Musée d'Orsay

Located on the Left Bank of the river Seine, opposite the Tuileries Gardens, the Musée d'Orsay was converted from the railway station, Gare d'Orsay, in the 1980s.

The original railway station was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. It was the head of the southwestern French railroad network until 1939. But as the railways were electrified subsequently, the platforms proved too short for the new, longer trains and so the station could only serve suburban traffic.

The Musée d'Orsay opened to the public in December, 1986. Its collection covers mainly French art from the period between 1848 and 1915. It houses works, which came from three principal sources, the Louvre Museum, the Musée du Jeu de Paume, and the original National Museum of Modern Art.

The Musée d'Orsay collection includes sculptures, furniture, and photography, as well as paintings, but it is known particularly for its impressionist and post-impressionist works by painters, such as Cezanne (56 paintings), Degas (43), Gauguin (24), Manet (34), Monet (86), Pissarro (46), Renoir (81), and Van Gogh (24).

The sculptures include works by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Jules Cavelier, Camille Claudel, Honoré Daumier, Paul Gauguin, Auguste Rodin, and François Rude.

The museum is currently undergoing major renovation and improvement works. Its collections have been rearranged, but it remains largely open to the public.


Visiting Address:
 Musée d'Orsay entrance: 1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur
 75007 Paris
 
Nearest Metro:
 Line 12, stations Assemblee Nationale, Solferino

Opening Hours:
 Museum and exhibitions
 Open from 9.30am to 6pm daily, except Mondays
 Late night on Thursdays until 9.45pm
 Last tickets sold at 5pm (9pm Thursdays)
 Museum cleared at 5.30pm (9.15pm Thursdays)
 Group visits, pre-booked only, Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4pm (Thursdays until 8pm)
 Closed on Mondays, on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December

Construction Date:
 Station 1898 - 1900
 Museum 1979 - 1986

Architect:
 Station - Lucien Magne, Emile Bénard and Victor Laloux
 Museum - ACT architecture group, made up of M. Bardon, M. Colboc and M. Philippon

Website address
 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html