L'Origine du monde
Gustave Courbet · 1866
Musée d'Orsay
Paris · Founded 1986
A railway station full of Impressionists. Manet, Monet and Renoir hang under the old clock, on the Seine.
- 3.8M
- Visitors a year
- 1986
- Founded
- €16
- Admission
- Tue–Sun 9.30–6
- Daily opening hours
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L'Origine du monde
Gustave Courbet · 1866
L'Origine du monde is a picture painted in oil on canvas by the French painter Gustave Courbet in 1866. It is a close-up view of the vulva and abdomen of a naked woman, lying on a bed with legs spread.
Luncheon on the Grass
Édouard Manet · 1863
Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, originally titled Le Bain (The Bath), is a large oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet created in 1862 and 1863. It depicts a nude woman and a scantily dressed bathing woman on a picnic with two fully dressed men in a rural setting.
Bal du moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1876
Bal du moulin de la Galette (commonly known as Dance at Le moulin de la Galette) is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpieces.
Olympia
Édouard Manet · 1863
Olympia is an 1863 oil painting by Édouard Manet, depicting a nude white woman ("Olympia") lying on a bed being attended to by a black maid. The French government acquired the painting in 1890 after a public subscription organized by Claude Monet. The painting is now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
The Church at Auvers
Vincent van Gogh · 1890
The Church at Auvers is an oil painting created by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh in June 1890 which now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. The painting depicts the Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, 27 kilometres (17 mi) north-west of Paris.
The Birth of Venus
William-Adolphe Bouguereau · 1879
The collections
Paintings: major painters and works represented
Frédéric Bazille, 6 paintings including The Family Reunion, The Improvised Field Hospital, The Pink Dress, Studio in Rue de La Condamine
Sculptures
Sculpture was in high demand in the 19th century and became widely used as a way to display a person's social and political standings.
Other works
It also holds collections of architecture and decorative arts, as well as photography.
Artists
French · 1832–1883 · Impressionism
Édouard Manet was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.
France · 1840–1926
Oscar-Claude Monet was a French painter and founder of Impressionism who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it.
France · 1841–1919 · Impressionism
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading French Impressionist artist. In his depiction of feminine beauty, Renoir has been described as "the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."
French · 1834–1917 · Impressionism
Edgar Degas was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.
French · 1848–1903 · Post-impressionism
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements.
Dutch · 1853–1890 · Post-impressionism
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
Artworks
The Birth of Venus
Alexandre Cabanel · 1863
Ploughing in the Nivernais
Rosa Bonheur · 1849
The Circus
Georges Seurat · 1891
The Tub
Edgar Degas · 1886
The Gleaners
Jean-François Millet · 1857
The Oreads
William-Adolphe Bouguereau · 1902
Flooding at Port-Marly
Alfred Sisley · 1876
La Balançoire
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1876
The Cradle
Berthe Morisot · 1872
Plan your visit
Hours
Tuesday to Sunday 9.30am to 6pm, and Thursdays until 9.45pm. Closed Mondays, 1 May and 25 December. Last admission an hour before closing. Confirm on www.musee-orsay.fr before you travel.
Admission
€16 online, €14 at the museum; €11 reduced on site, and €12 online for the Thursday late opening. Free for under-18s and for under-26s resident in the European Economic Area.
Getting there
Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007 Paris, France.
On their own site
Opening hours, tickets and current exhibitions are on the museum’s own site.
More guides to explore
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100 works from this collection are available on Momentable, free to view, on your TV, phone, or tablet.
