French First Lady Brigitte Macron; French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati; Chairperson of Qatar Museums H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; and Qatar's Ambassador to France H E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani during announcement of the agreement.
Doha, Qatar: On the occasion of the official tribute paid to Sylvain Amic, President of the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, the Musée d’Orsay and Qatar Museums announced an exceptional agreement to loan Gustave Courbet’s masterpiece Autoportrait, also known as Le Désespéré.
By virtue of an exceptional loan agreement between the Musée d’Orsay and Qatar Museums, which owns Gustave Courbet’s Autoportrait (Self-Portrait), also known as Le Désespéré (The Desperate Man, circa 1844–1845), the painting is now on display at the Musée d’Orsay.
On 20 April this year, during the visit to Doha of French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, a framework agreement was signed between Qatar Museums and the Public Institution of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie - Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, with the loan of Courbet’s Autoportrait being its first implementation. The picture is to be on display at the Musée d’Orsay until the opening of the Art Mill Museum in Doha, an institution that will be devoted to Qatar Museums’ modern and contemporary art collection. After an initial period of presentation at the Art Mill Museum, the painting will be exhibited alternately between Paris and Doha.
On behalf of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, announced that the loan of Le Désespéré is dedicated to the memory of Sylvain Amic. H E Sheikha Al Mayassa said, “Sylvain Amic was a visionary who understood the need for works of art to travel and be accessible to different parts of the world. His work with us under a new cultural agreement between Qatar and France made possible the long-term loan of Gustave Courbet’s self-portrait Le Désespéré, a painting we acquired for our future Art Mill Museum of modern and contemporary art. Le Désespéré reflects Courbet’s emotional struggle to break away from artistic conventions and be understood.
“In a similar way, Sylvain moved away from the status quo, enhancing museum experiences beyond traditional norms. We honor his memory by unveiling Le Désespéré at the Musée d’Orsay on this occasion, with pride that the painting will travel regularly between Doha and Paris in the future, and with confidence that Sylvain’s legacy will inspire the next generation of museum directors and curators to think about the power of culture beyond their own walls.”
A great specialist in the oeuvre of Gustave Courbet, Sylvain Amic – in association with the Ministry of Culture and Qatar Museums representatives was committed to working on this agreement in order to enable all visitors to the Musée d’Orsay to admire this masterpiece, which had not been seen in France since the major retrospective exhibition Gustave Courbet held in 2007-2008 in Paris (Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais), New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Montpellier (Musée Fabre).
