Sylvain Amic, recently appointed director of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, has died suddenly at the age of 58. The news was confirmed on Sunday by France’s Culture Minister, Rachida Dati. According to Le Figaro, Amic died of natural causes while on holiday in the Gard region of southern France.
President Emmanuel Macron, who appointed Amic to the Orsay in 2024, paid tribute on X, expressing his “shock” and recalling a curator committed to broadening access to art “from Manet to Soulages.” Dati added her own words of remembrance, describing Amic as “warm, attentive, and open,” someone who worked tirelessly to extend culture to all.
Amic had long described directing the Orsay as a personal ambition. First a candidate in 2017, he lost out to Laurence des Cars, who is now the head of the Louvre. When Christophe Léribault left the Orsay in April 2024 for Versailles, Amic finally stepped into the role. He had hoped to oversee a full rehang of the collection following major renovations of the museum’s entrance and forecourt, but his plans were cut short.
During his brief tenure, Amic confronted the challenges of rising visitor numbers—4.9 million in 2024, a record since the pandemic—along with the need to tighten budgets. His vision included improving conditions for audiences and drawing in younger generations.
Amic’s appointment marked a break from tradition in France, where national museum posts often go to Paris-based insiders. His career path was rooted in regional institutions instead. Born in Dakar in 1967 to teacher parents, he began his career as a teacher before transitioning into the museum sector at the age of 33. At the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, he oversaw collections of 19th- and 20th-century art. He went on to curate two major exhibitions at the Grand Palais: a 2008 retrospective of Emil Nolde and Bohèmes in 2012.
From 2011, he directed the Rouen museums, known for their Impressionist holdings, staging a series of acclaimed exhibitions. In 2022, he joined the Culture Ministry as an adviser, shaping policies on the restitution of looted works and human remains.
Amic’s death deprives the Orsay of a director at a pivotal moment and French museums of a figure respected for his independence, political acumen, and commitment to widening cultural access beyond the capital’s traditional elite.
Top Photo: Rachida Dati, via X