Directing Orsay was his life’s dream. After eleven years at the head of the Rouen museums, Sylvain Amic, 57, who worked in the cabinet of former Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak, succeeded Christophe Leribault at the head of the Parisian museum in April. Less than a year after his appointment, the president of Orsay and the Orangerie, specialist in the 19th centurye century, explains to Monde the axes of his project, focused on the territorial network and the immersive, as well as the major project initiated by his predecessor.
In 2024, the Orsay and Orangerie museums welcomed 4.9 million visitors, a drop of 3% compared to 2023, attributable to the Olympic Games (OG). Is this a lesser evil, when the summer fall was of the order of 20%?
We had anticipated a greater drop, but we are above our forecasts thanks to an intense autumn program, with “Caillebotte”, which garners 6,500 admissions per day, and the Heinz Berggruen collection at the Orangerie, which welcomes 4 400 daily visitors. Yes, this summer, the Olympics reduced the number of entries compared to 2023, by 26% at Orsay and 22% at the Orangerie. But 2023, I remind you, was a year of record attendance due, in particular, to the Van Gogh exhibition. During the Olympics, we had more first-time visitors, younger people who wore tap shoes on their feet and flags in their hands. We were able to see how sport can be an interesting catalyst, for example when we organized major collective dance moments. This gave the image of a museum as a place of possibilities.
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