View source for Françoise Cachin

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Short description|French art historian}}
{{Infobox person
|name= Françoise Cachin
|image= Francoise Cachin 1996.jpg
|caption= Françoise Cachin in 1996
|birth_place= [[Paris]], France
|birth_date= 8 May 1936
|death_place= Paris, France
|death_date= {{Death date and age|2011|2|4|1936|5|8|df=y}}
|nationality= French
|occupation= Art historian
}}
'''Françoise Cachin''' (8 May 1936, [[Paris]] – 4 February 2011, Paris) was a French [[Art history|art historian]] and [[curator]]. She was the founding director of the [[Musée d’Orsay]] and the author of numerous books on 19th-century French painting.
== Life ==
Françoise Cachin was born to the pediatrician Charles Cachin and his wife Ginette (née Signac).<ref name="Cogeval">Cogeval, Guy. [http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/history-of-the-museum/homage-to-francoise-cachin.html "Homage to Françoise Cachin."] Musée d'Orsay. Retrieved 16 February 2012.</ref> Her grandparents included the communist politician [[Marcel Cachin]] and the [[pointillism|pointillist]] painters [[Paul Signac]] and [[Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange]].<ref name="New York Times">Grimes, William. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/arts/design/10cachin.html "Françoise Cachin, a Director of French Museums, Dies at 74."] ''The New York Times.'' 9 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.</ref>
Cachin studied art history under [[André Chastel]] at the [[Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie]] of the [[University of Paris]].<ref name="New York Times" /> After training at the [[Louvre]] and the [[Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume]], she worked as a curator at the [[Musée National d'Art Moderne]] from 1969 to 1978, eventually becoming chief curator.<ref name="New York Times" /><!--It's not clear from the sources whether she was chief curator the entire time or not; I assume one doesn't go straight from professional training into a chief curatorial role... --> In this capacity she organized numerous exhibitions, including an important [[Paul Klee]] retrospective, and oversaw the museum's move from the [[Palais de Tokyo]] to the new [[Centre Georges Pompidou]].<ref name="New York Times" />
In 1978 Cachin joined the planning team for the new [[Musée d'Orsay]].<ref name="Cogeval" /> During this time she continued to organize exhibitions, including a major [[Manet]] retrospective in 1983.<ref name="Cogeval" /> When the Musée d'Orsay opened in 1986 she was named director, and in this role organized retrospectives of [[Paul Gauguin]] (1989) and [[Georges Seurat]] (1991).<ref name="Cogeval" />
In 1994 Cachin left the head of the Musée d'Orsay and assumed the post of Director of French Museums, which carried the responsibility for over 1,000 museums across France.<ref name="New York Times" /> Despite this, she still found time to compile a [[catalogue raisonné]] of works by her grandfather [[Paul Signac]], which was published in 2000.<ref name="New York Times" />
Cachin retired from her directorial position in 2001 but remained active in the museum world. She helped found the [[French Regional & American Museums Exchange]] (FRAME),<ref name="Cogeval" /> and (unsuccessfully) lead opposition to the Louvre's plan to construct the [[Louvre Abu Dhabi]].<ref name="New York Times" /> In 2009 she was named a Grand Officier of the [[Ordre national du Mérite]].<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000021262347&dateTexte= Decree]</ref>
Cachin died on 4 February 2011 of [[amyloidosis]], aged 74.<ref name="New York Times" /> She was at work editing the journals of Paul Signac.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/art-obituaries/8336889/Francoise-Cachin.html "Obituaries: Françoise Cachin."] ''The Telegraph.'' 20 Feb 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.</ref>
==Selected works==
* {{cite book |last1=Cachin |first1=Françoise |last2=Moffett |first2=Charles S. |last3=Wilson-Bareau |first3=Juliet |author1-link=Juliet Wilson-Bareau |title=Manet, 1832 – 1883: Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris April 22 – August 8, 1983; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York September 10 – November 27, 1983 |date=1983 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York |isbn=978-0870993497 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/manet18321883gal00cach }}
* ''Gauguin : « Ce malgré moi de sauvage »'', collection « [[Découvertes Gallimard]] » (nº 49), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1989, new edition in 2017<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLIMARD/Decouvertes-Gallimard/Decouvertes-Gallimard/Arts/Gauguin2 |title=''Gauguin : " Ce malgré moi de sauvage "'', collection Découvertes Gallimard (n° 49) |publisher=Éditions Gallimard |accessdate=2018-11-14}}</ref>
** UK edition – ''Gauguin: The Quest for Paradise'', '[[Découvertes Gallimard|New Horizons]]' series. Thames & Hudson, 1992
** US edition – ''Gauguin: The Quest for Paradise'', "[[Découvertes Gallimard|Abrams Discoveries]]" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992
* ''Seurat : Le rêve de l'art-science'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 108), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1991
* ''Manet : « J'ai fait ce que j'ai vu »'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 203), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1994, new edition in 2011<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLIMARD/Decouvertes-Gallimard/Decouvertes-Gallimard/Arts/Manet |title=''Manet : " J'ai fait ce que j'ai vu "'', collection Découvertes Gallimard (n° 203) |publisher=Éditions Gallimard |accessdate=2018-11-14}}</ref>
** UK edition – ''Manet: Painter of Modern Life'', 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1995
** US edition – ''Manet: The Influence of the Modern'', "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1995
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Paul Josefowitz: ''Personality of the year: Françoise Cachin, Directeur des musées de France''. ''[[Apollo (magazine)|Apollo]]'' Nr. 140, pp.&nbsp;14–17, London, December 1994.
* Denis Picard: "Une directrice pour les Musées de France". ''[[Connaissance des Arts]].'' Nr. 583, May 2001, p.&nbsp;39.
* [[Henri Loyrette]]: ''Mélanges en hommage à Françoise Cachin''. Réunion des Musées Nationaux and Gallimard, Paris 2002, {{ISBN|2-07-076158-4}}.
{{Paul Signac|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cachin, Francoise}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:French art historians]]
[[Category:Writers from Paris]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite]]
[[Category:French curators]]
[[Category:French people of Breton descent]]
[[Category:French women art historians]]
[[Category:French women curators]]