Musee d’Orsay

Musee d’Orsay

 Musee d’Orsay

There is no draught in this train station, just art and light! Inaugurated during the exposition Universelle of 1990, the Orsay train station resembled “a fine art palace” to the painter Edouard Detaille … which was what it was to become 86 years later. Unsuitable for modern trains, its deserted platforms finally closed in 1979. Plans to demolish it in 1970 were overturned just in time and it became a listed building. Its immense volumes were transformed into a museum whose canopy, nave, cupolas, pillars, iron girders and stucco decors draw unanimous praise. 

 Musee d’Orsay

 Musee d’Orsay

The huge clock in the glass roof of the central alley dominates a chronological layout over three main levels, focussing on the major artists movements in Western art from 1848 to 1914: painting, sculpture, graphic arts and art objects, as well as furniture, architecture and photography. The period was so productive, the collections so rich in wonderful works that it seem impossible to cite one unique masterpiece.

 Musee d’Orsay

Musee d’Orsay