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Contemporary Art At The Louvre
CONTEMPORARY ART AT THE LOUVRE
Since its inception in 1793, the Louvre has welcomed new and emerging artists into its halls to follow in the footsteps of their great predecessors. The Louvre continues this tradition today, providing contemporary artists with space in its galleries and on its stage to showcase new works of fine art, film, photography, music, dance, and literature.
Two significant commissions of the past include Eugène Delacroix’s decoration of the central ceiling cartouche in the Apollo Gallery (1849) and Georges Braque’s painting of the Henri II Gallery ceiling (1953). The Louvre’s devotion to contemporary art also extends into the realm of architecture, such as with I.M. Pei’s Pyramid (1989).
Keeping with this practice, the Louvre has recently commissioned new work in fine art, music, dance, cinema, and literature. Most notably, Anselm Kiefer was commissioned to create a permanent installation to be unveiled this fall. By 2010, two more commissions by Cy Twombly and François Morellet will be completed.
1. Visual Art
Past Exhibitions and Ongoing Commissions
In 2003 the Louvre initiated a new dialogue between the art of today and its permanent collection, inviting artists Christian Boltanski, Gary Hill, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Tunga, Huang Yong Ping, Bertrand Lavier, Cameron Jamie, Mike Kelley, Sarkis, Anish Kapoor, Giuseppe Penone, and Luciando Fabro to create work inspired by the museum and its collections. This series of exhibitions, titled Counterpoints, has established a connection and new resonance between ancient art and contemporary creation. It has also permitted the public to rediscover less-frequented areas of the museum, such as the decorative arts, sculpture, and oriental antiquities galleries.
Each year, the Louvre invites contemporary photographers, including Patrick Faigenbaum, Jean-Luc Moulène and Candida Höfer, to photograph the Louvre and its collections. Their work is presented in the gallery dedicated to the history of the Louvre. This fall Christian Milovanoff, an internationally recognized artist and professor at the National School of Photography at Arles, will present photographs in bas-relief of Iranian and Mesopotamian antiquities. Milovanoff attempts to find a new vision, both
didactic and artistic, of these ancient works of art.
Further, the Louvre has welcomed the International Contemporary Art Fair in the Court Carrée and the Tuileries Garden since 2006. Hosting this leading contemporary art fair exemplifies the Louvre’s continued commitment to discussion and relationship between old and new.
Upcoming Work
On October 25, 2007, the Louvre will unveil a monumental painting commissioned from Anselm Kiefer. It is the first such installation commissioned since Georges Braque’s contribution more than fifty years ago. Kiefer’s painting is located in the staircase designed by the architects Percier and Fontaine at the beginning of the 19th century, to the North of the Perrault colonnade. The completion of this ambitious project will be celebrated through a month-long series of events organized around Kiefer’s chosen theme, “Frontiers.” The events will span a number of disciplines, including literature, contemporary music, dance, science, philosophy, and art history. “Frontiers” will also be explored in a specially created work by choreographer Bill T. Jones, and in an exhibition of drawings from the permanent collection curated by Kiefer.
In the spring of 2008, the museum will give “carte blanche” to the Belgium artist Jan Fabre. Enfant terrible of the Flemish New Wave movement in the 1980s, he is an artist who works with an incredible sense of liberty. Within the galleries dedicated to paintings from the Northern Schools, visitors will be invited to rediscover the master works of Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Bosch, Metsys, and Rubens through Fabre’s multifaceted interpretation, which includes sculptures, drawings, videos, and
installations. Additionally, Fabre has been invited to the Louvre’s Auditorium to showcase his genius as a multi-disciplinary artist, dancer, choreographer, actor, and director.
2. Music and Dance
The 2007-2009 seasons will bring an unprecedented number of original performing arts commissions to the Louvre.
In November 2007 a new concert series, Oeuvre, will feature new music commissioned by the Louvre. The series features established and emerging composers from around the world, including works by Frédéric Pattar, Jörg Widmann, Matthias Pintscher, Philippe Manoury, Oscar Strasnoy, and Bruno Mantovani.
Later in the year, French musician and singer Arthur H., and DJs Laurent Garnier and Vincent Ségal,
have been invited to perform “Duos Ephémères,” a program of short silent films accompanied by semiimprovised music. Through the unusual pairing of contemporary music and silent cinema, these performances offer an exciting new approach to art.
Contemporary dance at the Louvre will be celebrated though the original choreography of Bill T. Jones’ “Walking the Line.” Anselm Kiefer has invited Jones to create this unique solo dance piece as part of the “Frontiers” series. The work will be presented in the Louvre’s Michealangelo and Daru Galleries. Jones’ performance will be accompanied by singer Yunchen Lhamo, percussionist Florent Jodelet, and light artist Robert Wierzel.
3. Film
Playing the role of co-producer, the Louvre lends contemporary filmmakers its collections and grounds to serve as the subject and setting for new art. Enticed by the unique inspiration the Louvre offers, renowned Taiwanese director Tsaï Ming Liang is collaborating with the museum on the full-length movie, Salomé.
Liang explains:
“My film pays homage to the profession of acting and, to do this, I have chosen personalities from various backgrounds to reflect the multiplicity and infinite diversity of the world of cinema: Jean-Pierre Léaud, from the French New Wave movement, an actor that influenced an entire generation of actors and audiences; Maggie Cheung, emblematic figure of the Hong Kong cinema, whose name has already graced movie screens across the globe; Lee Kang-Sheng, a young Taiwanese screenwriter with whom I regularly work; and the fourth and last personality will be the Louvre itself, with the different faces and bodies of the works of art that respond to one another here and there, either through similarities or contrasts.”
4. Literature
Twice a year, the Louvre invites six authors to use a work of art in the museum as inspiration for new fiction, and then present a reading of their creations at the Louvre. Once focused on well-known French writers, the program now includes authors from around the world who write and present in their native languages.
The most recent set of commissions will be presented through readings this October. Marie Darrieussescq was inspired by a Roman statue, Frédéric Boyer chose Hammurabi’s Code for his story, Agnès Desarthe selected Paulus Potter’s The Piebald Horse, Charles Dantzig focused on Van Dyck’s Portrait of the Prince Palatins, Lydie Salvayre wrote about a Virgin and Child by Filipo Lipi—and Gérard Massé derived inspiration from several canvases which he will keep secret until the very end.
Some of the writers invited to participate in 2008 are Linda Lê, Camille Laurens, Jean Rollin, and Emmanuel Carrère.
