Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is a museum of Western art from 1848 to 1914, housed in a former railway station on the left bank of the Seine. Its collection is especially strong in French painting, sculpture, photography and decorative arts of the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Five paintings in this online catalogue are held at the Musée d'Orsay: works by Joaquín Sorolla, Vincent van Gogh, Léon Maxime Faivre, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Berthe Morisot.

Paintings from this catalogue at the Musée d'Orsay

• Joaquín Sorolla painted The Return from Fishing in 1894, a bright beach scene in which fishermen and oxen work at the water's edge under the coastal light he returned to throughout his career.
• Vincent van Gogh painted Japanese Vase with Roses and Anemones in 1890, a floral still life from his final year, with the blossoms and vase placed against a contrasting background and painted in short, visible strokes.
• Léon Maxime Faivre painted Two Mothers in 1888.
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted Bal du moulin de la Galette in 1876, a crowded outdoor dance in Montmartre where men and women move between shaded tables and patches of sunlight, and the composition crops the scene to suggest the press of the crowd.
• Berthe Morisot painted The Cradle in 1872 and showed it at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, an interior in which a mother sits beside her infant in a cradle and looks down at the child.

Before you go

Before you go, check the museum's official website for current gallery closures and for the works on view. Paintings can be out on loan or moved between rooms, so a specific work from this page may not be hanging on the day of your visit. Works on paper, such as drawings and prints, rotate regularly to limit exposure to light. The museum is large, so allow time to walk between the collection areas.