Orsay Museum, the impressionist museum of Paris

Housed in the former Orsay station, the Orsay Museum is the impressionist museum of Paris.

Built in 1900, the beautiful "Gare d'Orsay" was one of Paris main stations with trains to Bordeaux.

Located across the Louvre Museum on the Seine river left bank, it has been spectacularly renovated  from 1977 to 1986 to host the Orsay Museum collections. Locate Orsay Museum on Paris map.

The Orsay Museum, a must for art lovers, is known worldwide for its fabulous impressionist paintings.

The "Impressionism" was a French painting school in the second half of the 19th century.

The impressionists included Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edgar Manet and Theo Van Gogh. They  painted ordinary life and people in the open air.

They totally rejected the tradition of historical and mythological subjects and used light colors.

Above all, they are famous for having departed from the tradition of reproducing the real world.

They instead used color spots and strokes to suggest their impression of the real world. This impression is only perceivable at a distance from their paintings.

The Impressionist paintings are now widely acclaimed as some of the bests in art history.

Musee d'Orsay
1, Rue de Bellechasse 75007 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 40 49 48 14

Metro station Solferino
Parking at the museum
Open Tuesdays to Sundays 9.30am to 6pm (9.45 on Thursdays)
Web site

Avoid the queue with the Paris Museum pass

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