Musee d'Orsay
A bit of history

A railway station turned museum

A new railway station was built on the opposite side of the Seine to the Louvre just in time for the Paris Exposition of 1900. The Gare d’Orsay was an ultra-modern station designed by architect Victor Laloux. The space above the station became a hotel, with a banquet hall that clubs and associations could hire out to put on events. With modern electric trains taking the place of old steam trains, the station could have a closed roof.

In 1939 and the years that followed, the station was repurposed. It became a reception centre for prisoners of war and concentration camp survivors in 1945.
The station also provided a backdrop for film-makers (Orson Welles and Bernardo Bertolucci).

But what about the long-term plans for this disused railway station? All kinds of ideas were put forward… An office building for Caisse des dépôts. An administration centre for Air France. A proposal to knock it down and build a huge hotel in its place was even considered and almost approved but the plans ended up being rejected. Phew! That was back in 1971. In 1973, the old hotel and station were completely closed off and added to a list of historic monuments. The building was officially listed in 1978.

Plans to convert the building into a museum were starting to take shape by this point. The first call for designs from architects was launched in 1978. A second one followed in 1980. Italian architect Gae Aulenti was then chosen to design the interior. The two towers at the end of the central aisle were part of her design. Gae Aulenti also designed the inside of the MNAC in Barcelona – another building created specifically for an international exposition…

The basic structure and design of the old industrial building were retained when it was renovated, but adjustments were made to bring it in line with modern requirements. For example, the ceiling rosettes in the arched bays were restored to their original state and equipped with sound insulation equipment and air-conditioning vents.

The Musée d’Orsay was officially opened by President François Mitterrand on 1 December 1986.
Every year, millions of visitors flock to this grand museum to explore one of the most prolific periods in art history.

Claude
Monet

Claude Monet (1840–1926) is the most famous impressionist artist.
Although his early work had a strong focus on realism, he quickly transitioned to the new style that emerged in the mid-19th century. The name ‘impressionism’ comes from the Latin ‘impressio’ and the French ‘impressionisme’. Monet’s 1872 painting called ‘Impression, Sunset’ is credited with inspiring the name of the impressionist movement. This painting is currently on display at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris.

Monet’s art was influenced by the impressionist movement before he produced this painting, though. There was a shift away from the realistic portrayal of people, landscapes and objects. Instead, the focus was on the painting technique, with the brush strokes softening reality and drawing attention away from the detail. Small touches or commas of colour were painted next to one another to create visual effects.
‘On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt’, 1868, is generally believed to be one of Monet’s earliest impressionist pieces. But the later ‘Water Lilies’ series that he painted in his garden in Giverny – currently on display at the Musée de l’Orangerie – is his best-known impressionist work.

‘Woman with a Parasol’

There are actually two versions of this painting starring the same person and portraying the same moment on the same day just from two different perspectives.
Monet captured this particular impression in 1886 on a boat trip around his island Ile aux Orties, another of his main sources of inspiration for his later work alongside his garden. This island was a safe haven for his beloved Alice Hoschedé and her children. From his boat, he saw her daughter Suzanne Hoschedé standing on a dune. Her parasol was shielding her from the wind and her scarf was blowing around. He wanted to capture this image of her and he did so twice – once from the left and once from the right.
He used that typical impressionist comma technique I mentioned before. He held back in his use of colour, keeping the top half minimal and adding a touch of brightness to the meadow.