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- 1. Lefuel courtyard at the Louvre in 2013
(before restoration)
Photo: Sailko (CC BY 3.0) - See the image in its page
For this new article on the Louvre’s policy, we contacted the museum. Probably annoyed by the two previous articles (here and there), it chose not to respond. In the end, it was probably for the best, because some of its explanations were false. For example, on 25 January, we asked it about the reception area for the presidency created in the Lefuel courtyard (ill. 1) in place of a former restaurant. It replied as follows: "it’s all a bit ridiculous (or sad, depending on your mood). The restaurant area was closed in... 2007. We have decided to set up a work/meeting room that can also be used as a reception area for the museum".
False answer. First of all, by omission, by "forgetting" to specify that the closure was due to serious structural problems (leaks and collapse) and that this could only be resolved following major works that were completed a year and a half ago. A museum that complains about not having enough catering areas could have put it to this use, especially as the terrace in this courtyard would allow visitors to admire historic façades that are now completely hidden from view.
Then a second lie: it is indeed a space reserved for management since this so-called "work/meeting room" is not on the meeting room agenda and cannot be reserved by everyone: only Laurence des Cars’ assistant has access to it.
It is not a meeting room but a dining room, especially - something the Louvre was careful not to specify - as it benefits from "new kitchens - not very large but equipped with quality professional equipment" according to the Canard Enchaîné of 19/3/25, which gives the bill: 497,000 euros including VAT.
The Louvre replied to the Canard that the existing dining room lacked the standing to receive "distinguished guests". One thinks, for example, of patrons, who should be treated well. But why not simply invite them to a very good restaurant, as other museums do? Let’s imagine that two meals of this type have to be organised per month (which is generous). And that this meal has an average of four people. In a starred restaurant - therefore a "luxury" reception for "distinguished guests", this would cost around 600 euros. This is for 10 months of the year, excluding the two summer months. A very simple calculation shows that 497,000 euros represents about 40 years of such treatment. And in reality, it is much more, since you also have to pay for the labour and the ingredients to prepare the meals.
All of this is already a bit scandalous. But that’s not all. Two months ago, the Louvre hired a new service provider for the staff canteen. And the lowest bidder was chosen. Several testimonies all tell the same story: rising prices and falling quality, all topped off with a lacklustre choice; let’s listen to one of those we have collected (we are around 25 March): "There has been no fruit for a week. Even the apple sauce has disappeared. At 1.30pm, there is practically only one dish left, even though the staff are not on duty (and therefore the conservators) are only asked to arrive from 1pm, and the last surveillance round arrives at around 1.50pm".
It is true that Laurence des Cars never goes to this canteen, while even Jean-Luc Martinez used to go there from time to time. So she may not be aware of it... The combination of a luxury dining room for management and a cut-price canteen for staff is awkward to say the least.
If the staff as a whole are not treated well, the curators and scientific staff, who are after all the foundation of a museum, are undoubtedly treated even worse. And this is combined with an openly displayed contempt for their work.
We will not go back over the president’s refusal to say hello to the people she comes across. But for the curators, the humiliation is constant. She does not speak to them, even to some whom she has known for a long time, with a few rare exceptions (there are many testimonies). Even in the empty rooms on Tuesdays, the day the museum is closed, she does not deign to greet them.
Let’s listen to a person from the conservation department: "she doesn’t greet us at inaugurations, ever. She deliberately turns away when we want to talk to her. We have ideas about acquisitions, about everything else, and it would be normal to be able to share them with her sometimes. We’ve never seen her. She came at the very beginning, spent ten seconds with each person in all directions. Since then, there has been no dialogue with the curators. She wants to change the displays, but she never asks us what we think." Thus the curators learned from the needs assessment document (see the article) of her wish to create a space dedicated to the restoration of large paintings in the Sully quadrangle.
Of course, some departments are treated better than others, depending on the personality of the director. For acquisitions in particular, there must be a vote within the department. This is the normal process, as is the case with sculptures, for example: everyone votes, then the proposal is made to Laurence des Cars, who decides. For purchases under 200,000 euros, the Louvre’s internal acquisitions committee makes the decision, while above that amount, it is the Artistic Council of National Museums at the ministry level. But while the sculpture department functions well, this is not the case, for example, with the painting department, where the director makes the choice, who, after validation by the president, has his curators vote, but in a purely advisory ballot.
When we first met Laurence des Cars, she told us that she wanted to give the departments complete freedom in their acquisitions, her role being only to arbitrate on budgetary matters. Of course, the opposite is the rule. She intervenes in everything. Sometimes for the better, as when she took charge of an acquisition herself, bypassing the director of the Graphic Arts department. Sometimes for the worse, by refusing acquisitions that are necessary for the museum.
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- 2. Boxed set comprising the three volumes of the Louvre gold and silverware catalogue
- See the image in its page
This contempt for people is combined with contempt for scientific publications. While the Louvre’s publications were considered exemplary by all, their manager was given to understand that it would be advisable for her to leave, which she did by retiring. Since then, the quality of the publications has steadily declined. Laurence des Cars no longer wants large exhibition catalogues with notes, nor catalogues raisonnés of collections, unless sponsorship is found. When she was presented with the admirable three-volume catalogue of the gold and silverware in the Louvre (ill. 2), she called this work - and it was not to admire it - a "monster". This story has been all over the departments [1]. "Too many texts" is what the president and her publishing director frequently say (we have several testimonies to this effect). It’s reminiscent of the "too many notes, my dear Mozart" in the film Amadeus! While some recent catalogues such as that of the Guillon-Lethière exhibition - admittedly designed by Clark - or Cimabue still have real notes, those of "Naples in Paris" and "Figures of the Fool" had them rejected in the end, while that of "Rudolph II" only has technical data sheets, which are also very succinct, at the end of the book. These catalogues also still have "too many texts".
The lack of consideration for such remarkable people as Michèle Bimbenet, former curator in the Department of Decorative Arts and now retired, has also resulted in the refusal that her name, as is normal for any book, be included on the cover of the one on the Choiseul snuff box that she designed and directed from start to finish while she was no longer in post [2].
Are curators still necessary at the Louvre? Undoubtedly, but with nuances. "Knowledge no longer comes from the " the president dared to say. Moreover, as she also declared: "Our 500,000 works are only an immense source of data, our professions are going to change." The feedback we have on Laurence des Cars’ conception of artificial intelligence is contradictory, and her failure to reply to our email leaves the question open. Does she intend to use it to replace some of the work of curators, as some understand it? Or, on the contrary, is she wary of a technology that she admits she does not fully understand? The answers we have received from our interlocutors vary. A few days ago, in front of all the Louvre staff, she mocked a curator from the Department of Egyptian Antiquities by calling him "l’épigraphe" (without even knowing that the term, in French, is actually "épigraphiste"…). One person present at this speech understood that it was simply a matter of making translations of ancient texts available to the public on smartphones. Others that she imagines that, in the future, it will no longer be necessary for curators to know epigraphy: phones will do that just as well... There is a French proverb that says: "on ne prête qu’aux riches" ("You can only lend to the rich").
Before wanting to introduce artificial intelligence, a curator thinks that it should perhaps first look at the Louvre’s databases: "The IT teams are not concerned with this. The databases are riddled with errors, but there is no overall policy on the subject, no interest or desire to improve them, no action plan. When you compare it with some other major museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery in London or the Prado... A few works had real notes, but everything was lost when the system changed. We didn’t even get the texts back."
At a time when everyone is talking about "provenance", a curator pointed out to us that without detailed and historical notes, it will be very difficult to work on this subject. As for the necessary digitisation of documentation, which has long been discussed, we suspect that it is no longer the Louvre’s priority.
Laurence des Cars claims to be seeking the opinion of the staff on her major project. To this end, she has visited all the departments, a rare opportunity to exchange views with the curators. "Exchange views" is a big word, by the way. After an hour and a half of presentation, she gave them the floor for questions, but was quick to avoid answering any that were a little embarrassing.
When the French President of the Republic came to the Louvre in January for the launch of this major project, only the departmental directors were invited to form a guard of honour: the rest of the museum was asked to work from home. The consultation process was off to a good start. A consultation process that obviously does not go as far as consulting the curators on certain objects for which they are responsible: they sometimes learn at the last moment that works for which they are responsible are being loaned out, by decision of the president, without them having been informed and obviously without their opinion being sought.
We will return in a future article to the organisation of this "New Renaissance" project, which is totally unrealistic, as we have already written. The "New Renaissance of the Louvre" is not necessarily for tomorrow...