Laurence des Cars
Laurence des Cars is the President-Director of the Louvre. Appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021, she is the first female President-Director of the Louvre in its 230-year history.
After graduating from Sorbonne University, the École du Louvre and the Institut National du Patrimoine, Des Cars was appointed as Curator of Paintings at the Musée d’Orsay in 1994, where she curated a number of successful exhibitions, including on Gustave Courbet and Édouard Vuillard. She became Scientific Director of France-Muséums from 2007 to 2014, overseeing the creation of Louvre Abu Dhabi. From 2017 to 2021, Des Cars was Director of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie. The ‘Black Models. From Géricault to Matisse’ show she programmed in 2019 won global acclaim.
Des Cars is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour, a Knight of the National Order of Merit and a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.