Orsay Museum Paris

Between 1830 - 1840 the Palais d'Orsay was built across from the Tuileries Gardens.
In 1871 a fire devastated the Palais and made a ruin out of it.

In 1897, The Orleans Railway Company obtained the government's approval for a plan to build a Station on the ruins of the Palais.

In 1900 the new Rail Station and a hotel was inaugurated.

( This is the entrance in the museum, in second plan you have a glimpse of Eiffel Tower.)

The Station wasn't functional for a long time, as the cars replaced the need of trains.

In 1973 the tall metallic structure became an Historic Monument.

Orsay is a new modern Museum. It was built in that former railroad station, and opened in 1986.
This is how the old Railroad Station looked:

and how the Museum looks now:

The location was the Historic Building I just described in the middle of Paris. It was Valery Giscard d'Estaing the President of France, who approved the budget and this was the act of birth, of the museum, and was Francois Mitterrand, the new President of France what made possible the construction.

It was a gigantic complicated project to turn an abandoned building and misunderstood architecture into a Museum.

Another aspect of the creation of this museum was its pluri-disciplinary ambition.

• They want to have Paintings and Sculptures, as a classical museum but also Architecture, Furniture, Ceramic, Glassware, Photography and Films collections and each of those request a typical space and arrangements for the best exposure
• They want the original appearance to be restored. They brilliantly succeeded, just scroll a little back and look one more time at the old vs. new pictures.

First of all, Orsey had a warm atmosphere, an excellent use of spaces and lighting. It was built by a brilliant group of architects. And it is a masterpiece, it is a modern museum as architecture, it has a great collection, and the original appearance was restored.

As I got in, I was impressed by the volume of the tall main lobby, the excellent utilization of 17,000 square meters of exhibition space using the benefit of the natural overhead lighting.

In the main lobby, at the museum entrance, I filed welcome by the six big statues symbolizing the 6 continents.

The entire museum was done in such a way that if you got in, you had all you need to spend an entire day.
I did not plan this way but I really was happy to stay an entire day.

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Paintings The Collection is remarkable: Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Gustave Courbet, Camille Pissarro, Paul Signac, Lionel Walden, Alfred Sisley.

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What impressed me the most was the way the day light was used and the way the indirect light was used for water colors paintings. I never, ever enjoy Degas dancers more then that day on Orsay.

This is the first impression getting in the Museum.

It seems obvious to me that the most striking aspect of the architecture of the Orsay Museum is its central hall, which reflects the understanding of another age for the importance of large, open public spaces.

The versatility of the exhibition areas is fascinating.

No artistic discipline are omitted:

• Painting
• Sculptures
• Architecture and Urbanism
• Decorative arts
• Photography
• Books
• The beginning of the film production.

Beautiful Sculptures : Rodin, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux , Joseph Bernard, Camille Claudel, Georges Lacombe, Antonin Mercie, James Pradier, Ernest Christophe

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It is hard to take pictures of white marble, they are more beautiful and transparent and alive then pictures can show.

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They had a brilliant idea to create special services - to relate to the public:

• Audiovisual and Data Processing (films)Twenty films were shot prior to the opening and they are shown in in audiovisual rooms
• Welcome for Young Visitors workshop rooms for visitors the age 5 to15, they are related with school curriculum, age and talents of students
• Conferences, Classes, PublicationsConferences and debate programs, a series "the artist's life"
• Events, Concertsthe museum has an auditorium used for film projection, concerts, debated by a variety of themes
• Memberships you can become a "user/member" with a lot of free benefits.

PhotographyThey have a stricken collection of Photography, starting with the beginning of if 1914. The American Photography is very well represented.

The Decorative Arts They have a collection of Furniture, objects, and History of Architecture which was my delight.

You cannot be a perfect tourist without a good digital camera.
This is a short recommended list of cameras and accessories!

A camera is also a great gift for any occasion: Holiday, Anniversary!

Nikon Coolpix L22 12.0MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD
(Red-primary)

Fujifilm FinePix S1800 12.2 MP Digital Camera with 18x Wide Angle Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-Inch LCD

Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD
(Blue)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD
(Black)

Kingston 8 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card SD4/8GBET

Nikon Coolpix L110 12.1MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Vibration Reduction
(VR) Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD
(Black)

Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD

Sandisk 4GB Secure Digital SD HC Memory Card
(SDSDB-4096, BULK, No Reader)

Kodak EasyShare Z981 14MP Digital Camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 26x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Lens and 3.0 Inch LCD

You find all my lenses and more about me and my life, please go to my Lensography.
To do so, click on - My LENSOGRAPHY - in the next frame

My LENSOGRAPHY, Click now!