Until now deputy director of the Army Museum, Ariane James-Sarazin has been a specialist curator of 17th and 18th century decorative arts at the MAD and the collections of the Nissim de Camondo Museum since November 2023. The announcement has only been made now. The position has been vacant for a long time.
Born in Toulouse in 1971, Ariane James-Sarazin graduated from the first cycle of the École du Louvre, the École nationale des chartes and holds a DEA in modern history from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She defended a thesis at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in 2003, on the life and work of the painter Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743).
Becoming an archivist-palaeographer in 1995 then heritage curator in 1996, she worked in numerous cultural institutions. She first joined the National Archives – first as executive assistant then department director – before occupying the position of head of exhibitions at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in 2009.
In 2012, she took charge of the museums and art library of the city of Angers, leading various cultural projects and organizing numerous exhibitions (such as “Illuminated Treasures” at the Museum of Fine Arts in 2013).
After briefly working at the Ministry of Culture in Paris and then at the National Institute of Art History, she became deputy director of the Army Museum in 2018. She was then in charge of policy and scientific and cultural programming of the establishment. Decorative Arts is a cultural institution founded in 1864, which brings together the MAD, the Nissim de Camondo Museum and educational establishments.
The first houses one of the largest collections of decorative art in the world, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. The second is a private mansion entirely devoted to French decorative art from the second half of the 18th century.
