The Musée d’Orsay Turns 40!

Categories : Exhibition, Lifestyle, published on : 10/11/26

40 years of the Musée d’Orsay: the celebration programme

It was on 9 December 1986 that a former railway station, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, opened its doors as a museum. Forty years on, the Musée d’Orsay is celebrating its anniversary throughout 2026, with a line from Verlaine as its guiding thread: “Rêvons, c’est l’heure !” (“Let us dream, it is time!”). Here is our selection of the events to note, to help you plan a Parisian stay around them.

Thomas Jolly’s Boum 1986, on 12 December

The Boum 1986 is the grand finale. On 12 December 2026, director Thomas Jolly, the man behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, turns the museum’s great nave into a dance floor. The idea: a night of collective joy, conceived as a celebration of the building itself.

Entry is free, but capacity is limited to 1,500 people and tickets are allocated by prize draw. Registration is on the museum’s website.

A free weekend on 5 and 6 December

For one weekend, the museum opens its doors to everyone, free of charge. On Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026, the Musée d’Orsay hosts a festive, people’s weekend. Everything is free and open to all: walk in, wander freely, and celebrate the anniversary together throughout the nave and galleries.

The weekend is part of the “Festivités 40 ans” programme, which runs from 19 November to 12 December and brings together concerts, performances and participatory workshops in the nave, the auditorium, and the galleries. Highlights to note in your diary:

a concert by Aldebert (“Enfantillages”) and an edition of France Inter’s “Les fabuleuses histoires du doudou” (“The Fabulous Tales of the Comfort Blanket”) for younger visitors;
the Maîtrise populaire de l’Opéra Comique, a singing workshop with Clara Brenier and a dance workshop with Christine Bonneton;
Sophie Calle and Catherine Meurisse, guests of honour for the weekend;
a brass and percussion ensemble from the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, led by David Guerrier.

Exhibitions to see during the 40th anniversary

Mary Cassatt: Choosing Independence (6 October 2026 – 31 January 2027). Nearly 80 paintings, pastels and prints restore the place of this free-spirited American, who lived in France for almost sixty years, as a central figure of Impressionism.

Jenny Holzer, “J’ai vu” (20 October 2026 – 21 February 2027). The American artist sets fragments of artists’ letters and writings from the period in dialogue with the museum’s collections. Night-time projections are planned on the Seine-side façade during the opening week.

Monet, a hundred years after his death. The museum holds 251 works and documents by the master and offers a trail to help visitors better understand his technique, in partnership with the Musée de l’Orangerie.

Forty years of acquisitions in the spotlight

The anniversary is also a chance to show how the collection has grown. It has roughly quadrupled since 1986: between 2015 and 2025, the museum acquired nearly 5,000 works, including 135 paintings, 155 sculptures and medals, 240 objets d’art and 2,250 photographs.

A dedicated space, Room 33, in the heart of the Impressionist galleries, presents these acquisitions on a rotating basis. Upcoming displays:

Marie Bracquemond: until 6 December 2026, with studies for her faience panel Les Muses des Arts;
Maurice Denis, mystical illustrator: until 3 January 2027;
Édouard Vuillard: from 15 December 2026 to 7 March 2027, ahead of the exhibition “Vuillard, théâtres intimes” (23 March – 25 July 2027).

Another December highlight: the reopening of the 1848–1889 decorative arts galleries, with some 200 works. “40 ans” labels also flag the past decade’s key acquisitions throughout the museum.

Stay at Hôtel Fabric to celebrate Orsay’s 40th

Between an afternoon with Cassatt and a night at the Boum, you need a base with the same spirit. Hôtel Fabric, in the 11th arrondissement, is an ideal spot from which to cross Paris, from the Left Bank to our streets in the east, and to wind down after the party.

Book directly on the hotel’s website for your dates around the free weekend of 5 and 6 December, the Boum on the 12th, or simply this exceptional, one-off programme at the Musée d’Orsay.

Practical information

Venue: Musée d’Orsay, 62 rue de Lille, 75007 Paris
Festivities: 19 November to 12 December 2026
Free weekend: 5 and 6 December
Boum 1986: 12 December, free, by prize draw
Programme and ticketing: musee-orsay.fr