Exhibits interspersed with contemporary artworks aim to stimulate fresh approaches to the Louvre's hallowed heritage collection. Contemporary art, so often misunderstood, need not be seen in isolation from the past.
The Louvre: A Laboratory of Experimental Art?
Contemporary art at the Louvre is not an entirely new phenomenon. In 1947 Picasso was invited by George Salles, director of France's state museums, to exhibit in the Louvre's Grande Galerie. And Georges Braque, of course, was commissioned to paint his famous ceiling. A readiness to look further afield is also apparent in the Louvre's new galleries of tribal and folk art (while we wait for the opening of the Musée du Quai Branly), together with the creation of a Department of Islamic Art, and a more innovative approach to its existing collections. Major thematic exhibitions like "Polyptiques," "2,000 Years of Creation…after Antiquity," "Copier-Créer ," and "The Empire of Time" have drawn on the work of contemporary artists, while the Department of Prints and Drawings brought displays of photography and video to the Louvre with seminal cross-disciplinary ventures such as as "Possess and Destroy" and "Painting as Crime." The Department of Prints and Drawings also instigated the "carte blanche" program involving a succession of writers, philosophers, and filmmakers including Jacques Derrida, Peter Greenaway, Julia Kristeva, and Hubert Damisch. In just a few years, the "shock of the new" in institutions devoted to the art of the past has become increasingly recognized as a vital tool to refresh our perception of our artistic heritage. The ripples have spread to many other museums. In collaboration with Henri Loyrette, contemporary art specialist Marie-Laure Bernadac has created an ambitious new "living art" agenda, aimed at stimulating fresh debate on the Louvre's collection, and the fundamental issues of art and creativity.
The museum is home to a host of different professions. The majority of the 2,000 staff (security officers, curators, visitor services assistants, etc.) are government employees, but certain jobs (electrician, graphic designer, fire personnel, etc.), are contracted out.
Exhibitions echo, explore, and provide a counterpoint to the museum's collections, making use of the latest research by specialists.
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