Why I love the Musee D' Orsay, Van Gogh and the fabulous Impressionist art in Paris

A couple of years ago on a lovely November morning, I walked into the Musee D' Orsay in Paris and it was one of the most memorable moments that I can recall .Right from the breathtaking overview to each and every corner of this fascinating museum, the day that I spent here is a cherished memory and one that I will try and share with you in this blog post. I deliberately use the word 'try' because it really is very difficult to do complete justice to such a monument in a short piece. Suffice it is to say that this is a place that I recommend very highly and if you see one thing in Paris after the Louvre, then it really has to be the Musee D'Orsay! 

Installed within a railway station, the Musée d'Orsay opened its gates on December 9th 1986, after it had been inaugurated by François Mitterand on December 1st. Within its walls there are six different collections (painting, photography, graphic art, architecture, sculpture and objet d'art), which

Originally a Parisian railway station, it is now a fabulous museum

mainly come from three different establishments: the Louvre Museum, the Musée du Jeu de Paume and the National Museum of Modern art.

One of the world's most-visited museums, the Musee d'Orsay houses the largest collection of painting, sculpture, and decorative objects produced between 1848-1914, showcasing many of the most remarkable works of the early modern era. Giving visitors a detailed and breathtaking look at the birth of modern painting, sculpture, design, and even photography, the Musee d'Orsay's permanent collection spans from neoclassicism and romanticism to impressionism, expressionism, and art nouveau design.Highlights include important works by Ingres, Delacroix, Monet, Degas, Manet, Gaugin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh.

An architectural masterpiece, one marvels at the look of the place 

Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Taking the glass elevator to the first floor, I walked into the Impressionists art gallery. I was precisely looking for the inimitable Van Gogh's work and when I found them, learnt to my dismay that photography was not allowed in this part of the museum. Happily, that did not deter me and I managed to click a few very quick photographs 

( w/o a flash) and then taking a quick look around, found that many others in this gallery were actually doing the same! 

Talk of going away with the best memories captured forever. 

Like Rembrandt and Goya, Vincent van Gogh often used himself as a model; he produced over forty-three self-portraits, paintings or drawings in ten years. Like the old masters, he observed himself critically in a mirror. Painting oneself is not an innocuous act: it is a questioning which often leads to an identity crisis.

So he wrote to his sister: "I am looking for a deeper likeness than that obtained by a photographer." And later to his brother: "People say, and I am willing to believe it, that it is hard to know yourself. But it is not easy to paint yourself, either. The portraits painted by Rembrandt are more than a view of nature, they are more like a revelation". In this head-and-shoulders view, the artist is wearing a suit and not the pea jacket he usually worked in. Attention is focused on the face. His features are hard and emaciated, his green-rimmed eyes seem intransigent and anxious. The dominant colour, a mix of green and pale turquoise finds a counterpoint in its complementary colour, the fiery orange of the beard and hair. The model's immobility contrasts with the undulating hair and beard, echoed and amplified in the hallucinatory arabesques of the background.

Another spectacular work by Van Gogh

        Looking across from the Musee D Orsay 

They really do start young!

I finally left the museum just before closing time, delighted with all that I had seen and experienced that day. Walking out, I realized that this visit had merely whetted my appetite for more and it wasn't long before I returned here for a second and then...a third visit