Musée d’Orsay

Contact

Élise Dubreuil – Curator of decorative arts

Musée d’Orsay
62 rue de Lille,
75343 Paris Cedex 07

phone +33 1 40 49 48 14

mail
elise.dubreuil@musee-orsay.fr

The Musée d’Orsay, housed in a former railway station built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, has been devoted since its opening in 1986 to works dating from the second half of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. Alongside collections of paintings, sculptures and graphic arts, the decorative arts housed here reflect the diversity of Art Nouveau artistic creation on a national and European scale.

Major artists

Silver portrait of Henry van de Velde
Henry Van de Velde 
Painter, graphic designer, decorator, architect
Silver portrait of René Lalique
René Lalique 
Sculptor, glassmaker, goldsmith, decorator
Black and white portrait of Gustave Serrurier-Bovy
Gustave Serrurier-Bovy 
Decorator
Silver portrait of Peter Behrens
Peter Behrens 
Designer, architect, graphic artist, painter
Black and white portrait of Victor Horta
Victor Horta
Architect
Silver portrait of Adolf Loos
Adolf Loos 
Architect, designer, cultural philosopher
Silver portrait of Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann 
Architect and designer
Silver portrait of Louis Majorelle
Louis Majorelle 
Cabinetmaker
Black and white portrait of Hector Guimard
Hector Guimard 
Architect, decorator
Silver portrait of Émile Gallé
Émile Gallé
Master glassmaker, cabinetmaker and ceramist

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Over the years, the Musée d’Orsay has built up a major collection of Art Nouveau objects and furniture, thanks to its efforts to bring together works belonging to the French state and to a voluntary acquisition policy. French works from Paris and Nancy rub shoulders with those from other countries, reflecting Art Nouveau movements in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Scandinavia and the USA.

The Musée d’Orsay represents this emulation in the field of decorative arts, recalling the importance of the salons and major international exhibitions of the period (Universal Exhibition of 1900, International Exhibition of Turin in 1902, etc.) while offering a reading of the different influences and trajectories of the European Art Nouveau movements. In addition to its collections of works, the museum also holds archives on artists such as Emile Gallé, Hector Guimard, Carlo Bugatti and René Lalique.