We feel very privileged to be just a couple of hours away from one of the finest collections of Impressionist art in the United States at the Art Institute of Chicago. But I knew that even more was in store for us at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
The Louvre housed many of France’s greatest treasures until 1986, when the Musée d’Orsay opened in what had been the Gare d’Orsay, the stunning train station designed by architect Victor Laloux for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, or World’s Fair. The collections were reorganized, with many works created after 1848 transferred from the Louvre to the new Musée d’Orsay. For art lovers, especially those of us who love the Impressionists, this made the Musée d’Orsay the destination for many of our favorite works in Paris.
Before we get to the art, however, you cannot ignore the extraordinary building itself. The gilded clocks at each end of the grand hall immediately catch your attention. Look closely at the frosted glass above the clocks, and you can see the soft silhouettes of people walking along the fourth floor.
The fourth floor is the first destination for many visitors. This is where you will find the cafés and the enormous clocks that look out toward the Seine on one side and the Left Bank on the other.
Although the building itself is an attraction, the art seems endless. Sculptures fill the grand hall as well as the mezzanine above. Among them was an 1889 bronze model of the Statue of Liberty by sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, a study for Rodin’s The Thinker, and Degas’ Petite danseuse de quatorze ans.
The galleries are filled with familiar works by the great artists of the era, including Renoir, Monet, Degas, Caillebotte, Van Gogh, and the list goes on. We were fortunate to visit while the Renoir et l’amour exhibition was on display, before it was scheduled to travel to London.
There were countless familiar works, many of which we had seen over the years in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Seeing them in the Musée d’Orsay, surrounded by so many other works from the same period, was a completely different experience.
There were also many unique exhibits, such as this display of beautifully designed fans.
I know many people feel that they could spend an entire day—or even their entire visit to Paris—in the Louvre. But for me, I’ll take the Musée d’Orsay over the Louvre any day of the week.
