1889

Vincent van Gogh

Location 📍 Musée d'Orsay, Upper level, Room 36

Like Rembrandt and Goya, Vincent van Gogh often used himself as a model and produced over forty-three self-portraits in ten years, observing himself critically in a mirror. Thus he wrote to his sister: "I am looking for a deeper likeness than that obtained by a photographer. "He also mentioned to his brother the difficulty of painting oneself, noting that Rembrandt's portraits are "more like a revelation". In this 1889 head-and-shoulders view, the artist wears a suit instead of his usual pea jacket. Attention is focused on the face, where his features are hard and emaciated, and his green-rimmed eyes appear intransigent and anxious. The dominant colour, a mix of absinth 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.

1888

Vincent van Gogh

Location 📍 Niveau supérieur, Salle 36

From the moment of his arrival in Arles on 8 February 1888, Van Gogh was constantly preoccupied with "night effects." In April, he wrote to Theo about needing a starry night with cypresses or maybe above a field of ripe wheat, and in June, he confided to the painter Emile Bernard about longing to paint the "Starry Sky" that kept haunting him. In September, he told his sister, "Often it seems to me night is even more richly coloured than day." During the same month, he finally realised his obsessive project in Arles. This view of the Rhône marvellously transcribed the colours he perceived in the dark. Blues prevail—Prussian blue, ultramarine and cobalt—while city gas lights glimmer an intense orange and reflect in the water. The stars sparkle like gemstones. Unlike the later version in New York, the Musée d'Orsay’s Starry Night is more serene, an atmosphere reinforced by the presence of a couple of lovers at the bottom of the canvas.

1889

Vincent van Gogh

Location📍  Niveau supérieur, Salle 36

Vincent van Gogh explored his personal sanctuary through three nearly identical canvases. While the 1888 original suffered flood damage in Arles, this Musée d'Orsay version was created nearly a year later as a smaller gift for his family in Holland. Writing to his brother Theo, the artist detailed how a symbolic palette—including lilac walls, a faded red floor, and lime green bedding—was chosen to evoke a sense of tranquillity and bring out the simplicity of his room. From the blood-red blanket to the blue wash basin and green window, every hue served his goal of portraying a space of absolute repose. This aesthetic was deeply influenced by the Japanese lifestyle and its minimalist interiors. By combining a rigid structure of straight lines with intense color surfaces, Van Gogh successfully stabilized the shifting perspective, achieving a profound sparseness despite the room's modest furnishings.

1857

Jean-François Millet

Location📍  Rez-de-chaussée, Salle 4

This painting depicts three women from the rural working class performing the back-breaking task of gleaning. Millet juxtaposes the three phases of their movement—bending, picking up, and straightening—accentuating their sculptural forms with the slanting light of the setting sun. Their stark austerity contrasts with the abundant harvest, haystacks, and busy crowd of harvesters visible in the hazy golden distance.

1863

Édouard Manet

Location 📍 Niveau supérieur, Salle 29

Rejected by the 1863 Salon, this painting became a scandal at the Salon des Refusés for its bold departure from tradition. Manet combined classical references with a provocative scene of a nude woman among contemporary clothed men, abandoning subtle gradations in favor of brutal contrasts. By excluding traditional depth and perspective, this work initiated a new freedom in representation and is considered the departure point for Modern Art.

vers 1899

Paul Cézanne

Location📍  Not currently exhibited

Produced in 1899, this is the most important still life from Cézanne's late period. It features a complex spatial construction and the artist's subjective perception of everyday objects like earthenware dishes and a floral-motif jug. While the draped cloth reflects 17th-century Flemish traditions, the painting illustrates Cézanne's modern and essentially pictorial approach to the genre.