Sylvie Patin (born Sylvie Gache-Patin on 11 June 1951) is a French conservator-restorer of cultural heritage at Musée d'Orsay and art historian specialised in Impressionism.^[1]

Sylvie Patin was born on 11 June 1951. She has a degree in historical geography and a master's degree in history at the Paris Nanterre University, then she joined École du Louvre to continue her study.^[2]

She did a museum internship at the Musée Marmottan Monet in 1972 and passed the competitive examination of the musées de France in 1973. From 1974 to 1975, she was a trainee curator at Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume and Musée de l'Orangerie, then a full-time curator from 1976 to 1980. She became curator of the Musée d'Orsay in 1980, chief curator in 1991, and finally a general curator in 2006.^[1] She retired in 2016.^[3]

In 2010, Patin curated an exhibition of Monet at the Grand Palais.^[4] She has published several books on the impressionist painter Claude Monet, such as Le Musée intime de Monet à Giverny (2016),^[5] a book presents the study of Monet's garden and house in Giverny;^[6] and Monet : « un œil... mais, bon Dieu, quel œil ! » (1991), a copiously illustrated pocket book belonging to the collection “Découvertes Gallimard”, which has been translated into seven languages, including English.^[7] On 20 September 2020, Patin was invited to a café littéraire [fr] based on her book Monet : « un œil... mais, bon Dieu, quel œil ! ». The meeting was organised in a former florist shop at the Place de l'Église of Illiers-Combray, during a book fair held in the commune.^[8]

Publications by Patin

• In the Country: 19th Century Musée d’Orsay, Éditions Hazan, 1986
• Monet : « un œil... mais, bon Dieu, quel œil ! », collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 131), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1991, new edition in 2010^[9]
  • Monet: The Ultimate Impressionist, ‘New Horizons’ series, Thames & Hudson, 1993 (UK edition)
  • Monet: The Ultimate Impressionist, “Abrams Discoveries” series. Harry N. Abrams, 1993 (U.S. edition)
• Impression... impressionnisme, collection « Découvertes Gallimard Texto » (nº 4). Éditions Gallimard, 1998
• L’impressionnisme, La Bibliothèque des Arts, 2002
• Claude Monet au musée d’Orsay, RMN, 2004
• Le Musée intime de Monet à Giverny, Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2016
  • Monet’s Private Picture Gallery at Giverny, Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2016

In collaboration

• With Anne Distel & Michel Hoog, L’impressionnisme au musée du Jeu de Paume, F. Hazan, 1977
• AA.VV., Monet (Grand Palais Paris exhibition catalogue): 1840–1926, Harry N. Abrams, 2010