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The musée d'Orsay is a museum housed in a grand railway station built in 1900 Home to many sculptures and impressionist paintings, it has become one of Paris's most popular museums

New Railway Stations

At the turn of the 19th century, two large railway stations were built in Paris, the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d'Orsay The Gare d'Orsay had the most prominent site, along the Seine opposite the Louvre The railway station was planned by the Compagnie d'Orléans, who wanted to bring electrified trains right into the heart of Paris

Design

The architect first appointed was Eugène Hénard He intended to use industrial material on the facade facing the Louvre Facing fierce protests from preservationists, the Compagnie d'Orléans decided to hold a competition supervised by a parliamentary commission The winner of this contest was Leloux, who had also designed the railway station in Tours, France

His design was acclaimed for the integration of the metal vault in the stone exterior

The Railway Station

The Gare d'Orsay was inaugurated on the 14th of July 1900 for the Paris World Exposition and was considered a masterpiece of industrial architecture But soon the platforms had become too short for the now much longer trains and as early as 1939, the gare d'Orsay was out of use as a train station Over time it was used as a parking lot, as a shooting stand, as a theatre location and even as a reception center for prisoners of war

The train station was completely abandoned since 1961 when it was saved from demolition by the French president Pompidou In 1978 the president Giscard d'Estaing decided to use the gare d'Orsay as a museum for 19th and 20th century art It would not only contain paintings, but it would cover different art forms, including sculptures, engravings, photos, film, architecture and urbanism Restoration of the musée d'Orsay, as it is now called, started in 1979 and finally on the 29th November, 1986 it was inaugurated by the French president Mitterand

Collection

The museum contains 2300 paintings, 1500 sculptures and 1000 other objects It covers a period from mid 19th century till mid 20th centuries and contains works from Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh and others

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