Sylvie Patry to Become Consulting Curator at Barnes Foundation as She Joins Musée D’Orsay in Paris as Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and Collections

Philadelphia — The Barnes Foundation today announced that its chief curator, Sylvie Patry, will return to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to become Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and Collections. With this transition, Patry will collaborate as Consulting Curator at the Barnes into 2019 to oversee a roster of exhibitions she has been organizing for the Foundation, and to complete the catalogue raisonné of the Barnes’s Cezanne collection. Prior to joining the Barnes in January 2016 as Deputy Director for Collections & Exhibitions and Gund Family Chief Curator, Patry had served as Chief Curator of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings at the Musée d’Orsay for more than a decade.

Cindy Kang, Associate Curator, will serve as interim leader of the Barnes’s Curatorial Department, working alongside Barnes Executive Director and President Thom Collins and with Patry, while the Barnes launches a search to fill that post. Kang joined the Barnes Foundation earlier this year from the Bard Graduate Center in New York, and prior to that held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

“Sylvie has played an important role in building our dynamic special exhibition program, which brings living artists and new ideas into conversation with our permanent collection, and she has also expanded our relationship with leading arts institutions around the world,” said Thom Collins, Executive Director and President of the Barnes Foundation. “We are excited for Sylvie in her new role at the Musée d’Orsay, and are looking forward to collaborating with her in the years ahead.”

The Barnes Foundation, which began its special exhibition program in 2012, will for the first time tour exhibitions originated by the Foundation: Renoir: Father and Son/Painting and Cinema (at the Barnes May 6–September 3, 2018), will be presented at the Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris); and Berthe Morisot, Woman Impressionist (at the Barnes October 20, 2018–January 14, 2019), will be presented at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Musée d'Orsay (Paris).

Other upcoming exhibitions for which Patry will continue her work with the Barnes are: Kiefer Rodin (at the Barnes November 17, 2017–March 12, 2018), a major collaboration with the Musée Rodin in Paris; and Mohamed Bourouissa: Urban Riders (at the Barnes June 30–October 2, 2017), the French-Algerian artist’s first major exhibition in Philadelphia, with works that explore a North Philadelphia community’s efforts at neighborhood revitalization and youth empowerment.  

ABOUT THE BARNES FOUNDATION

The Barnes Foundation engages visitors in an unparalleled art experience that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is presented in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression.

Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modern paintings—including the largest collection of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes shares with the public renowned masterworks by such artists as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, presented alongside ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and non-Western art, as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art.

The Barnes Foundation was established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” Since moving to the heart of Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways, investing in original scholarship relating to its collection, and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its program.

As the Barnes celebrates five years on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 2017, the Foundation continues to increase its public programming and initiatives in service to the Philadelphia community, the region, and visitors from across the country and the globe.

The Barnes Foundation is open Wednesday–Monday, and information on visiting and tickets are available on-site, online, or by calling 215.278.7200.

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Deirdre Maher, Director of Communications
215.278.7160, press@barnesfoundation.org
Online press office: http://press.barnesfoundation....

Chelsea Beroza, Resnicow and Associates
212.671.5160, cberoza@resnicow.com 

Adriana Elgarresta, Resnicow and Associates
212.671.5155, aelgarresta@resnicow.com