Tag Archives: Louvre’s pyramid

Shake Up at the Louvre

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There are quite a few changes astir at the Louvre, and not just the McDonald’s everyone is going on about. The New York Times has an in-depth article about changes that Henri Loyrette’s management have instilled. To me, most of the changes seem to be about making the art accessible, making the museum commercially viable, and trying to get people to come for something beside the Mona Lisa.

You would think these would be good things. I don’t mind a nice, staid high-quality art museum myself, but looking at those grey stone walls I understand the urge to put a big glass pyramid in. Loyrette is creating an Islamic wing, as well as trying to include more American artists. I love the idea of having Cy Twombley do a big ceiling for the Salle des Bronzes, pictured below. Loyrette has also created a membership program and made the museum free on Friday nights to those under 26. Some might say he is running it like an American institution.

He is also critiqued for making big loans in exchange for big bucks. (The High Museum in Atlanta is one example of an institution with more cash than art.) Loyrette is first and foremost an arts administrator, and he is trying to make his ‘business’ a success. That’s not a very Romantic notion for an art museum, but for one of its size and prestige it’s a very useful one.
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Ravels in Review Friday

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It’s been a long time since I did a Ravels in Review post between my trip to Costa Rica and skipping last week because there was very little that needed to be summed up. It’s so nice to be swinging these art ravels in full force, you won’t even here me rail on the weather. Especially as it is supposed to be a fantastic 71 degrees in NYC today.

But as to these past ravels, you’ll see we have some interesting debates raised as to beauty, what it is and whether society values it, tales of rapscallions both old and new, a review of MoMA’s photography exhibition Into the Sunset, and we even poked our nose across the pond to check out happenings at the Louvre and the situation for art recovery in L’Aquila.
Whew–time to take a breath. I also am excited by the idea of a public cafe cum art studio. So read, enjoy, comment: I always like to hear from people.

If you’re wondering why I’ve said so little about Costa Rica, it’s not that it was a cultural black hole per se. Watching a soccer match between Costa Rica and Mexico proved to be quite the cultural experience, and Costa Rica possesses great natural beauty. Not to mention surfing, zip lining, sloths (like the cute one above), toucans and tons of monkeys. It makes for a wonderful vacation, just not so artsy.



I surfed! (the smallest waves). Anyhow, happy Friday to you all! Enjoy the warm weekend!

The Louvre Gets Wild

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As the raindrops hit the grey pavement of the city, let’s imagine ourselves in another, greyer city across the pond, one the has its fair share of black umbrellas out every spring: Paris. Say after a croissant and a cafe au lait you stare out the window and dread the thought of joining the dreary sea of umbrellas. Suddenly you shout “Eureka!”, startling the waitress.

You will go to the Louvre. What better museum to get lost in than the Louvre, with its enormous collection and long galleries? Imagine your surprise when you find that the staid old home of the Mona Lisa is having a face lift.

It recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of it’s first facelift, the infamous glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei. For the pyramid’s 20th birthday, the Louvre has created muse trek, a way of exploring the Louvre’s collection and creating your own guide to the works displayed. Muse treks are available as an interactive guide on the web and on your own iPhone or iPod Touch at the museum. The treks people create give a uniquely personal view of connections between the artworks. (Unfortunately, many works from the museum’s collection are not available…)

Interactive use of technoology is a good step forward into the 21st C. for the Louvre, but it gets wilder yet. The Louvre has commissioned Cy Twombly (who I promise I will quit writing about some day) to paint a ceiling for the Salle de Bronzes. As Grant Rosenberg points out in his article in The American Scholar, “for the first time since Georges Braque in 1953, a living artist’s work will adorn a ceiling of the iconic museum.” This is a huge project for the octogenarian Twombly, literally: the ceiling is 33 meters long!

Ooh la la!