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The Musée du Louvre welcomed only 2.8 million visitors last year, less than 30% of its pre-Covid record levels when it received around ten million. The Louvre has not seen such low figures since 1986, before the opening of the glass pyramid and the Grand Louvre project which steadily boosted attendance over the past four decades. — The Art Newspaper
This level of attendance is nearly the same as the previous year, however French museums were closed for one month less in 2021 than in 2020. According to an official source at the culture ministry, general attendance at French museums dropped by 60-70% for the second year compared to pre-covid... View full entry
In May of this year Airbnb conducted a competition allowing two winners the ability to spend a night at the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris. This "night at the museum" created quite a bit of buzz, however, not everyone was pleased with the museum's new attention and partnership with the billion... View full entry
Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting has been moved to a new room in the Louvre while its usual home is renovated. That’s causing some commotion for visitors. — The New York Times
This year, as the Salle des États, where the Mona Lisa painting has hung since 2005, is being renovated, a debate over how to address the growing number of tourists visiting the famous painting has come to a fore in Paris. The exhibition hall, according to The New York Times, is being... View full entry
The Louvre in Paris turned away thousands of tourists waiting in line to enter the museum yesterday after security staff staged a walkout. The employees are on strike to protest the museum’s handling of its exploding attendance, which exceeded 10 million people last year. This growth has resulted in “unprecedented deterioration in visiting conditions, and obviously working conditions,” according to the guards’ union. — Artnet
The beloved Louvre in Paris is one of the most visited museums in the world. With its iconic pyramid expansion designed by the late I.M. Pei it has become a must-see site. Just last year, the museum attracted 10.2 million visitors, a record-breaking attendance in the museum's history. Other... View full entry
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the I.M. Pei-designed Musée du Louvre Pyramid, Airbnb has partnered with the museum to offer the exclusive opportunity of a night inside the iconic glass structure. Courtesy of AirbnbAccording to contest's website, the night begins with a VIP after hours tour... View full entry
When built in 1989 by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, the glass pyramid was derided as a sacrilegious addition to the historic Louvre Museum. But three decades later, the once-reviled Louvre Pyramid has become a beloved Paris landmark and highly-visited tourist attraction. This weekend, the... View full entry
The Louvre Abu Dhabi has finally opened its doors a decade after the agreement between the French and Emirati governments was signed to establish the mega-museum on Saadiyat Island. [...]
An underwhelming entrance via a nondescript car park might be improved in years to come by an adjoining garden. “It should appear in a few years,” Nouvel said, adding that this was dependent on funding.
— The Art Newspaper
The video above shows the installation of Giuseppe Penone’s sculpture ‘Leaves of Light’ and the beautiful movement of the spots of light coming through the structure's massive dome. © Louvre Abu Dhabi, Photography: Mohamed SomjiAlso watch Jean Nouvel describe his design for the "first... View full entry
After the Louvre demurred, an art installation many consider to be sexually explicit will instead be displayed outside the Pompidou Center in Paris. — The New York Times
The Louvre might not want it, but the Pompidou will take it! The 40-foot-tall, semi-building, semi-sculpture, "Domestikator," by the Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout, was intended to be shown in the Tuileries Gardens, next to the Louvre. But the Museum cancelled the project... View full entry
Officials at the Louvre have been accused of censorship after withdrawing a work from its Tuileries Gardens in Paris for being sexually explicit. The work by the Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout, entitled the Domestikator, was due to go on show later this month as part of the Hors les Murs public art programme organised by representatives of the Fiac contemporary art fair (19-22 October). — The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper explains: "[...] the erotic nature of the large-scale architectural structure, the outline of which depicts a couple having sex, prompted the Louvre’s decision to bar the work from the gardens which are overseen by the museum." Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez tried to defend... View full entry
When I.M. Pei's Grand Louvre in Paris was first completed in 1989, it was denounced as a modernist insult to its historic location, the 800-year-old Grand Palais. But 27 years later, the 71-foot-tall glass pyramid has become as treasured as the artwork it houses. In an announcement today, the... View full entry
As heavy rainfall floods Paris, the Louvre isn’t taking chances with its priceless art collection and will close on Friday to prevent water damage.
The museum will move pieces from its underground stores to higher floors to keep them safe, according to a Thursday statement. The Louvre is right next to the Seine river, which has risen 16 ft. above its normal levels due to rain over the past few weeks, AFP reports.
— TIME
Abnormally heavy rains have caused flooding in northeastern France as well as parts of Germany this week. In Paris, the Seine has risen 16 feet – the highest since 1960 but still short of the standing record of 26 feet from 1910.The rains and flooding have resulted in nine deaths in Germany... View full entry
Whether it be the Middle East, the favelas of Rio, slums of Kenya, New York, Le Havre or Shanghai, JR’s works leave no one indifferent, because they return our gaze and cut to the very heart of our innermost selves. [...]
Invited by the “biggest museum in the world”—which also generates the most selfies—JR has set his sights on one of the Louvre’s symbols, the Pyramid, which he intends to transform with a surprising anamorphic image.
— the Louvre
The artist JR, best known for his series of giant portraits wheat-pasted in cities around the world, has been commissioned to create a piece for the Louvre. Documenting the progress on his Instagram account, JR has been covering I.M. Pei's iconic glass Pyramid with an anamorphic image of the... View full entry
A two-year, 53.5 million euro makeover, or nearly $67 million, is underway in the vast reception area below I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, where long lines of waiting visitors stream into a chaotic, open space that [the museum president] [Jean-Luc] Martinez likens to a noisy airport and that leaves many people disoriented and lost. He is also revamping the museum’s basic storytelling tools: almost 40,000 banners, wall text, signs and symbols... — nytimes.com
Five architectural firms are on the shortlist to design the Louvre’s new storage facility, planned to open near the museum’s satellite in Lens, northern France. Corinne Vezzoni & Assoc and Zig Zag architecture, both from France, Neutelings Riedijk Architecten from the Netherlands, Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners from the UK and Estudio Arquitectura Baeza from Spain were chosen from 173 applicants. — theartnewspaper.com
Jean-Luc Martinez, who was promoted to the directorship of the Musée du Louvre last year, is proposing the most ambitious renovation of the Paris museum since the Grand Louvre project of the 1980s. [...]
Planning the museum’s comprehensive renovation began in June and work is due to start on the main entrance this month. [...] Martinez also plans to devote 1,500 sq. m of space to major temporary exhibitions in the Napoleon Hall, which is beneath the museum’s I.M. Pei-designed entrance pyramid.
— theartnewspaper.com
