French art historian
Laurence des Cars (born Laurence Élisabeth de Pérusse des Cars on 13 June 1966) is a French museum
curator and
art historian . Since September 2021, she has served as director of the
Louvre Museum , having previously headed the
Musée d'Orsay and
Musée de l'Orangerie .
[1]
[2]
Early life and education
Des Cars was born in
Antony ,
France . She is the daughter of the journalist and writer
Jean des Cars [
fr ] and granddaughter of the novelist
Guy des Cars (himself the second son of François de Pérusse des Cars, 5th
Duc des Cars ).
[1] She studied
art history at
Paris-Sorbonne University and
École du Louvre .
Career
Upon graduating, Des Cars joined the
Institut national du patrimoine and took her first position as curator at the Musée d'Orsay in 1994.
[3]
She is a specialist on the art of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
She is the author of numerous illustrated essays, including a book on
Pre-Raphaelites for the
collection '
Découvertes Gallimard ', Les Préraphaélites : Un modernisme à l'anglaise.
Des Cars was appointed scientific director of the
Agence France-Muséums [
fr ] in July 2007, French operator in charge of the development of the
Louvre Abu Dhabi . She was also promoted to general curator of heritage in 2011 and was appointed director of the Musée de l'Orangerie in January 2014, by the Minister of Culture,
Aurélie Filippetti .
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7] On 27 February 2017, she was officially appointed director of the Musée d'Orsay by the then French President
François Hollande .
[1]
[8]
Des Cars was appointed to assume the role of Director of the
Louvre Museum from 1 September 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the establishment's 228-year history.
[2]
Honours
Des Cars is a chevalier of the
Legion of Honour and
National Order of Merit , officer of
Arts and letters .
[9] On 1 December 2022, she was among the guests invited to the
state dinner hosted by
U.S. President
Joe Biden in honor of
President
Emmanuel Macron at the
White House .
[10]
Publications
Les Préraphaélites : Un modernisme à l'anglaise , collection «
Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 368), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1999
UK edition – The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism , '
New Horizons ' series. Thames & Hudson, 2000 (reprinted 2004, 2010, 2011)
US edition – The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism , "
Abrams Discoveries " series. Harry N. Abrams, 2000
Gérôme : De la peinture à l'image , coll. «
Découvertes Gallimard Hors série ». Éditions Gallimard, 2010
Louvre Abu Dhabi : Naissance d'un musée , coll. « Catalogue d'exposition ». Louvre éditions and Éditions Flammarion, 2013
Louvre Abu Dhabi: Birth of a Museum , Flammarion, 2014
Collective work
AA.VV. , Manet, inventeur du Moderne , « Livres d'Art ». Éditions Gallimard, 2011
Manet: The Man Who Invented Modernity , Gallimard, 2011
AA.VV., Apollinaire : Le regard du poète , « Livres d'Art ». Éditions Gallimard, 2016
Exhibitions
As a teacher at École du Louvre, she organised many exhibitions for various museums, including:
'L'Origine du monde, autour d'un chef-d'œuvre de
Courbet ' (
Musée d'Orsay , 1996)
'
Jean-Paul Laurens , peintre d'histoire' (Musée d'Orsay,
Musée des Augustins , 1997–1998)
'
Edward Burne-Jones ' (
Metropolitan Museum of Art ,
Birmingham Museum , Musée d'Orsay, 1998–1999)
[11]
'Courbet et la Commune' (Musée d'Orsay, 2000)
'
Thomas Eakins , un réaliste américain' (
Philadelphia Museum of Art , Musée d'Orsay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001–2002)
'
Édouard Vuillard ' (
National Gallery of Art ,
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ,
Galeries nationales du Grand Palais ,
Royal Academy of Arts , 2003–2004)
'
Gustave Courbet ' (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Musée Fabre , 2007–2008)
'
Jean-Léon Gérôme ' (
Getty Museum , Musée d'Orsay,
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum , 2010–2011)
[3]
'
Louvre Abou Dhabi , Naissance d'un musée' (Manarat Al Saadiyat Museum,
Musée du Louvre , 2013–2014)
'Attaquer le soleil : Hommage au
marquis de Sade ' (Musée d'Orsay, 2014–2015)
'
Apollinaire , le regard du poète' (
Musée de l'Orangerie , 2016)
'La peinture américaine des années 1930' (Musée de l'Orangerie, 2016–2017)
References
^
a
b
c Muñoz-Alonso, Lorena (28 February 2017).
"Laurence des Cars Is the New Director of Paris's Musée d'Orsay" .
Artnet News . Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^
a
b
"Louvre museum will be headed by woman for first time in its 228-year history" . France 24 . 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021 .
^
a
b
"Aurélie Filippetti, ministre de la Culture et de la Communication a nommé Laurence des Cars au poste de Directrice du musée de l'Orangerie" .
Ministry of Culture of France (in French). 21 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^ Greenberger, Alex (28 February 2017).
"Musée d'Orsay Appoints Laurence des Cars as Director" .
Artnet News . Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^
"Arrêté du 1er janvier 2014 portant nomination de la directrice du musée national de l'Orangerie des Tuileries" .
Légifrance (in French). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^ Bietry-Rivierre, Eric (4 March 2014).
"Laurence des Cars, la patronne de l'Orangerie" .
Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^ Noce, Vincent (12 July 2013).
"LAURENCE DES CARS PRESSENTIE À L'ORANGERIE" .
Libération (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^ Rykner, Didier (28 February 2017).
"Nomination de Laurence des Cars à la tête du Musée d'Orsay" .
La Tribune de l'art (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^
"Légion d'honneur : une femme chevalier pour défendre le patrimoine" .
Le Populaire du Centre [
fr ] (in French). 27 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018 .
^ Aishvarya Kavi (1 December 2022),
The Full Guest List for the State Dinner
New York Times .
^ Des Cars, Laurence (2000).
The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism . 'New Horizons' series. Translated by Garvie, Francisca. London:
Thames & Hudson . p. 128.
ISBN
978-0-500-30100-5 . About the author
International National Academics Other