What is the Musée d'Orsay?

The Musée d'Orsay is a national museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, featuring work made mainly in France between 1848 and 1914. Located in the former Gare d'Orsay, a railway station and hotel, the museum is home to iconic works of art, including Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863; Luncheon on the Grass ) , and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876; Bal du moulin de la Galette ) . The Musée d'Orsay opened in 1986, displaying works from the National Museum of Modern Art, the Jeu de Paume museum, and the Louvre Museum. Between 2009 and 2011, the Musée d'Orsay renovated parts of its interior to promote better visitor circulation and security. The Musée d'Orsay is one of the most-visited museums in Paris, with more than three million visitors a year.

Where is the Musée d'Orsay located?

The Musée d'Orsay is a national museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, France, featuring work mainly from France between 1848 and 1914. It is located in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel designed by Victor Laloux. The Musée d'Orsay sits on the Left Bank of the Seine River, opposite the Tuileries Gardens.

What kind of art does the Musée d'Orsay display?

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is a national museum dedicated to fine and applied arts, primarily showcasing French art from 1848 to 1914. Housed in the former Gare d'Orsay railway station, its collection includes painting , sculpture, photography, and decorative arts. The museum displays iconic works such as Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio , Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe , and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette . It also features Realist and academic paintings, as well as works by previously unknown artists.

What was the building of the Musée d'Orsay used for before it became a museum?

Before becoming the Musée d'Orsay , the building was the Gare d'Orsay, a railway station and hotel in Paris. It was designed by Victor Laloux and constructed for the 1900 World's Fair. The building had a Beaux Arts facade and a metal interior with passenger elevators and electric rails. However, due to changes in railway technology, the station became outdated and largely vacant by the 1970s. In 1977, a decision was made to transform the building into the Musée d'Orsay. The museum opened in 1986 and is now one of the most-visited museums in Paris.

Who are some famous artists whose works are in the Musée d'Orsay?

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris holds a vast collection of French art from 1848 to 1914. Several famous artists have works showcased there. Some artists with notable paintings in the Musée d’Orsay include Gustave Courbet , whose art includes The Artist’s Studio and A Burial at Ornans ; Édouard Manet , with Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe and Olympia ; and Pierre-Auguste Renoir , who painted Young Girls at the Piano and Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette . Henri Fantin-Latour, and Claude Monet are also featured.

Why is the Musée d'Orsay important to art history?

The Musée d’Orsay is nationally significant as a museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, displaying work produced primarily in France between 1848 and 1914. Housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel designed by Victor Laloux, the museum's collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, and decorative arts. The transformation of the building into a museum was initiated in 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The Musée d'Orsay officially opened in 1986 and has grown into one of the most-visited museums in Paris. The museum is home to iconic works such as Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio (1854–55), Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863; Luncheon on the Grass), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876; Bal du moulin de la Galette).

Musée d’Orsay

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Painting by Gustave Courbet showing the artist at his easel in a crowded studio, surrounded by figures including a nude model, onlookers, and a child with a white dog.

Édouard Manet: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

Oil painting A Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet shows a large group of mourners, clergy, and a dog gathered outdoors at a gravesite, with cliffs in the background.

Painting by Claude Monet showing a field of red poppies near Argenteuil, with two women and a child walking among the flowers under a partly cloudy sky.

James McNeill Whistler: Portrait of the Artist's Mother

Painting by Jean-Francois Millet showing three peasant women bent over in a field, gathering leftover grain, with haystacks and workers in the distant background.

Gustave Caillebotee: Raboteurs de parquet

Quick Facts

French:: “Orsay Museum”

Date:: 1986 - present

Areas Of Involvement:: 21 Notable Paintings in the Musée d’Orsay

Related People:: Gaetana Aulenti; Henri Loyrette

Related Facts And Data:: Champs-Élysées - Facts

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Musée d’Orsay

museum, Paris, France

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History

Top Questions

What is the Musée d'Orsay?
The Musée d'Orsay is a national museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, featuring work made mainly in France between 1848 and 1914. Located in the former Gare d'Orsay, a railway station and hotel, the museum is home to iconic works of art, including Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863; Luncheon on the Grass), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876; Bal du moulin de la Galette).

The Musée d'Orsay opened in 1986, displaying works from the National Museum of Modern Art, the Jeu de Paume museum, and the Louvre Museum. Between 2009 and 2011, the Musée d'Orsay renovated parts of its interior to promote better visitor circulation and security. The Musée d'Orsay is one of the most-visited museums in Paris, with more than three million visitors a year.
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Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where is the Musée d'Orsay located?
The Musée d'Orsay is a national museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, France, featuring work mainly from France between 1848 and 1914. It is located in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel designed by Victor Laloux. The Musée d'Orsay sits on the Left Bank of the Seine River, opposite the Tuileries Gardens.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What kind of art does the Musée d'Orsay display?
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is a national museum dedicated to fine and applied arts, primarily showcasing French art from 1848 to 1914. Housed in the former Gare d'Orsay railway station, its collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, and decorative arts.

The museum displays iconic works such as Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio, Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette. It also features Realist and academic paintings, as well as works by previously unknown artists.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What was the building of the Musée d'Orsay used for before it became a museum?
Before becoming the Musée d'Orsay, the building was the Gare d'Orsay, a railway station and hotel in Paris. It was designed by Victor Laloux and constructed for the 1900 World's Fair. The building had a Beaux Arts facade and a metal interior with passenger elevators and electric rails. However, due to changes in railway technology, the station became outdated and largely vacant by the 1970s.

In 1977, a decision was made to transform the building into the Musée d'Orsay. The museum opened in 1986 and is now one of the most-visited museums in Paris.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Who are some famous artists whose works are in the Musée d'Orsay?
The Musée d’Orsay in Paris holds a vast collection of French art from 1848 to 1914. Several famous artists have works showcased there.

Some artists with notable paintings in the Musée d’Orsay include Gustave Courbet, whose art includes The Artist’s Studio and A Burial at Ornans; Édouard Manet, with Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe and Olympia; and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who painted Young Girls at the Piano and Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette. Henri Fantin-Latour, and Claude Monet are also featured.
2 Britannica Sources
1. 21 Notable Paintings in the Musée d’Orsay: Young Girls at the Piano(1892)
2. Musée d’Orsay
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why is the Musée d'Orsay important to art history?
The Musée d’Orsay is nationally significant as a museum of fine and applied arts in Paris, displaying work produced primarily in France between 1848 and 1914. Housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel designed by Victor Laloux, the museum's collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, and decorative arts.

The transformation of the building into a museum was initiated in 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The Musée d'Orsay officially opened in 1986 and has grown into one of the most-visited museums in Paris. The museum is home to iconic works such as Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio (1854–55), Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863; Luncheon on the Grass), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876; Bal du moulin de la Galette).
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Musée d’Orsay, national museum of fine and applied arts in Paris that features work mainly from France between 1848 and 1914. Its collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, and decorative arts and boasts such iconic works as Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio (1854–55), Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863; Luncheon on the Grass), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876; Bal du moulin de la Galette).

(Read Sister Wendy’s Britannica essay on art appreciation.)

The Musée d’Orsay is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel that was designed by Victor Laloux and located on the Left Bank of the Seine River opposite the Tuileries Gardens. At the time of its completion in 1900, the building featured an ornate Beaux Arts façade, while its interior boasted metal construction, passenger elevators, and electric rails. Because of changes in railway technology, however, the station soon became outdated and was largely vacant by the 1970s. Talks to transform the building into an art museum began early in the decade and were finalized in 1977 through the initiative of Pres. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. With government funds, the building was restored and remodeled in the early 1980s by ACT architecture group. The interior was designed by Gaetana Aulenti, who created a complex layout of galleries that occupied three main levels surrounding the atrium beneath the building’s iconic iron-and-glass barrel vault. On the ground floor, formerly the building’s train platforms, extensive stone structures broke up the cavernous space and created a central nave for the sculpture collection and gallery spaces for painting and decorative arts.

(Read Glenn Lowry’s Britannica essay on “Art Museums & Their Digital Future.”)

The decree to transform the Gare d’Orsay into an art museum had come at an opportune time, as works from the national collection needed new accommodations. The National Museum of Modern Art left behind works that did not fit within its revised art program when it moved from the Palais de Tokyo building to the new Pompidou Centre that year; the Jeu de Paume museum, home to France’s Impressionist collection since 1947, had become overcrowded; and the Louvre Museum had resorted to keeping select paintings and sculptures from the late 19th-century Salons, France’s official annual art exhibitions, in storage because of its lack of exhibition space. Many of the Musée d’Orsay’s paintings and sculptures thus came from the inventories of these three institutions. The museum also sought to present a complex and comprehensive view of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and so began its own photography collection and acquired additional works from the national collection to build decorative arts and architecture collections. By the time the Musée d’Orsay opened in 1986, it had amassed an inclusive collection that featured such illustrious avant-garde Realist paintings as A Burial at Ornans (1849–50) by Courbet and Olympia (1863) by Manet, academic paintings such as The Birth of Venus (1879) by William Bouguereau, and works by previously unknown artists.

Promoting better visitor circulation and security, the museum renovated parts of its interior between 2009 and 2011, including the Impressionist galleries and the café. The Musée d’Orsay grew into one of the most-visited museums in Paris, typically receiving more than three million visitors annually.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.

Musée d’Orsay

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