Laurence des Cars will be the first-ever woman to head the Musée du Louvre since its creation in 1783.
Des Cars, 54, was appointed as the museum’s president-director by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Des Cars is the current head of the Musée d’Orsay and the much smaller Musée de l’Orangerie, and she says it’s the four years she spent at the Orsay that gave her the confidence that she could be the next president of the Louvre, according to New York Times.
‘The president probably saw that I was ready for the job and that I am somehow serene. I am not overanxious. I have to stay very calm,’ she added.
Des Cars will officially take on her duties as the new president-director of Louvre, replacing Jean-Luc Martinez who spent eight years at the museum on September 1.
The 19th-and-early-20th century painting specialist is descended from a family of noble French writers.
The French state-owned museum will receive an annual budget of 240 million euros and more than 2,000 employees.
The newly appointed president-director of Louvre has big plans for the museum which include extending operating hours so younger audiences can have the chance to visit in the evenings. ‘Things are really changing for women in the museum world. Of the 70 curators in the Louvre, more than half of them are women. More women are heading museums, especially in Europe. And younger women are much more confident these days,’ she told New York Times.
After his term, Martinez will become a heritage ambassador, responsible for coordinating France’s participation in international projects.
The president of the home of Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace says she wants to strategies on how to attract visitors into visiting the museum for more than what she calls the three ‘superstars’.
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