The Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris on the left bank of the Seine, housed in the former Orsay railway station. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces by popular painters such as Monet and Renoir. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume previous to the museum's opening in 1986.

Figures

The Building
Length without the awning: 173 metres (189 yards, 567'7")
Length including awning: 188 metres (205 ½ yards, 616'9")
Breadth: 75 metres (82 yards, 246')

The Hall under the Nave
Length: 138 metres (150 ¾ yards, 452'9")
Breadth: 40 metres (43 ¾ yards, 131')
Height: 32 metres (104'11")

The Materials
12 000 metric tons of metallic structures
35 000 square metres of glass
30 000 square metres of Buxy (Burgundy) stone for the covering of floors and walls
1 600 staff rose casings in the nave

The Museum
Used surface: 57,400 square metres
Galleries of presentation of the artworks: about 16,000 square metres, i.e. about 80 separate galleries (permanent exhibition of about 4,000 artworks)
Temporary exhibition galleries: 1,200 square metres
Cafés - restaurant: 1,200 square metres
Auditorium: 570 square metres, seating 347
Visitors' services: 2,450 square metres
Reserves: 3,000 square metres

Number of visitors
Annual frequentation of the museum: 2,239,050 visitors in average per year between 1994 and 2003, 2,590,316 visitors in 2004

A Few Technical Data
1 million cubic metres of air treated each hour for air conditioning
40,000 acoustic resonators
7,500 kWh of installed electric power
2 generating sets
10 escalators
6 elevators and lifts

Access and Ticket Prices

Access
entrance to the museum and exhibitions by the square
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur :
* for individual visitors without ticket
on the side of the river Seine, entrance A
* for members (Carte Blanche and MuséO holders), visitors with tickets or passes or with priority
on the side of the rue de Lille, entrance C
* for adults in groups
on the side of the river Seine, entrance B
* for school groups
on the side of the rue de Lille, entrance D

Transportation

Buses: 24, 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, and 94
Métro: line 12, Solférino station
RER: line C, Musée d'Orsay station
Boat: Batobus
Taxis: Rue de Solférino and Quai Anatole-France
Car parks: Deligny, Louvre and Montalembert

Opening Hours

The museum is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9.30am to 6pm
and on Thursdays from 9.30am to 9.45pm

Tickets sold until 5pm, 9pm on Thursdays

Galleries start closing at 5.30pm, 9.15pm on Thursdays

The museum is open on Easter Sunday, on Ascention Day, on July 14, on November 1 and on November 11 (Mondays excepted)