Robert Rey (art historian)

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Robert Rey (born Robert Victor Charles Maurice Herfray; 24 January 1888, Oran – 22 December 1964, Paris) was a French art historian and critic. His father was a colonial administrator, and he spent his youth in New Caledonia, Senegal, and French Guiana. He studied at the École du Louvre. In 1911 he became Secretary of the Musée de Cluny. During World War I he returned to the front as an artillery gunner and earned two merit citations. After the war he served as Secretary of the École du Louvre until 1925, then became Assistant Curator at the Musée du Luxembourg and taught at the École for many years. In 1925 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor. In 1930 he became Conservator of the museum at the Château de Fontainebleau, and in 1936 he was named Inspecteur Général des Beaux-Arts.

During World War II, the Vichy government removed him from his posts, and he worked as a conservator at the Louvre, helping to reorganize the provincial museums. He used his travels to pass information to the Resistance. After the war he received the Croix de Guerre and was named Director of the visual arts division at the General Directorate of Arts and Letters. He retired in 1949 but continued as the chair of art history at the École des Beaux-Arts until 1960. Shortly before his death he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, taking Seat 1 in the Unattached section.