musee d’orsay paris

by mia hadjigeorgiou

While many queue for hours to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre for a matter of seconds, locals in Paris know the most exciting art lies in the far less busy Musee d’Orsay. Home to a vast collection of famous paintings, sculptures, restorations and cinema, this art museum is nothing short of the finest in Paris.

Musee d’Orsay’s architectural history is almost as interesting as the pieces under its
large glass ceiling. Built in the year 1900, it was originally designed and used as a railway station, but was gradually converted into a museum and officially opened in its modern capacity in 1986. Its design allows the museum to feel warm under soft natural daylight, which frames the dozens of sculptures nicely, particularly those made of stone.

This soft-light design is then heavily contrasted with the dedicated cinema room towards the end of the museum’s exhibitions- a dark modern space with projections of different historical works of cinema on each wall. What makes the cinema room so interesting though is not just the celebration of the actual films being shown, but also the celebration of the advances in recording equipment which made film-making the art it is.

That being said, personally my favourite collection in Musee d’Orsay is undoubtedly the Vincent Van Gogh collection. The museum displays a number of Van Gogh’s most renowned paintings, donated primarily throughout the 1940s and 50s by Paul and Marguerite Gachet. Pieces include Van Gogh’s 1889 self-portrait, his 1889 ‘The Bedroom’, and his 1890 ‘The Church at Auvers’, the last of which some may recognise as the focal point of a 2010 Doctor-Who episode starring Matt Smith.

Overall, Musee d’Orsay is a much-underappreciated gem in the centre of Paris, just a stone’s throw away from the often-overcrowded Louvre. With a range of discounted tickets including free entry for under-18s and free entry for all on the first Sunday of each month, Musee d’Orsay is a must visit for those wanting to indulge in Parisian art without the crowds and enormous entry fees.