Paris, Centre Pompidou has a new director: 39-year-old Xavier Rey

A young director for the Musée National d’Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France ’s most important museum for its historical period: he is 39-year-old Xavier Rey, appointed director by Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin at the suggestion of Laurent Le Bon, president of the Centre Pompidou. The appointment comes following an open competition.

After studying at the École Normale Supérieure and graduating as a conservator from the Institut National du Patrimoine, Xavier Rey began his working career at the Musée d’Orsay as a specialist in 18th- and 19th-century art. He later became director of collections and managed the museum’s territorial policy. Instead, in 2017 he became director of the Museums of Marseille (nineteen institutions with a collection of 120,000 works). He has curated numerous exhibitions (on Cézanne, Picasso, Man Ray, Alexey von Jawlensky). Thanks to his efforts especially on the social role of museums, Rey won the Marseille museums the “Osez le musée” award from the French Ministry of Culture in 2020.

At the Centre Pompidou, Rey will be tasked with drafting the scientific and cultural plan for the Musée National d’Art Moderne, which he will have to steer through the extensive work that will affect it in the years to come. The Centre Pompidou has already let it be known that Rey’s project aims to make the Musée National d’Art Moderne an institution increasingly at the service of the local area and the public.

President Laurent Le Bon comments, “His dynamism, his kindness, his experience in the territory and his openness about art together with his managerial qualities will be essential to manage the new Centre Pompidou project well.”

Pictured: Xavier Rey

Paris, Centre Pompidou has a new director: 39-year-old Xavier Rey

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