For the first time in its history, the Fabre Museum in Montpellier will soon be directed by a woman: Juliette Trey. A graduate of the École du Louvre in 2002, Juliette Trey completed her academic career with a Master 2 in art history at Paris-Sorbonne University in 2007. She then joined the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), from which she emerges conservative. In 2007, she began her career as curator of 18th century paintings at the Château de Versailles.
In 2013, she joined the graphic arts department of the Louvre Museum, where she supervises the collections of French drawings from the 18th century, as well as the so-called “MNR” works (National Recovery Museums).
Since 2019, Juliette Trey has held the position of deputy director of the studies and research department at the National Institute of Art History (INHA). She contributed to the development of academic projects and the networking of art history researchers.
She has curated several exhibitions in her specialty, including “Bouchardon an idea of beauty” at the Louvre Museum in 2016, and more recently “Doucet and Camondo, a passion for the 18th century” at the Camondo Museum in 2023.
The Fabre Museum, founded in 1828 by the painter François-Xavier Fabre, is one of the main fine arts museums in France. Located in the heart of Montpellier, it houses a rich collection ranging from old masters like Nicolas Poussin or Rubens, to modern artists like Pierre Soulages. Michel Hilaire, his predecessor, supervised the work from 2002 to 2007 which resulted in a profoundly modernized museum. The Fabre Museum welcomed 226,000 visitors in 2024, a stable figure compared to 2023.
Juliette Trey was delighted with the Journal des Arts “this appointment is a great opportunity, I am very happy to succeed Michel Hilaire and continue to pursue an ambitious policy”.
