Sylvie Patin (born Sylvie Gache-Patin on 11 June 1951) is a French
conservator-restorer
A conservator-restorer is a professional responsible for the Conservation-restoration of cultural heritage, preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts, also known as cultural heritage. Conservators possess the expertise to preserve cultural ...
of
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...
at
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...
and
art historian
Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Traditionally, the ...
specialised in
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
.
Career
Sylvie Patin was born on 11 June 1951. She has a degree in
historical geography
Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. In its modern form, it is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with histor ...
and a master's degree in history at the
Paris Nanterre University
Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most pres ...
, then she joined
École du Louvre
The École du Louvre () is a selective institution of higher education and prestigious ''grande école'' located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology ...
to continue her study.
She did a museum internship at the Musée Marmottan Monet in 1972 and passed the competitive examination of the musées de France in 1973. From 1974 to 1975, she was a trainee curator at Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume and Musée de l'Orangerie, then a full-time curator from 1976 to 1980. She became curator of the Musée d'Orsay in 1980, chief curator in 1991, and finally a general curator in 2006. She retired in 2016.
In 2010, Patin curated an exhibition of Monet at the
Grand Palais
The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...
. She has published several books on the impressionist painter
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
, such as (2016), a book presents the study of Monet's garden and house in
Giverny
Giverny () is a Communes of France, commune in the northern French Departments of France, department of Eure.pocket book belonging to the collection “
Découvertes Gallimard
(, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...
”, which has been translated into seven languages, including English. On 20 September 2020, Patin was invited to a ' based on her book . The meeting was organised in a former florist shop at the Place de l'Église of Illiers-Combray, during a book fair held in the commune.
Publications
; Publications by Patin
* ''In the Country: 19th Century Musée d’Orsay'', Éditions Hazan, 1986
* ''Monet : « un œil... mais, bon Dieu, quel œil ! »'', collection «
Découvertes Gallimard
(, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...
» (nº 131), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1991, new edition in 2010
** ''Monet: The Ultimate Impressionist'', ‘
New Horizons
''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...
Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places United States
* Abrams, Wisconsin, a town
* Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
* Abrams Mountain, Colorado
* Abr ...
” series. Harry N. Abrams, 1993 (U.S. edition)
* ''Impression... impressionnisme'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard Texto » (nº 4). Éditions Gallimard, 1998
* ''L’impressionnisme'', La Bibliothèque des Arts, 2002
* ''Claude Monet au musée d’Orsay'', RMN, 2004
* ''Le Musée intime de Monet à Giverny'', Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2016
** ''Monet’s Private Picture Gallery at Giverny'', Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2016
; In collaboration
* With Anne Distel & Michel Hoog, ''L’impressionnisme au musée du Jeu de Paume'', F. Hazan, 1977
* AA.VV., ''Monet (Grand Palais Paris exhibition catalogue): 1840–1926'', Harry N. Abrams, 2010