Laurence des Cars

Laurence des Cars has been named by French President Emmanuel Macron as the new director of the Louvre Museum, becoming the first woman to lead the institution in its 228 years of creation. Des Cars, 54, is an art historian and the president of the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie; an expert in 19th-century art, she has curated major exhibitions such as "The Black Model" in 2019.
Des Cars said she felt happy the moment she received the call where she was told the news. She expressed that among her plans is to make the museum a "totally contemporary" place focused on "youth," reviewing the institution's opening hours to make it more accessible. "We have to be open a little later in the day if we want young workers to come," she said. One of her first projects will be to create a ninth department dedicated to Byzantium and the Christians of the East.
Laurence des Cars takes over the new position on September 1, replacing Jean-Luc Martinez, who has been the Louvre's president since 2013 and under whose leadership the Louvre Abu Dhabi opened.
For information on the Louvre's exhibitions which reopened last May 19, visit: https://www.louvre.fr/en