Since 2007, the Louvre museum has opened up to contemporary art as can be seen from the commissions, appearances and exhibitions of more and more living artists at the establishment. In charge of this ambitious programme, Marie-Laure Bernadac is seeking to create a dialogue between the collections at the Louvre and current artistic creation, as in the invitation made to Picasso in 1947 to display an exhibition of his work in the Grande Galerie or the commission from Georges Braque for a ceiling.In the same vein, the French conceptual artist François Morellet quite recently inaugurated the commission “L’Esprit d’escalier” with the creation of glass windows for the Lefuel staircase in the Richelieu wing. Whilst respecting the constraints of the site, particularly the size and the ancient ironwork of the panes of glass, the artist’s creation illuminates this space with a new light thanks to the way it superimposes the reversed design of the existing grill against the old outline.
On March 25th, it will be the turn of the American artist Cy Twombly, to reveal the museum’s third special commission, the painted ceiling of the Salle des bronzes grecs. Not forgetting that in 2007, it was the German artist Anselm Kiefer who inaugurated a monumental painting and two sculptures at the museum. For the start of 2010, and until June 21st, it is also possible to see the superb and enigmatic neon inscriptions of the American artist Joseph Kossuth, one of the leading and founding artists of conceptual art, installed in the old ramparts, the keep and the crypt of the medieval Louvre. During the last few months, works by important artists have also been present in the temporary exhibitions at the Louvre, for example, the Belgian Jan Fabre, the Chinese Yan Pei-Ming and even the French Christian Boltanski and Pierre Soulages.
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE
Place du Carrousel, Paris 1st
Tel +33 (0)1 40 20 50 50
www.louvre.fr
