Three French museum professionals and a Brussels-based director are on the shortlist to replace Guy Cogeval  

Musée d’Orsay (image: Daniel Vorndran, DXR / wikimedia)

Michel Draguet, the director-general of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, and Laurence des Cars, the director of Paris’s Musée de l’Orangerie, are among the four candidates shortlisted for the post of director of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The successful applicant will replace Guy Cogeval who has led the museum since 2008.

The other candidates confirmed by the French Ministry of Culture include Sylvain Amic, the director of museums in Rouen, and Dominique de Font-Réaulx, the director of the Musée Delacroix in Paris. A ministry spokesman declined to say when the new appointment will be announced. 

Cogeval will step down on 15 March. During his tenure, he oversaw a re-hang of the collection, major renovation work, and a merger with the Musée de l’Orangerie. After he leaves, he will direct a research centre on Les Nabis—the group of post-Impressionist artists—linked to the museum. 

The new centre will also house a library and archives due to be transferred from the museum. The move makes way for the display of works donated last year by the US couple Spencer and Marlene Hays, who gave more than 600 post-Impressionist works to the museum. Cogeval was instrumental in securing the Hays donation.