rsay

 Plans for the conversion of the station into a museum exhibiting all aspects of art in the second half of the 19th century were put forward by the Pompidou government in l973, in response to the wishes of The Direction des Museus de France. In effect, the Gare d'Orsay benefited from a revival of interest in the 19th century, which unfortunately came too late to save Baltard's Halles. A threat to demolish the station and replace it with gigantic hotel was fortunately averted. And the museum and the museum project was taken in hand and promoted by President Giscard d'Estaing who set up a Public Institution to complete the works. This initiative was confirmed by President Mitterrand in 1981. In l979 a team set up by ACT Architecture (Renaud Bardon, Pierre Colboc and Jean-Paul Philippon) was selected after an open competition to carry out the necessary structural works. The Italian woman architect Gae Aulenti who had carried out the renovation of the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, was entrusted with the museum's interior design and decoration. New elements were added to main hall, opening the main sweep of the arches to the gaze and installing exhibition rooms topped by terraces on either side of a central aisle. These rooms and terraces communicate with other rooms on two levels, in a series of vestibules along the facade facing the Seine. At the top of the building under the roof of the station and the old hotel are a number of broad galleries illuminated by natural light. The various hotel reception rooms have also been integrated to the museum, and the hotel restaurant now fills the same function for the museum. Everywhere, Laloux's cast iron pillars and stucco decorations were respected, restored and opened up to the view. The new structures were designed to leave a palpable impression of the old. The interior architecture is unified by the materials and colors of its surfaces (Burgundy stone, partitions painted in light shades, metals colored dark brown or blue), and the succession of display rooms is organized around the presentation of works of art offering a variety of architectural possibilities to that purpose. Six years on, the museum was inaugurated by President Mitterrand on 1 December 1986. Presented in chronological order on three floors, extensive collections draw from period 1848 to 1914, include all the fine, decorative and applied arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, artefacts, furnishing, cinema, photography, music, scenaries). The d'Orsay museum bridged the gap between the collections Louvre museum collections and that at the museum of modern art at Pompidou Centre. The Orsay museum is not only a place of exhibition for works of art. It is also a place for entertainment, contemplation and learning A program of concerts from the repertoire of 1848-1914 is continuously played in the auditorium and the restaurant. The auditorium is also used for various film projections, notably an annual festival devoted to early cinema. Regular conferences and debates are held on subjects relating to temporary exhibitions. Cultural history courses are also available to museum members. A number of educational activities have been arranged for ages 5-15 in particular. These take place in the rooms set aside for use by young people. Various documentary devices we available for consultation in the Passage des Dates (dates corridor) and the Salle de Consultation (documentation room).