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Françoise Cachin
Françoise Cachin (8 May 1936, Paris – 4 February 2011, Paris) was a French 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. LifeFrançoise Cachin was born to the pediatrician Charles Cachin and his wife Ginette (née Signac).[1] Her grandparents included the communist politician Marcel Cachin and the pointillist painters Paul Signac and Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange.[2] Cachin studied art history under André Chastel at the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie of the University of Paris.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2] In 1978 Cachin joined the planning team for the new Musée d'Orsay.[1] During this time she continued to organize exhibitions, including a major Manet retrospective in 1983.[1] 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).[1] 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.[2] Despite this, she still found time to compile a catalogue raisonné of works by her grandfather Paul Signac, which was published in 2000.[2] 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),[1] and (unsuccessfully) lead opposition to the Louvre's plan to construct the Louvre Abu Dhabi.[2] In 2009 she was named a Grand Officier of the Ordre national du Mérite.[3] Cachin died on 4 February 2011 of amyloidosis, aged 74.[2] She was at work editing the journals of Paul Signac.[4] Selected works
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