Catherine Grenier

Grenier was working for the French Ministry of Culture before starting her tenure at the Centre Pompidou.^[1]

In 2006 she organized Los Angeles 1955–1985: A Birth of an Artistic Capital, a historical exhibition detailing the emergence of Los Angeles as a post-war arts capital, for the Centre Pompidou.^[2] The exhibition was thought to be a watershed for Los Angeles' reception as a serious center of contemporary art, as described by then-curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Carol S Eliel:

Organized in Paris by a major museum with a large and international audience, it could not be considered local or boosterish, but rather was seen as the fourth in a series of major, critically acclaimed Pompidou shows that focused on international centers of cutting-edge artistic activity earlier in the twentieth century: Paris–New York, Paris–Berlin, and Paris–Moscow.^[3]

In 2014 Grenier was appointed director of the Annette and Alberto Giacometti Foundation, after failing to become director of the Centre Pompidou.^[4] She is also credited with helping bridge the divide in Giacometti's legacy that formed following the death of his widow in 1993.^[5]

As chief heritage curator of the French Ministry of Culture, Grenier curated the 2017 Picasso-Giacometti exhibition at Qatar’s Fire Station Gallery.^[6] In 2018, Grenier became director of a newly opened institute researching Giacometti's work.^[7]

Grenier is the Director of Concept at the Art Mill Museum in Doha.^[8][9] In 2025, she was a member of the advisory panel that chose Lina Ghotmeh as architect of the Qatari Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.^[10]

Grenier has organized exhibitions such as "Abracadabra", focusing on the fantasy of art at the Tate Modern in 1999,^[11] "Les années pop" (The Pop Years) in 2001,^[12] "The Big Bang" in 2005^[13] and "Los Angeles 1955-1985" in 2006.^[14]

Grenier wrote “The Possible Life Of Christian Boltanski” based on Interviews she had with Boltanski in 2004.^[15]