A New Partnership Brings A&A Undergraduates to École du Louvre’s Winter School

Embarking on a new partnership between A&A and the École du Louvre in Paris, A&A undergraduate students took part in École du Louvre’s Winter School in January 2025. This 10-day intensive educational program explored the topic “Provenance Research & Duty to Care.” 

The École du Louvre’s Winter School outlines its objective as training students on “collecting art objects, ensuring their lawful circulation and transfer, studying their archives and documentation and, ultimately, fostering robust scientific responses to issues and challenges – including ethical issues- posed by the global context.” 

In addition to lectures presented by experts in the field and special access to the Louvre, participants visited the Rodin Museum, Musée d’Orsay, Guimet Museum, Musée de l’Homme, and Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium. 

From left: Moses Abrahamson ’26, Kate Weseley-Jones ’26, and Audrey Zhang ’26 in front of the École du Louvre in Paris (Photo/ Jennifer Loessy)

École du Louvre Winter School (Photo/ Jennifer Loessy)

“The museum visits brought tangibility to concepts like museum acquisitions and repatriation that, as a student, can feel very abstract.” 

— Kate Weseley-Jones ’26

“The museum visits brought tangibility to concepts like museum acquisitions and repatriation that, as a student, can feel very abstract,” said History of Art track senior Kate Weseley-Jones ’26, adding “The most incredible part of the program was the enthusiasm of everyone involved.” Along with enhancing knowledge and skills, the program brought together students from diverse backgrounds to learn from one another. 

Along with Weseley-Jones, Princeton’s inaugural group of participants included Moses Abrahamson ’26, also concentrating on the History of Art track, and Practice of Art major Audrey Zhang ’26; all three brought distinct interests to the question of provenance. 

The group tours the Palais Garnier (Photo/ Kelly Lake)

Abrahamson’s senior thesis investigates the legal and art historical conditions surrounding the creation and removal of Confederate monuments and explores how public art shapes historical memory and national identity. He took particular interest in lectures on the illicit trade of looted objects. “To negotiate acquiring and restituting these objects, curators and heritage professionals must serve as both experts and diplomats,” said Abrahamson. “These dual capacities were reinforced during one of my favorite visits of the program to the Louvre’s storage facilities. During this visit, we spoke to the director of the newly created Byzantine and Early Christian Art department. He discussed how his acquisition of works required collaboration on an international scale, and how he approached building relationships with foreign stakeholders and cultural agencies.” 

From left, front row: practice of art major Audrey Zhang and history of art major Kate Weseley-Jones, back row: Manager of Finance and Administration Jennifer Loessy, history of art major Moses Abrahamson, and Undergraduate Program Administrator Kelly Lake at Paris’s Sainte-Chapelle royal chapel. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Loessy)

“I’m excited to see where the questions and issues raised during the workshop take me in my own academic work.”

— Moses Abrahamson ’26

Direct access to museum professionals was also a highlight for Weseley-Jones, reinforcing her interest in a career working with museum collections. “Some of my favorite moments in class were the visits to museum storage at the Musée Rodin and the Louvre, or the conservation lab at the Musée du quai Branly,” she said. “The chance to speak to curators and interact with objects outside of the controlled gallery environment were an inspiring taste of exactly the kind of work I hope to be able to do in museums one day.” 

For Weseley-Jones, the trip was also pivotal to her senior thesis on late 19th-century French sculpture.  In advance of the trip, she arranged a visit to the object file room at the Musée Rodin. “This meeting led to me uncovering primary documents that are instrumental to my thesis research,” she said. “I could not be more excited to have made this personal research breakthrough while also attending the program.”

Zhang, concentrating in the Practice of Art track, is exploring how information is preserved and propagated in her thesis on immortality.  Along with the breadth of knowledge offered at the Winter School, Zhang and her fellow classmates were impressed by sites they visited outside the program, too.

“I loved my experience at and beyond the École du Louvre.”

— Audrey Zhang ’26

A&A’s Manager of Finance and Administration Jennifer Loessy and Undergraduate Program Administrator Kelly Lake accompanied the group and organized a rich program of cultural experiences. They explored Sainte-Chapelle, the Catacombs, Notre Dame, the Palais Garnier,  Opéra National de Paris, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Versailles. “A personal favorite of mine was the Louis-Vuitton Foundation, which had a fabulous exhibit on Tom Wasselman,” said Abrahamson. Sainte-Chapelle left everyone in awe.

Audrey Zhang, Moses Abrahamson, and Kate Weseley-Jones outside of the Louvre (Photo/ Audrey Zhang)

“We are so excited about our new partnership with the École du Louvre, and the incredible opportunities it affords A&A students!”

— Jennifer Loessy

“We are so excited about our new partnership with the École du Louvre, and the incredible opportunities it affords A&A students!” said Loessy. “Touring culturally and architecturally important landmarks in Paris like Sainte-Chapelle, the Palais Garnier, Chateau de Versailles, and the Parisian Catacombs illustrated perfectly what our students were learning in the classroom - architectural elements, symbolism, narrative, and the use of different art forms. Providing A&A students the opportunity to engage with these in situ, experience their grandeur, and approach them with educated awe is an important part of our pedagogy. We are looking forward to many more Januarys in Paris.”

From left: Marie Garraut (École du Louvre), Jennifer Loessy (Princeton University), Kelly Lake (Princeton University), and Julien Fremont (École du Louvre)

The visit to Paris clearly had a lasting impact on our inaugural participants. 

“My time in Paris—both inside and outside the École du Louvre—was a wonderful learning experience,” said Weseley-Jones. 

“I loved my experience at and beyond the École du Louvre, and I am super grateful and happy to have been able to understand Paris, provenance, everyone, and me better!” Zhang agreed.  

“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to attend the Winter School, and to those who made this possible,” said Abrahamson “I’m excited to see where the questions and issues raised during the workshop take me in my own academic work.”