Masters degree – second year

This course aims to train specialists in art history and archaeology applied to collections who are able to rigorously carry out a research project dedicated to a specific period or field (artist or site monograph, study of artistic groups, study of artistic typologies or genres, etc) by gathering a carefully analysed corpus, appropriate documentation (archives, bibliography, investigations, etc) and methodological tools to carry out in-depth analysis of a specific theme.

This course leads to professional opportunities in the fields of conservation, exhibitions in national and international museums, cultural programming and artistic education.

It comprises two specialising seminars provided by the school which significantly extended its offering in the last few years, as well as a seminar which introduces students to partner institutions.

These partnership seminars give students the opportunity to discover different teaching methods and different types of approaches to human and social sciences.

Museology has been taught at the Ecole du Louvre since 1927. This course relies on museology studies which students discovered during the first year of the second cycle (master 1) through lessons in conservation-restoration, mediation, historiography, history of museums, administration and management of museums and heritage. It offers an in-depth and broad vision of the subject.

The programme addresses the main issues of this disciplinary field from its historical dimensions to its current debates. It also considers questions relating to the exhibition and presentation of collections, their conservation and dissemination, as well as the development of a museum’s mission statement. It offers students the possibility of a comparative approach to museology thanks to stimulating and educational international partnerships with major academic and museum institutions.

The course prepares students to conservation, museography and scenography professions, as well as exhibition designing and museology research, whether it is on a national scale or an international scale.

The course, which equally covers ancient and contemporary art markets and non-Western and European art markets, prepares students for extremely varied professions in related to the art market, from sales rooms, antique shops, international fairs to the invisible world of art brokerages and private treaty sales: antique dealer, broker, gallery owner, cataloguer, expert, legal adviser specialised in sales, specialised journalist, consultant, purchasing advisor, expert for art foundations, insurance companies, courts or customs.

The advantage of the Art Market course at the Ecole du Louvre is to offer not only art market law and art history classes, but also a perspective strongly based on the market and training alongside professionals in the sector including auction house dealers, gallery owners, journalists for publications specialised in the art market, market control players, market communication specialists, etc.

Taught by a multidisciplinary team, the course draws on the experience acquired by the Ecole du Louvre in its second preparatory training for auctioneer exams and its long-standing and privileged links with the ParisSud law university and its specialists.

It encourages students to mix theoretical knowledge (law, expertise) and a practical approach to the on-the-ground reality of the market by taking advantage of the school’s relationship with the main locations of the Parisian art market (Drouot, Faubourg Saint-Honore, Saint-Germain-des-Pres) and the sector’s national and regional networks which both include alumni from the school.

The course also benefits from an asset which is very popular among dealers: the intimate material knowledge of art works which Ecole du Louvre students acquire throughout the curriculum which includes lessons in preventive conservation, restoration, history of collections and museums, supervised exercises in front of the works and “Objects of the year” museology seminars.

Finally, it puts the emphasis on good knowledge of market professions, its mechanisms and networks, on knowledge of the digital evolution of the market and on learning foreign languages which are essential in negotiations.

Coordinators:

Géraldine Goffaux-Callebaut, private law professor, University of Orléans 

Léa Saint-Raymond, doctor in art history, Ecole Normal Superieure (ENS) alumni, associate professor of economics and social sciences, head of the ARTL@S database.

Sylvain Alliod, editor-in-chief, Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot.

The Mediation course focuses on the methods of disseminating collections to various types of audiences (schools, professionals, businesses, etc) for which it offers an in-depth study methodology and from which it develops a range of dedicated actions.

It strongly emphasises the definition and development of the students’ educational projects, on certain strategies of introducing art works to their audience such as exhibiting, but also on oral mediation (conferences, workshops, etc), written mediation (educational guides, room leaflets, publishing), on multimedia and the new possibilities which digital technologies offer.

The Ecole du Louvre course, supported by lessons on how institutions work, on public policies and museums’ marketing strategies, wants students to master fundamental theories as well as practical work via a field project in mediation. This project allows the student to use a rich and varied methodological reflection on practical cultural mediation cases in a museum and a historic site across the Ile-de-France region.

Coordinators:

Frédérique Leseur, head of public service, Paris Musees

Raffaella Russo-Ricci, Mediation project manager, Paris Musees, France’s correspondent at the International Committee for Education and Cultural Action (ICECA) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

Peggy Derder, head of the written and oral mediation department, Centre Pompidou.

This new master 2 course opened for the 2023-2024 school year. Its aim is to respond to the current needs of museums, heritage institutions and the world of the art market. These needs include the acquisition of art works and objects, their circulation, the documentation of their origins and answering new questions and issues raised by the international context.

The course includes a research experience and an internship which will be adapted to each student’s project. It also specifies the legal, ethical and scientific frameworks which are necessary to secure the origins of cultural property.

Six seminars are given by the best specialists from public, museum, university and administrative institutions who are involved in issues of spoliation, restitution and the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property.

Coordinators:

Isabelle Anatole-Gabriel, associate researcher UMR 9022 Heritage.s, CUY Cergy Paris University/CNRS/Ministry of Culture. 

Anne-Solène Rolland, general heritage conservator, director of heritage and collections of the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac.

Lise Mesz, deputy director of heritage and collections, advisor on the history of collections, Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac.

This course combines reinforced teaching on preventive conservation, its issues, its principles, the methods of its implementation, and training in works management which prepares students for organisation, coordination and management of art works’ journeys.

It is designed to to prepare young professionals for the use of theoretical, administrative, legal and logistical tools for the material management of collections and the monitoring of a work’s journey.

It also hopes to make them aware of the missions of various heritage professionals thanks to its multidisciplinary teaching team which includes managers, architects, restorers, prevention specialists, law and scenography specialists, etc.

This course’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it combines in-depth knowledge of preventive conservation and a grasp of the management of works, two intrinsically linked fields, towards preservation-conservation and dissemination of collections. It also contains knowledge of vaults, the specificity of exhibition management, technical, regulatory and accounting management tools, by following developments and specialisation of professions. All of the training is applied to various types of collections. 

The course also places strong emphasis on the acquisition of practical experience, both through an individual internship giving rise to the writing of an internship dissertation, and collective work experience in a collections project, carried out within a museum institution, in relation to current events in the life of the establishments and with the versatility of the teams engaged on this type of mission. It is thus a first immersion in the day-to-day reality of the professions, the technical skills they require, their interdisciplinary and professional openness.

Specific advice: - Internship and dissertation. The internship of the second semester must be carefully thought through. Students would benefit from considering places and topics as early as possible.

Coordinators:

Florence Bertin, head of the collections department, Arts décoratifs museum

Hélène Vassal, heritage conservator, Director of collections support, Louvre museum