Jean Clair is the nom de plume (pen name) of Gérard Régnier (born October 20, 1940 in Paris, France). He is an essayist, a polemicist, an art historian, an art conservator, and a member of the French Academy since May, 2008.^[1] He was, for many years, the director of the Picasso Museum in Paris. Among the milestones of his long and productive career is a comprehensive catalog of the works of Balthus. He was also the director of the Venice Biennale in 1995.

[edit] Biography

The son of farmers, Jean Clair was born in the sixth arrondissement of Paris. He was a student at two secondary schools, the lycée Jacques-Decour and the lycée Carnot, before embarking on a course of post-baccalaureat preparation, the so-called khâgne, at the prestigious lycée Henri-IV in Paris. Then he pursued a degree at the Sorbonne, where he was a student of the art historian, André Chastel, and the philosopher, Jean Grenier. ^[1] Later, he secured a doctorate in art at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. ^[2] He was, for a time, involved with the Union of Communist Students.

[edit] External links

• (French) L'Académie française
• Jacques Decour primary school website (école élémentaire) (in French)
• Jean Clair in the German National Library catalogue (German)

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b} Éric Biétry-Rivierre, « Jean Clair, un “atrabilaire” sous la Coupole », Le Figaro, 23 mai 2008
2. ^ Notice biographique, Who's Who in France

Cultural offices
Preceded by Bertrand Poirot-Delpech	Seat 39 Académie française 2008-	Succeeded by Incumbent