PAINTINGS IN THE MUSE D'ORSAY

Much of the work is familiar, and the layout is by-the-numbers for a catalogue, but having a world-class museum between two covers trumps almost all other considerations. Since its opening in 1986, Paris's Musée d'Orsay has been as much about its infrastructure—it was created out of the shell of the Gare d'Orsay, a spectacular Left Bank rail station—as about its collection of major 19th-century masters and masterpieces. Presented in 830 color reproductions, some nearly full 9 5/8"×11 7/8" page-size, the works need not compete with the museum's decor nor fight against the odd and uncongenial galleries fitted within it; thus viewers get a new sense of the collection's range and reach. Sorbonne professor and Musée d'Orsay director Lemoine divides the collection into six distinct periods, beginning in 1848 ("Ideal or Reality"), and moving through impressionism, history painting, "Construction and Color," pictorialism, symbolism and the many nascent movements "After 1900." Nearly 70 short essays by multiple scholars provide context for works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Seurat, Manet, Monet, Courbet, Renoir and many more, mostly French, artists. No matter how well one thinks one knows them, having them all in one place is a delight. (Jan.)