The Barnes brings in new curator from the Musee d’Orsay

One of Philly’s top museums has a new curator. The Barnes just appointed Sylvie Patry from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Her official title at the Foundation is Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions and Gund Family Chief Curator.

According to the Barnes, Patry spent more than 15 years at some of France’s top artinstitutions, including 10 as chief curator of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings at the Musee d’Orsay. And she’s been introduced to the local art scene here already, in a way: Patry co-curated the blockbuster exhibition “Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting,”a cross-museum collaboration on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art over the summer. The exhibit also spent timein Paris, at the Musee du Luxembourg, and at the National Gallery in London.

At the Barnes, Patry will expand the exhibitions program and educational technology initiatives, among other goals. She starts in January.

The Barnes, which holds a world-renowned collection of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modern paintings from masters like Renoir, Cezanne and Picasso, was founded in 1922 by Albert C. Barnes. The collection was moved to its new home on the Parkway in 2012.