Vuelta de la Pesca'', 1894 File:Afrique Eugène Delaplanche musée d'Orsay RF3746.jpg, Eugène Delaplanche, ''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 curator ...

: 1994 – 2001 * Serge Lemoine: 2001 – 2008 * Guy Cogeval: March 2008 – March 2017 * Laurence des Cars: March 2017 – present

References

External links

Official siteOfficial site

Orsay Museum – MusaliaVirtual tour of the Musée d'Orsay
provided by

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

* {{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