Antique dealers, auction houses, public and private collections, and managers of salons and fairs all face the same imperative: standing out in a competitive world. To do so, they need staff trained in communication techniques, law, marketing, and sales specialized in the art market and the distribution of works of art. The use of new technologies and social media, the implementation of mediation tools and policies, and the production of exhibitions and auction sales are all skills that the Master in Ancient Art (5-year postsecondary program in the art market) at IESA arts&culture offers its students the chance to acquire.

But the reputation of these professionals depends above all on their approach to works of art and on how they convey to their audiences and/or clients the taste they champion and the relevance of the collections they offer. An intelligent approach to art history is therefore at the heart of these professions. It is an approach that recognizes the full range of a work’s technical, conceptual, historical, and stylistic qualities and its history, and that makes works resonate in order to win over new audiences today.

Around this approach to works of art in all their diversity, about ten renowned curators have agreed to share their knowledge with students through seminars based on active, participatory teaching. Together, they offer a training in ancient and modern art history and cover every discipline from the Renaissance to the early 20th century: furniture, decorative arts, objets d’art, painting, drawing and prints, photography, and sculpture. They want to give students their knowledge of and passion for works of art, as well as their analytical methodology, their practice of sharing knowledge, and their ability to place the work and the artist at the heart of cultural discourse.

Curators at the service of the program:

  • Catherine Arminjon has written many books on objects in the course of her work at the Inventaire and has produced numerous exhibitions, notably for Versailles.
  • Gilles Béguin was director of the Musée Cernuschi.
  • Antoinette Hallé was director of the Musée national de la Céramique (Sèvres).
  • Ségolène Bergeon de Langle was director of the Institut Français de Restauration des Œuvres d’Art (IFROA).
  • Isabelle Julia was head of the drawings department at the Musée d’Orsay and was director of the Musée Hébert.
  • Denis Lavalle is a project officer at the Directorate of Architecture and Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Communication, for national palaces and major patronage.
  • Alexandre Maral is the curator in charge of sculptures at Versailles.
  • Pierre Provoyeur was director of the Musée Calvet in Avignon and the Musée national Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice. He was deputy director of the Musées de France, in charge of museum policy. He is the France director of FRAME (French Regional American Museum Exchange).
  • Arlette Sérullaz was head of the graphic arts department at the Musée du Louvre and was director of the Musée Delacroix.
  • Alain Tapié was director of the Fine Arts Museum in Caen and the Fine Arts Palace in Lille.