https://www.scmp.com/rss/524240/feed The latest news and top stories on Laurence des Cars, a distinguished French museum curator and art historian. Appointed in September 2021, she is the first woman to lead the Louvre Museum. Previously, she headed the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie, and oversaw the development of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. A specialist in 19th and early 20th-century art, her responsibilities include fostering dialogue between ancient and contemporary art, broadening accessibility for younger generations and... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press The Louvre Museum’s director resigned on Tuesday after months of pressure following the October theft of the French crown jewels, as the world’s most visited museum faced widening scrutiny over security failures, labour unrest and a suspected ticket fraud scheme. Laurence des Cars quit after a punishing year for the former royal palace - the high-profile jewels heist from the Apollo Gallery, a mid-February burst pipe near the Mona Lisa, water leaks damaging priceless books, staff walkouts and a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344518/louvre-museum-director-resigns-wake-brazen-crown-jewel-heist-paris?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344518/louvre-museum-director-resigns-wake-brazen-crown-jewel-heist-paris?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 19:39:56 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The ongoing strike at the Louvre is no longer just a labour dispute. It has become a test of how securely, credibly and competently the world’s most visited museum is being run. Behind the walkout are not only frayed labour relations, but a building itself under strain, with crumbling parts of the ageing former palace now deemed unsafe. At the heart of the crisis lies a deeper rupture: a US$102 million jewel heist that exposed security failures at the core of the institution and transformed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3336826/louvre-crisis-why-jewel-heist-staff-unrest-push-museum-breaking-point?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3336826/louvre-crisis-why-jewel-heist-staff-unrest-push-museum-breaking-point?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:00:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday. The investigation, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday, October 19. Agents in the security control room did not have enough... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335950/louvre-thieves-escaped-30-seconds-police-arrived-probe-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335950/louvre-thieves-escaped-30-seconds-police-arrived-probe-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Trade unions at the Louvre Museum have called for a rolling strike next week to demand urgent renovations and better working conditions, piling more bad news on the beleaguered Paris institution. Monday’s announcement came a day after the world’s most visited museum admitted to a major leak in late November and nearly two months after an embarrassing robbery in which French crown jewels were stolen from its permanent collection. In between those two incidents, it had to close a gallery... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335663/louvre-trade-unions-call-strike-demand-renovations-better-working-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335663/louvre-trade-unions-call-strike-demand-renovations-better-working-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 17:07:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Louvre Museum said on Monday that it was closing one of its galleries as a precaution after an audit revealed structural weaknesses in some of the beams in the building. The Campana Gallery, which houses nine rooms dedicated to ancient Greek ceramics, will be closed while investigations are conducted into “certain beams supporting the floors of the second floor” above it, a statement said. The announcement has no link to the recent robbery at the world’s most visited art gallery, but is more... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333159/louvre-museum-paris-closes-gallery-due-structural-weakness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333159/louvre-museum-paris-closes-gallery-due-structural-weakness?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 17:10:00 +0000 Cherry Liu Cherry Liu Edgy Broadway producer Jordan Roth has once again redefined creative boundaries with Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty, a trio of groundbreaking live performances held at the Louvre on July 10. The performances were part of La Nuit de la Mode, an evening celebrating the Louvre’s first-ever major exhibition of haute couture. Collaborating with president of the Louvre Laurence des Cars, Roth transformed the iconic museum into a living canvas, with elements of the space and its art projected onto... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3318607/meet-jordan-roth-who-just-did-live-art-installation-louvre-tony-award-winning-broadway-producer-was?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3318607/meet-jordan-roth-who-just-did-live-art-installation-louvre-tony-award-winning-broadway-producer-was?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:00:09 +0000