The Musée d'Orsay celebrates its 40th anniversary with a big party designed by Thomas Jolly.

Forty years after its opening in the former Orsay train station on December 9, 1986, the Parisian museum is celebrating its anniversary with a packed program running until the end of the year, under the title "Let's dream, it's time!", a tribute to a line by Paul Verlaine. "At 40, we have a history and a strong identity, but we still have a great deal to build," declared Annick Lemoine, the institution's new director, to the press on June 29. Since its inauguration, the museum has welcomed 140 million visitors, organized 240 exhibitions, and expanded its collections to 167,000 works. Some forty events and fifty guests are planned to mark the occasion.

Courbet restored, Monet centenary, Mary Cassatt retrospective and new galleries

The first event is scheduled for August 5th, with the return to the gallery of Gustave Courbet's monumental painting, A Burial at Ornans, after fifteen months of restoration carried out in full view of the public. Revitalized colors, a more legible brushstroke, and fragments of the composition, unseen for over a century, will be revealed. Starting September 30th, a new exhibition dedicated to Claude Monet will mark the centenary of the painter's death. The museum holds 251 of his works and documents, including new scientific analyses of his technique. On October 6th, a major retrospective devoted to Mary Cassatt will open, the first of its kind in a French national museum, bringing together nearly 80 works from Europe and the United States—seven years after the exhibition dedicated to Berthe Morisot. In December, new galleries devoted to French decorative arts of the second half of the 19th century will open, showcasing more than 200 works including furniture, ceramics, silverware, and glassware. On October 12, the MuM'Orsay will also be launched, a mobile museum that will circulate around twenty original works across several French regions, supported by the Art Explora Foundation.

A "1986 party" in the main nave, imagined by Thomas Jolly

The highlight of the celebrations will take place on December 12 with a grand "1986 Party" in the museum's nave, designed by Thomas Jolly, director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. "Orsay is a dream setting for a director," he declared, promising a "joyful and daring" evening. The event will be free, with reservations required, and limited to 1,500 people—tickets will go on sale in the fall. On December 5 and 6, the museum will also open its doors free of charge for a festive, family-friendly weekend. Between October 18 and 22, light projections by American visual artist Jenny Holzer will illuminate the façade each evening, complementing her installations inside. An international symposium dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Musée d'Orsay is also scheduled for December 2 and 3.