Now Savoy has emerged as one of the art world’s leading thinkers. “Who Owns Beauty?” netted her the prestigious European Essay Prize, whose laureates include Giorgio Agamben and Arundhati Roy. In September, just weeks before the heist, she was appointed the Chaire du Louvre, a yearlong role that culminates in a series of lectures. It’s a chance to bring her critique of the “universal” museum to its birthplace: “Who Owns Beauty?” began as a course entitled “The Global History of the Louvre.” Earlier this month, Savoy spoke to me via Zoom from her home in Berlin, where she heads the Technical University’s department of art history. We discussed Trump’s attacks on the Smithsonian, Hitler’s infatuation with Nefertiti, and the prospects for restitution amid the breakdown of the liberal international order. Our conversation, which took place in French, has been translated and condensed.journey-inline-newsletterinline-newsletter