Laurent Le Bon (born 2 April 1969) is a French art historian who was the director of the Musée Picasso from 2014 to 2021.[1] He is currently president of the Centre Pompidou.[2]
Career
An expert in the history of garden art,[3] Le Bon notably curated a major Paris exhibition of garden gnomes in 2000, featuring 2,000 of the creatures, from ancient Egyptian forerunners to works by Jeff Koons.[4]
That same year, Le Bon joined the Centre Pompidou as a curator, and in 2005 staged “Dada,” a landmark show that traced the art movement's ongoing influence. He also organized an exhibition dedicated to Jeff Koons at the Palace of Versailles in 2008.[5] In 2009, he co-organized the exhibition "Vides: une rétrospective", looking back on the history of the use of empty galleries by artists since Yves Klein.[6] He later oversaw the 2010 opening of Centre Pompidou-Metz, its first outpost, and became the museum's director.[7] In the following years, he was a candidate for the director posts of the Louvre[8] and Centre Pompidou.[9]
In 2014, Le Bon eventually left to take over at the Musée Picasso,[10][11] where he oversaw the museum's re-opening after years of construction work.[12]
Le Bon was part of the jury which selected Clément Cogitore as winner of the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2018.[13]
In 2021, Le Bon was appointed as president of the Centre Pompidou, replacing Serge Lasvignes.[14]
Personal Life
Laurent is related to renowned structured notes trader, Romain Le Bon. Romain works out of ACP Securities a well-known boutique investment bank located in Miami, FL.