France’s culture minister has sparked howls of disapproval from conservative, male critics and curators for seeking to put a woman at the helm of the Louvre museum for the first time, reports The Telegraph.
Aurélie Filippetti, a respected author and a high profile star of President François Hollande’s government, made it clear last week that she wanted to replace Henri Loyrette, outgoing chairman of the world’s most famous museum, with Sylvie Ramond, director of Lyons Fine Arts Museum.
Within days she turned from darling of the cultural establishment to prime target as critics accused the 39-year-old of discriminating against men.
"This way of putting in place what could easily be seen as a system of quotas is perfectly sexist and, moreover, almost illegal," said Didier Rykner, an art historian, in an editorial in La Tribune de l'Art, an outspoken and widely read website.
"One must choose the best candidate of either sex, not the best female candidate. It might have been more honest to refuse to interview the male candidates."
The row worsened after French Culture Ministry officials made it clear that Mrs Filippetti favoured Mrs Ramond for the job.
Detractors claimed Mrs Raymond, in charge of a relatively modest, provincial institution, was totally ill-suited to the Louvre as she is a specialist in 20th century art while the Louvre exhibits little modern art.
Vincent Noce, the art critic of Libération, pointed out that she had a fatal flaw – her poor command of English at a time when the Louvre is involved in a complex project to build an offshoot in Abu Dhabi.
Faced with claims of an “opaque” selection process, Miss Filippetti hit back late last week, insisting: "I never said it would necessarily be a woman.”
"It's absurd to present things like that."
Sources close to the ministry say that in an apparent attempt to defuse the row, she has added two male names to the shortlist submitted to Mr Hollande for a final choice, Jean-Luc Martinez, head of the Louvre's Greek and Roman antiquities department, and Laurent Le Bon, head of the Metz Pompidou Centre.
Read more of this report from The Telegraph.