Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Orsay station, built between 1898 and 1900 by architect Victor Laloux, was originally designed as a monumental terminus for the Paris-Orléans Railway Company. Inauguration at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, it welcomed visitors and foreign delegations, extending the railway lines to the heart of Paris. Its architecture combined a bold metallic window with an adorned stone trim, reflecting the French know-how of the time. Three monumental statues, representing Bordeaux, Toulouse and Nantes, decorated its facade, symbolizing the company's flagship destinations.

Since the 1920s, the station, which had become obsolete for modern trains, saw its traffic decline. Partially disused after 1939, it served as a yard during the Second World War and then as a transit point for prisoners of war in 1945. In the 1950s-1960s, it was reused as a humanitarian warehouse (operation by Abbé Pierre), cinema decor (including Le Procès d'Orson Welles), and ephemeral cultural space for the Renaud-Barrault theatre. Threatened by demolition in the 1970s, it was saved by its classification as a historical monument in 1978.

The station, transformed into a museum under the leadership of President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, became in 1986 the Musée d'Orsay, dedicated to the 19th century arts (1848-1914). Architects ACT Architecture (Bardon, Colboc, Philippon) and Gae Aulenti transformed its interior, preserving the central nave as a major axis of the museum journey. The museum completes the Louvre collections for this period, exhibiting paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and photographs. The underground station, reduced to four lanes, became a stop on the RER C in 1979, while the name Giscard d'Estaing was affixed to it in 2021.

The façade of the station bears the names of 18 formerly served destinations, including Bordeaux, Nantes and Toulouse. Its Terminus hotel, comprising 370 rooms, initially masked the machinery lobby. The vault caissons, richly decorated, were preserved thanks to the early electrification of the lines. Today, the site combines active railway heritage (RER station) and cultural heritage (museum), attracting millions of annual visitors.

The Musée d'Orsay includes works from the Louvre (post-1848) and the Musée national d'Art moderne (pre-1918), covering all currents, from realism to post-impressionism. Its architecture, combining industrial structure and academic ornaments, makes it a symbol of Parisian urban metamorphoses. The Senghor Bridge and the adjacent banks of the Seine underline its anchoring in the Parisian landscape.

Future

The President of the French Republic Valéry Giscard d'Estaing wanted to transform the building into a 19th-century art museum. In frontal competition with the Louvre Museum, rich in pictorial works from the 1st half of the 19th century, it is decided that the future Musée d'Orsay will be the extension and complement.

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