Henri Loyrette

Henri Loyrette (born 31 May 1952 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris) was the chairman of Admical, a French organisation dedicated to corporate philanthropy,^[1] and the former director of the Louvre Museum (2001–2013).^[2] He became first curator and then director of the Musée d'Orsay in 1978 and 1994, respectively.

Henri Loyrette
Born	(1952-05-31) 31 May 1952 (age 71) Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France
Occupation	Author, Academic, Museum curator
Genre	Art history, Art, Criticism
Notable works	Nineteenth Century French Art

Career

 

"Ahae" etched in stone at the Louvre in Paris, as one of its patrons.^[3][4][5]

Loyrette was named curator of the Musée d'Orsay in 1978. His focus on 19th century architecture and painting resulted in several important exhibitions, including the 1987–88 exhibition “Chicago, Birth of a Metropolis,” developed by the then-director of the Art Institute of Chicago, John Zukowsky.^[6]

In 1997, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, which awards prizes for artistic merit in nine areas. Loyrette was listed under Section VI - Unattached Members, in the organization's Perspective on the Academie, Number 91, from 2020.[1]

Loyrette's appointment to the directorship of the Louvre Museum was announced on 28 March 2001. According to Resnicow Shroeder Associates, previously Loyrette had "served as Director of the Musée d'Orsay from 1994 to 2001, and curator at the Musée d'Orsay from 1978 to 1999".^[7]

Loyrette's contract was extended for another three years (through 2013), during which he was to oversee construction of an expansion in Paris, as well as a new branch in Abu Dhabi.

Exhibitions

Loyrette has organized several exhibitions on diverse subjects, including exhibitions on Edgar Degas, Honoré Daumier, and the origins of Impressionism.

In 2012, Loyrette endorsed an exhibition with photographs by Ahae, the South Korean businessman Yoo Byung-eun, praising his artistic qualities.^[8][9][10] Following the sinking of the ferry Sewol, Hervé Barbaret, Loyrette's deputy, disclosed to L'Express in 2014 that "The Louvre did not pay a penny to organize this event. The artist paid the production entirely and paid a little more than €500,000 (~US$700.000) to exhibit himself in the Tuileries".^[11] Yoo further donated €1.1 million (~US$1.5 million) to The Louvre.^[12][13][14] Loyrette's decision to rent out the Tuileries Garden, administratively attached to The Louvre, prompted French media as well as Korean expatriates in France to raise their concerns over French cultural institutions accepting self-financed exhibitions in return for donations.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Literary works

Loyrette is also an author, with a total of nineteen books on various subjects, including Degas, Gustave Eiffel, and Marcel Proust. One of his most popular works is his book Nineteenth Century French Art (pictured).

Books

• Nineteenth Century French Art
• Gustave Eiffel, Fribourg, Office du Livre, 1985
• Degas : « Je voudrais être illustre et inconnu », coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 36), série Arts. Paris, Gallimard, 1988
  • Trad. into English – Degas: The Man and His Art, "Abrams Discoveries" series, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1993
  • Degas: Passion and Intellect, 'New Horizons' series, London, Thames & Hudson, 1993
• Degas inédit, (direction de l'ouvrage), La Documentation française, 1989
• Degas, Paris, Fayard, 1991
• La Famille Halévy. Entre le théâtre et l'histoire, (direction de l'ouvrage), R.M.N.-Fayard, 1996

Exhibitions catalogues

• Degas e l'Italia, 1984
• Degas, 1988
• Impressionnisme. Les Origines, 1994
• Cézanne, 1995
• Daumier, 1999
• Through My Window. Editions Assouline. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61428-071-2.

Louvre Abu Dhabi

Loyrette endorsed the building of a new Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.^[23] This has sparked much controversy both in France and with the international community.^[24]

References

1. "L'histoire d'admical". admical.org. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
2. "New boss at Louvre's helm". BBC News. 29 March 2001. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
3. The Economist (14 June 2014). "South Korea's most wanted man". The Chronicle Herald. Thechronicleherald.ca. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
4. Hasquenoph, Bernard (10 June 2014). "Affaire Ahae : je ne suis pas un fantôme, même si Le Monde m'oublie" [The Ahae Case: I'm no phantom, although Le Monde forgets me] (in French). www.louvrepourtous.fr. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
5. La Communauté alternative des Coréens à Paris [The community of Koreans living in Paris] (12 June 2014). [Open letter [to] The French Culture Minister, former director of The Louvre, Versailles Palace representative] (in French and Korean). Pariscopain.fr. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
6. Humanities. National Endowment for the Humanities. 1988.
7. "BIOGRAPHY - Henri Loyrette, Director, Louvre". 1 June 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
8. Kim, Da-ye (23 May 2012). "Yoo family has interacted with famous people". The Korea Times. from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
9. "Yoo Byung-eun Wanted in Sewol Ferry Disaster". 22 May 2014.
10. Hasquenoph, Bernard (14 May 2014). "La Philharmonie de Paris maintiendra-t-elle une expo Ahae malgré l'affaire du Sewol?" [Will the Philharmonie de Paris still hold an Ahae exhibition despite the Sewol affair?] (in French). louvrepourtous.fr. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
11. Mathieu, Beatrice (10 June 2014). "Ahae, artiste, gangster... et mécène du Louvre" [Ahae, artist, gangster ... and patron of the Louvre]. L'Express (in French). Lexpansion.lexpress.fr. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
12. Hasquenoph, Bernard (29 August 2013). [Ahae at Versailles – the privilege of money] (in French). louvrepourtous.fr. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
13. [Activity Report of the Endowment Fund of the Louvre 2012] (PDF) (in French). The Louvre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014. Mécène: Un entrepreneur et artiste coréen AHAE; Montant: 1.1 million d'euros; Affectation: Sans affectation particulière [Patron: A Korean entrepreneur and artist AHAE; Amount: 1.1 million euros; Assignment: No specific allocation]
14. "AHAE. De ma fenêtre" [AHAE. Through My Window] (PDF) (in French). AHAE.com. (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
15. Lesauvage, Magali (10 June 2014). "Mécène-artiste, gourou, ennemi public : l'improbable affaire Ahae" [Patron-artist, guru, public enemy: the improbable case Ahae] (in French). Exponaute.com. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
16. Sage, Adam (14 June 2014). "How missing Korean ferry boss fooled the French elite". The Times. Retrieved 16 June 2014. Now Bernard Hasquenoph, the editor of Louvre Pour Tous, a website dedicated to the Louvre, has revealed that Ahae donated €1.1 million (£877,000) to the museum at the time of his exhibition. He then gave €5 million to Versailles. "He turns up with his money and he pays prestigious places to exhibit his work and buys recognition," Mr Hasquenoph said.
17. Jacques, Follorou; Mesmer, Philippe (10 June 2014). "Le propriétaire du ferry naufragé, ennemi public à Séoul, ami des musées à Paris" [The owner of the wrecked ferry, public enemy in Seoul, friend of museums in Paris]. Le Monde (in French). Lemonde.fr. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
18. Hasquenoph, Bernard (15 June 2014). "Au Louvre, le naufrage du mécénat" [At the Louvre, the sinking of patronage]. Libération (in French). Liberation.fr. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
19. Hasquenoph, Bernard (13 June 2014). "Affaire Ahae : les Coréens de France interpellent Aurélie Filippetti" [Ahae Affaire: The Koreans in France challenge Aurélie Filippetti] (in French). www.louvrepourtous.fr. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
20. "Oui à l'artiste Lee Ufan, non à l'affairiste Ahae" [Yes to the artist Lee Ufan, not the wheeler Ahae]. Association d'amitié franco-coréenne (in French). Amitiefrancecoree.org. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
21. "Le Monde: 'French people criticize Louvre for taking donation from Yoo'". The Dong-a Ilbo. English.donga.com. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
22. "Un mécène bien encombrant". Le Journal des Arts (in French) (416). Lejournaldesarts.fr. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
23. Art in the Desert, SPIEGEL ONLINE, published 03/07/2007, accessed 2008-09-08
24. Astier, Henri (6 March 2007). "Gulf Louvre deal riles French art world". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-09-08.

Sources

• Henri Loyrette at Encyclopædia Britannica