Françoise Cachin

Françoise Cachin (8 May 1936, Paris – 4 February 2011, Paris) was a French art historian and curator. She was the founding director of the Musée d’Orsay and the author of numerous books on 19th-century French painting.

Life Françoise Cachin was born to the pediatrician Charles Cachin and his wife Ginette (née Signac). Her grandparents included the communist politician Marcel Cachin and the pointillist painters Paul Signac and Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange.

Cachin studied art history under André Chastel at the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie of the University of Paris.

Cachin died on 4 February 2011 of amyloidosis, aged 74.

Selected works

Gauguin : « Ce malgré moi de sauvage », collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 49), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1989, new edition in 2017 UK edition – Gauguin: The Quest for Paradise, 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1992 US edition – Gauguin: The Quest for Paradise, "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992 Seurat : Le rêve de l'art-science, collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 108), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1991 Manet : « J'ai fait ce que j'ai vu », collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 203), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1994, new edition in 2011 UK edition – Manet: Painter of Modern Life, 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1995 US edition – Manet: The Influence of the Modern, "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1995