Paris's Museé d'Orsay's new head, Sylvain Amic, passes away at 58 years old.
Sylvain Amic, a renowned art historian and museum leader, passed away on Sunday at the age of 58 in southern France. Amic served as the leader of Paris's Museé d'Orsay since last year, and before that, he was the leader of a group of 11 museums in Rouen, which he named the Museums of Rouen.
Born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1967 to French parents, Amic began his career in the world of art by leading a school in Banjul, Gambia, before transitioning to a curatorial role in the late '90s. Between 2000 and 2011, he worked at the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, France.
Amic's most recent role was that of an advisor to Rima Abdul Malak, the former French culture minister, from 2022 to 2024. Before that, he worked as an advisor to the late Jack Lang, the previous French Minister of Culture.
Amic was known for his innovative approach to museums and art. He recently spearheaded a traveling show of masterworks from the Musee d'Orsay's holdings, which visited Shanghai's Pudong Art Museum this summer. He also led plans for a permanent collection rehang at the Musee d'Orsay and was overseeing the opening of a research center at the museum.
Amic believed in making the museum as 'contemporary' as possible, responding to today's problems, and using the collection, art history, and the history of that era as resources to understand the world and draw inspiration. He expressed his goal to keep the past alive and to demonstrate that it need not remain stale or stodgy.
Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister of France, wrote that Amic "knew the universal emancipatory power of our culture, between heritage and creation." Laurence des Cars, the current president and director of the Louvre Museum, praised Amic as a "promoter of an imaginative and open culture."
Rima Abdul Malak, the former French culture minister, stated that Amic died of heart failure. His death has been treated with shock, both within France and beyond.
Amic's legacy in the world of art and museums will undoubtedly continue to be felt for years to come.
