Orsay Museum in Paris

The Orsay Museum was originally designed as a train station in 1900. By the 1950’s it became apparent that the platforms were too short for modern trains and the building became home to a theatre. The history of the museum is quite unusual. In the centre of Paris on the banks of the Seine, the museum was installed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The building itself could be seen as the first “work of art” in the Musee d’Orsay that displays collections of art from the period 1848 to 1914.

The Collections

The museum of Orsay fills the space of time among the collections of the museum of the Louvre, Musée du Jeu de Paume, and those of the museum of Modern art of the Center George Pompidou. This museum is also a place of manifestation, reflexion and formation showing a diversity of creation in the western world. Its auditorium accommodates film projections. The members are given the possession to regularly attend conferences and debates with topics related to the temporary exhibition. Each artistic discipline represented in the Musée d’Orsay collections has its own history, which you have to discover for your self as part of your visit.

Each art collection and display entails history. Paintings were originally from Musée du Luxembourg who exhibits the works of the living artists. There have been arrangements made if the artists of the said paintings have died, ten years after, it will be transferred to Louvre and others were sent to institutions or departments. When the Musée du Luxembourg was closed, paintings which had been scattered throughout France were called in exchange for other works so as not to penalize the museums which had looked after them for so many years.

Construction of the Building
The Orsay museum has been structured according to levels. The ground floor is where the galleries are distributed on either side of the central nave, which is unnoticed by the terraces of the median level, thus opening up into further presentation of galleries. The top floor is installed above the lobby, which covers the length of the Quai and continues into the uppermost elevations of the previous hotel, over the lament de la Légion d’Honneur.
Specific exhibition of the museum’s spaces and diverse facilities are disseminated throughout the three levels: the Pavilion Amont which is the glass pavement of the former station’s western pinion, the Museum restaurant that is installed in the dining hall of the former hotel, and the Café des Hauteurs which the bookshop and the auditorium of the museum.

The enthralling structure of the museum itself will captivate your attention. The enchantment you will experience is really mesmerizing. From the brilliant idea of the architecture, you will see to discover mysterious geographic history of the museum. A magnificent work of a magnificent place! Enjoy all the facilities and its displays with your family. Together you will learn a lot of things about the city and learn to appreciate every single detail of it.

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