11/2025
Tribute to Guy Cogeval (1955-2025)
Guy Cogeval, former president of the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie from 2008 to 2017, passed away on Thursday 13 November in Paris. This specialist in the Nabi movement and 19th-century art, curator of several major exhibitions, and bold and erudite thinker, donated his library of more than 3,500 works to the Fondation Etrillard, which is now housed in Geneva and Venice. With this text, the Foundation wishes to pay tribute to him.
“During his lifetime, Guy Cogeval donated his library to the Fondation Etrillard.
This donation was one of many signs of his generosity and passion for curious minds, attached to tradition and attracted to movement.
Since the Foundation's Board decided, in full agreement with Guy Cogeval and with the help of Sophie Mouquin, to catalogue this library, the open-mindedness of its creator has become apparent, opening it up to forgotten art historians of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as to contemporary music treatises and monographs, venturing and sometimes straying into social and historical issues.
Everyone knows that Guy Cogeval was as tormented as he was exceptionally talented. The Fondation Etrillard is proud to perpetuate his memory with respect, gratitude and – something he loved – books.”
The Fondation Etrillard Board
