Finally a woman at the Louvre, for the first time as director in 228 years

A new phase opens for the Louvre museum in Paris: for the first time in 228 years of history, a woman is headed by: Laurence Des Cars, 54, current president of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie . Born in Antony in 1966, she is one art historian specialized in the period from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century.

After several weeks of reflection, Emmanuel Macron has finally announced it. The current president and director of the facility, Jean-Luc Martinez, 57, candidate for the third term, will remain in office until September 1, the time necessary to find a person to replace Laurence Des Cars at the helm of the museum of Orsay, and to allow Martinez to complete the installation of the exhibition «Paris-Athens, birth of modern Greece, 1675-1919», of which he is the curator, and which should be inaugurated in September.

The Louvre in Paris is considered the largest museum in the world, with a record attendance of 10.2 million visitors in 2018. Macron has insisted since the beginning of his tenure on the need to promote more women to positions of responsibility, particularly in the cultural sector. But it was also Laurence Des Cars’ brilliant career that convinced the President of the French Republic. “She is a recognized curator, a great art professional, who has an international reputationMacron’s entourage explained. «He proposed an open, generous, multidisciplinary, ambitious project, resolutely aimed at young people, who are the priority for her. This choice testifies to the opening of a new chapter for the Louvre ».

«Dal 2017, Laurence Des Cars it has deeply renewed and stimulated the Musée d’Orsay», Added Roselyne Bachelot, French Minister of Culture, in a press release,« with a program of exhibitions, live performances and a new approach to works, open to all the public and artists of today ».