French Trains As Mobile Impressionist Art Museums

From Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, the French National Railway Company (SNCF) covered the interior of its public trains with impressionist artwork inspired by the Musée d’Orsay, imitations of the architecture of Versailles, and pictures of Cinema Gaumont, the oldest film company in the world.The project reflects the close ties between railroads and art: The J line, linking the two stops, leads through landscapes that served as inspiration for some of the artists that are shown in the trains, for example to Claude Monet and his famous Water Lilies.