Laurence des Cars Named First Female Director of Louvre Museum

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Laurence des Cars as the new director of the Louvre Museum, making her the first woman to lead the world's most visited museum in its history. Des Cars, currently director of the Musée d'Orsay, will succeed Jean-Luc Martinez on September 1, 2021. Martinez had served two terms and sought a third, but was passed over in favor of des Cars. Born in Antony in 1966, des Cars is an art historian specializing in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She began her career as a curator at the Musée d'Orsay in 1994, later becoming director of France Museums in 2007, overseeing the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi. She led the Musée de l'Orangerie from 2014 and the Musée d'Orsay from 2017. At the Orsay, she organized the acclaimed exhibition "Le modèle noir de Géricault à Matisse" exploring the representation of Black models from the abolition of slavery in France to the present. She also handled restitution cases of Nazi-looted art, including Gustav Klimt's "Rose under the Trees." Des Cars was selected from a shortlist that included Martinez, Musée Picasso director Laurent Le Bon, and Musée Guimet director Sophie Makariou. Her mandate is to revive the Louvre after pandemic closures and financial difficulties. Under Martinez, the Louvre attracted 10 million visitors in 2019, and the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition drew over one million. Des Cars led the Musée d'Orsay to 3.7 million visitors in 2019, with the museum self-financing most of its activities.