Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(See “Orsay Museum—Ground Floor” map,
here
.)
Self-Guided Tour:
This former train station, or
gare,
barely escaped the wrecking
ball in the 1970s, when the French realized it'd be a great place to exhibit the enormous col-
lections of 19th-century art scattered throughout the city. The ground floor (level 0) houses
early 19th-century art, mainly conservative art of the Academy and Salon, plus Realism. On
the top floor is the core of the collection—the Impressionist rooms. If you're pressed for
time,godirectlythere.Keepinmindthatthecollectionisalwaysonthemove—paintingson
loan, in restoration, or displayed in different rooms. The museum updates its website daily
with the latest layout (
www.musee-orsay.fr
)
.
ConservativeArttoRealism:
IntheOrsay'sfirstfewrooms,you'resurroundedbyvis-
ions of idealized beauty—nude women in languid poses, Greek mythological figures, and
anatomically perfect statues. This was the art adored by French academics and the middle-
class
(bourgeois)
public.
Farther along on the ground floor, you'll witness the shift to Realism.
Jean-François
Millet's
The Gleaners
(
Les Glaneuses,
1867) depicts the poor women who pick up the mea-
gerleftoversafterafieldhasalreadybeenharvestedbythewealthy.Thisis“Realism”intwo
senses. It's painted “realistically,” not prettified. And it's the “real” world—not the fantasy
world of Greek myth, but the harsh life of the working poor.
Alexandre Cabanel's
The Birth of Venus
(
La Naissance de Vénus
, 1863) and
Edouard
Manet's
Olympia
(1863) offer two opposing visions of Venus. Cabanel's Venus is a perfect
fantasy,anorgasmofbeauty.Manet'snudeisaRealist'stakeonthetraditionalVenus.Manet
doesn'tglossoveranything.Theposeisclassic,butthesharpoutlinesandharsh,contrasting
colors are new and shocking. Manet replaced soft-core porn with hard-core art.
Impressionism:
The Impressionist collection is scattered somewhat randomly through
rooms 29-36 of the top floor. You'll see Monet hanging next to Renoir, Manet sprinkled
among Pissarro, and a few Degas here and a few Cézannes there. Shadows dance and the
displays mingle. Where they're hung is a lot like their brushwork...delightfully sloppy.
In
Manet's
LuncheonontheGrass
(
LeDéjeunersurl'Herbe
,1863),anewrevolutionary
movement is starting to bud—Impressionism. Notice the background: the messy brushwork
of trees and leaves, the play of light on the pond, and the light that filters through the trees
onto the woman who stoops in the haze. Also note the strong contrast of colors (white skin,
black clothes, green grass). This is a true out-of-doors painting, not a studio production.
EdgarDegas
blendedclassicallineswithImpressionistcolor,spontaneity,andeveryday
subjects from urban Paris. He loved the unposed “snapshot” effect, catching his models off
guard. In
The Dance Class
(
La Classe de Danse
, c. 1873-1875), bored, tired dancers scratch
their backs restlessly at the end of a long rehearsal.
In a Café,
or
Absinthe
(
Au Café, dit
L'Absinthe,
1876) captures a weary lady of the evening meeting morning with a last, lonely,
