Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There:
The museum, at 1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, sits above the RER-
CstopcalledMuséed'Orsay;thenearestMétrostopisSolférino,threeblockssoutheastof
the Orsay. Bus #69 also stops at the Orsay. From the Louvre, it's a lovely 15-minute walk
through the Tuileries Garden and across the pedestrian bridge to the Orsay.
Getting In:
The ticket-buying line can be long, but you can skip it with a Museum
Pass or an advance ticket. As you face the entrance, passholders and ticket holders enter
on the right (Entrance C). Ticket purchasers enter on the left (Entrance A). You can also
avoidlinesbygoingonThursdayevening,whenthemuseumisopenlate.Asecuritycheck
slows up all entrances.
Tours: Audioguides
cost€5.English
guided tours
usuallyrundailyat11:30(€7.50/
1.5 hours, none on Sun, may run at other times—inquire when you arrive). Or you can
Background:
TheImpressionistpaintersrejectedcamera-like detailforaquickstyle
more suited to capturing the passing moment. Feeling stifled by the rigid rules and stuffy
atmosphere of the Academy (the state-funded art school), the Impressionists took as their
motto, “Out of the studio, into the open air.” They grabbed their berets and scarves and
wentonexcursionstothecountry,wheretheysetuptheireasels(andnewlyinventedtubes
of premixed paint) on riverbanks and hillsides, or they sketched in cafés and dance halls.
Gods, goddesses, nymphs, and fantasy scenes were out; common people and rural land-
scapes were in.
The quick style and everyday subjects were ridiculed and called childish by the “ex-
perts.” Rejected by the Salon (where works were exhibited to the buying public), the Im-
pressionists staged their own exhibition in 1874. They brashly took their name from an
insultthrownatthembyacriticwholaughedatoneofMonet's“impressions”ofasunrise.
Duringthenextdecade,theyexhibitedtheirownworkindependently.Thepublic,opposed
atfirst,wasslowlywonoverbythesimplicity,thecolor,andthevibrancyofImpressionist
art.
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
collections 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, go directly there. Keep in mind that the collection is always on the
move—paintings on loan, in restoration, or displayed in different rooms. The museum up-
dates its website daily with the latest layout (
www.musee-orsay.fr
).
