In the end it was President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing who took over the project and made it possible when he signed, on March 20, 1978, the decree that created the public establishment of Musée d’Orsay. A contest was launched and ACT architecture retained to bring museology to a train station whose original structure was to remain in place. The challenge was accepted and the Musée d’Orsay built during François Mitterrand’s mandate.
And so, the space now contains collections spanning a period from 1848 to 1914. The paintings, sculptures, graphic arts, furniture and objets d’art on public display reveal all the richness of 19th century art. The contents mainly came from the Louvre for works by artists born post 1820, from the Jeu de Paume, and the National Museum of Modern Art for pieces by artists born after 1870. From Delacroix to Manet, from Courbet and Rude to Rodin, from Carpeaux and Biennais to Gallé, all of the great 19th century masters are represented in over 2,400 m².