Paris’ Centre Pompidou has appointed Xavier Rey as the director of its Musée National d’Art Moderne ahead of a three-year closure and renovation. Rey will take up his new position on October 1.
Rey was proposed by the Centre Pompidou’s new president, Laurent Le Bon, and officially nominated by culture minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin.
“His dynamism, goodwill, experience on the ground and his openness to the arts, combined with his managerial skills, will be essential in order to conduct the Centre Pompidou’s new project successfully,” said Le Bon.
Rey will be tasked with leading experimental and innovative projects that transform the Musée National d’Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art).
Musée National d’Art Moderne director
The upcoming director is a former student of the École Normale Supérieure and a graduate of HEC Paris. He trained at the French national institute of cultural heritage and started his career at the Musée d’Orsay.
In 2017, Rey was appointed as director of the Musée de Marseille, which includes 19 sites and a collection of more than 120,000 artworks.
The Centre Pompidou will close at the end of 2023 for three years of renovations to be carried out on the 1970s building. This will cost an estimated €200m ($236m).
Speaking to Le Figaro, the Centre Pompidou’s former president Serge Lasvignes said last year: “No substantial work has been done on the building since it opened in 1977.”
Xavier Rey to oversee renovation
The Centre Pompidou previously debuted a waterfront museum in Shanghai, the Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum Project, home to approximately 100 loaned artworks.
Earlier this year, the institution announced the Centre Pompidou × Jersey City project in New Jersey – the Centre Pompidou’s first and only North American partnership.
“As the largest modern and contemporary art collection in Europe, the Centre Pompidou is the perfect partner to carry out our vision and solidify Journal Square as a regional anchor for the arts,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven M Fulop.
Images: Centre Pompidou
