Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the Versailles director who introduced contemporary art into the sanctum of the château, will leave his post on September 30. Faced with mandatory retirement as he turns 65, he wrote in a letter to the palace's staff that "I will depart our establishment with the regret of leaving you." Aillagon had hoped that a special dispensation would allow him to serve at least through the end of his current appointment in 2013. But Wednesday French president Nicolas Sarkozy appointed 57-year-old journalist Catherine Pégard to replace him as head of Versailles.

Beginning with a Jeff Koons show in 2008, which riled conservative critics in the town of Versailles, Aillagon introduced contemporary art into the château on an annual basis. French artist Xavier Veilhan followed Koons in 2009 without controversy, but Takashi Murakami's manga-inspired creations once again met vociferous opposition in 2010. In 2011, the huge rusted metal sculptures of Bernar Venet occupied the castle's gardens, generating more lawsuits and hyperbolic rhetoric from the right-wing fringe. Aillagon also spearheaded the restoration of the Petit Trianon, a small château on the grounds used by Marie Antoinette, and reopened the Royal Opera. A masterful fundraiser, he organized concerts and other events at the palace — including a costume ball for 500 guests.

Speaking to AFP, Aillagon criticized the president for letting the mandatory retirement age apply to some public servants but allowing others to retain their positions past the 65-year mark, calling this practice a "bad thing," which could "imply that the choices being made are arbitrary." He also said that French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand wanted him to remain at Versailles.

Meanwhile, the choice of Pégard has been met with skepticism. Artclair calls it "a very political nomination that sounds like a gift for services rendered." Pégard was previously editor-in-chief of news magazine Le Point before becoming an advisor to Sarkozy in 2007. With no museum experience, she will head a historic institution that employs 1,000 people and is expected to attract 6.7 million visitors in 2011.