Paris France- The Musee D'Orsay is one of the most famous museums to visit when you are in Paris. While most people think of other places such as the Louvre, many will make a special trip just to see the Musee D'Orsay. The reason is that it houses many of the great works of art that have been created throughout history. Masterpieces from painters such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent Van Gogh are housed in this museum. But if you prefer other forms of art as
Sculptures and Photography they can be found here as well, but we will get to that later.
The first thing that you need to know about this musuem is that while it is not as big as other museums in Paris, this does not mean that you will want to cut yourself short on time. As a matter of fact I would recommend giving yourself the day to be able to walk through and enjoy the entire museum at your leisure. It will depend on the person as to how much time you will want in the museum but it's always better to end up leaving before you expect and doing something else than wishing that you had more time, although I don't think that you will end up leaving early.
The first thing that you should take notice of is that building itself, you will notice that the structure is not like any other museum in the city, the reason is that the building was station, it was not designed to be a museum. The building was used as a station and hotel prior to housing the musuem and dates back to 1900. The museum opened to the public in 1986, and has been drawing visitors every since. While if you take a look and think about the design you can see that it was once a station, it looks more like a palace to me, perhaps it's the layout or what is inside, but either way it's a very powerful place to be.
As I stated earlier this museum has more than just paintings, I was very surprised with thier collection of photography. As a matter of fact few people know about this collection before they visit. Many of the photographers that are featured in the collection helped to create the art form as we see it today, before visiting the museum if you are not familiar with some of these photographers I highly recommend that to look at their work and learn a little about them so that you can apprieciate the works that you will see. The 46,000 piece collection includes photographs from photographers such as Hippolyte Bayard, Edward Steichen, Edgar Degas, Gustave Le Gray, Roger Fenton, Paul Strand, and William Henry Fox Talbot. Make sure during your visit that look at these works.
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| Rodin's Gates of Hell |
If you prefer the works of sculptors then you won't be disappointed with their collection. All throughout the museum you can see scupltures from famous artists and some that you will be delighted to discover for the first time. Some of the most popular pieces come from artists such as Auguste Rodin, Pierre Auguste Renoir, François Pompon, Ernest Meissonier, Paul Gauguin, Edgar Degas, and many others. While the paintings are the pieces that will draw visitors to this place these other pieces are not to be missed.
If you are interested in looking to see what paintings are housed at the museum that can be found on their website and many other resources, but just to give you a taste of what you can expect to see I will tell you some of my favorites. William Bouguereau's Equality before Death, Edouard Manet's Rochefort's Escape, Paul Cézanne's The Hanged Man's House, Claude Monet's Blue Water Lilies, Edvard Munch's Summer Night at Aagaardstrand, Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, and Paul Gauguin's The White Horse.
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| Van Gogh's Starry Night |
There are a few things to remember when visiting, one, make sure that you treat all these works with respect, that means do not touch them as the oils from your fingers can damage them, and do not write or mark on them, this would seem like common sense, but you would be surprised what some people do. Two, you can take photographs of some pieces of art (not photography), but you are not allowed to use a flash when around the paintings, as flashes can damage the paintings over time. If you would like to visit the musuem they are open:
9.30am to 6pm
late night on Thursdays 9.45pmlast tickets sold at 5pm except Thursdays
museum guest must leave at 5.30pm Except Thursdays
closed on Mondays and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December
For more information visit their website www.musee-orsay.fr
