Louvre Abu Dhabi
Louvre Abu Dhabi reveals loans for opening year
Selection / Image Sheet
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Please be sure to include the photography credits at the start of each description, and to
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Louvre Abu Dhabi aspires to be a universal museum that highlights interconnections,
exchanges and conversations between civilizations and the similarities and differences
between their artistic traditions. When the museum opens, approximately half of the art
works displayed will be from its own collection and half will be loans from leading French
museums. Both acquisitions and loaned works have been chosen and assembled with two
criteria in mind: their intrinsic merits and their relevance to the narrative thread of the
exhibition itinerary.
Some of the most remarkable items loaned by French museums are presented below.
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1 - Statue of Gudea, prince of Lagash, praying
Circa 2120 B.C.E (Neo-sumerian period, Gudea reign, 2125 2110 B.C.E)
Tello, ancient Girsu (Iraq)
Diorite
107 cm x 36,5 cm x 25 cm
Musée du Louvre, Near Eastern Antiquities Departement,
© 2007 Musée du Louvre - High Museum / Peter Harholdt
The Birth of Civilisations section will offer the viewing of
contrasted representations from emblematic figures who
reigned over the earliest kingdoms and empires. Gudea, who
ruled over the Mesopotamian kingdom of Lagash, was
famously pious and built many temples. He is shown standing, enveloped in a fringed mantle
and wearing the traditional royal turban, with his hands clasped to indicate his devoutness.
The quality of the sculpture is indicative of the high level reached by Mesopotamian art
tradition at the end of the third millennium BCE, when the representation the human figure in
sculpture was already long-established.
2 - King Ramesses II
Diorite
1279 - 1213 B.C.E. (19th dynasty)
Found at Tanis
H. : 2,59 m. ; L. : 0,80 m. ; W. : 1,20 m.
Musée du Louvre, Egyptian Antiquities Department
© Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Christian Décamps
No museum dealing with the great civilizations of antiquity
would be complete without a monumental effigy of a
pharaoh. This statue will be one of the high points in the
tour of Louvre Abu Dhabi. It will complement the museum's
acquisitions in Ancient Egyptian art, which at the moment
have mainly focused on the topic of funeral rites. The
monumental statue of Ramesses II will be set in
counterpoint to a figure of the Mesopotamian prince Gudea,
the two of them offering contrasting images of the splendor
of the royal person. Ramesses II is shown in the
conventional posture of the pharaohs, seated on a cubical
throne, with his hands placed flat on his thighs, wearing
the nemes headcloth with a rearing cobra on the brow.
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3 - Pair of gui vessels
China
11th century BCE
Bronze
25 cm
Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet,
Paris (National Museum for Asian Arts)
© Musée Guimet, Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand
Palais / Jean-Michel Routhier
These two deep vessels resting on square bases were discovered in China in 1929. At the
end of the Western Zhou dynasty, gui vessels were usually cast as single pieces with wide
parallelepipedic pedestals. They are flanked by two handles in the shape of a dragon
swallowing a bird with only the base of the wings still visible. From recognisable animal
decorations inherited from the art of Shang period and still common at the beginning of the
Zhou dynasty, the 9th century saw the emergence of a new vocabulary of geometric patterns.
Nearly flat hooks only offer a faint echo of the original animal shape. Inside each receptacle,
111 characters are inscribed and explain the history of the cast. Thus we know that the Ling
family had the set produced using a royal gift around one thousand years BCE. Vases would
become historical monuments made on the occasion of major events, which history is
recorded on such thin bronze walls.
4 - Breastplate of Marmesse
Marmesse, Haute Marne, France
9th-8th century BCE
Bronze
51.2 cm
Musée d’Archéologie nationale – Saint-Germain-en-Laye,
(National museum for French Archaeology)
© Valorie Gô - Musée d'Archéologie nationale
This breastplate was one of seven similar pieces that
were found by chance. They had been stored together
intentionally, no doubt for ritual purposes. These seven
breastplates are decorated in a similar yet exceptionally
sumptuous manner that has no real equivalent up to now in Europe. Small lines of studs run
in areas marked off by small pearls, in parallel lines and curves. The rich decorations
adorning this defensive armour indicates that it was ceremonial rather than for use in war.
This find - the only one of its kind - is a superb testimonial of the talented metalworkers and
armourers of the Bronze Age.
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5 - Mattei Athena
Roman Empire, 1st-century BC/AD
Roman copy of a 4th-century BC Greek original
230 cm
Marble
Musée du Louvre, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities
Department
© RMN (Musée du Louvre) / Hervé Lewandowski
Several examples of monumental sculpture will be joining
Louvre Abu Dhabi's substantial collection of Greek art. The larger than life-sized statue
known as the Mattei Athena will provide a majestic illustration of the Classical period in
statuary and complete the series of acquisitions of the Louvre Abu Dhabi begun in 2011 with
an archaic female Sphinx. This figure of Athena is sometimes called the Pacific Athena on
account of the goddess' gentle expression. The position of her hands and the fact that her
aegis is simply worn as a sash are the only reminder that she is the goddess of Wisdom as
well as of War.
6 - Mask
Mexico, Basin of Mexico
150-550 CE
Black stone
20 x 18 x 12 cm
Musée du quai Branly, Paris
© musée du quai Branly, photo Hughes Dubois
This anthropomorphic mask sculpted from black stone
is representative of the Teotihuacan culture in Mexico.
The mask was originally encrusted with shells and
fragments of obsidian to represent the pupils and teeth,
making it both expressive and realistic. This piece
embodies a great Mesoamerican civilization that grew
up at around the same time as Han China and the
Roman Empire. It was formerly part of the collection of
the writer André Breton.
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3 - Blue lady
China
8th century AD
Glazed terracotta
38.5 x 6.5 cm
Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet, (National Museum
for Asian Arts)
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier
This cobalt-glazed figure of a court lady exemplifies a style in
vogue in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907) at its zenith.
The court lady ample figure is draped in a long tunic whose
dark-blue color was made using cobalt-blue color imported
from Iran. Her wide face, full cheeks and prettily arched laurel-leaf eyebrows counterbalance
her voluminous hairstyle. As a testimony of this period characterized by the international
expansion of imperial China, this rare work fits perfectly with the museum's curatorial
program and completes ideally the group of Tang masterpieces acquired by Louvre Abu
Dhabi.
8 - Fountain spout known as the Monzon Lion
Spain, 12th-13th century
Cast bronze with engraved decoration
31.5 x 54.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department
© 2012 Musée du Louvre / Philippe Ruault
This is one of the masterpieces of the Islamic Art
Department of the Musée du Louvre. Used as a
fountain spout, it was found at Monzón in the
Spanish province of Palencia. It is one of the few
metal items of this kind preserved dating back to the
Islamic kingdoms of Western Europe. The very fine
floral Kufic inscription engraved in the bronze dates it from the 12th or 13th century. It wishes
the owner "Baraka kamila/Ni’ma shamila" (Perfect blessing, Complete happiness). This
object displays striking similarities with lion-shaped aquamaniles in 13th-century German
goldwork and brassware, which many consider to have been directly influenced by the
zoomorphic vessels produced in the Andalusian workshops.
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9 - Reliquary chest
Egypt and Northern France (?)
13th century
Silver, rock crystal, pearls
11.3 x 14.8 x 9.7 cm
Musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen
Âge
(National Museum for Middle Age)
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée de Cluny musée national du Moyen-Âge) / Franck
Raux
In the wing devoted to the medieval period, Louvre Abu Dhabi reflects on how contacts
between civilizations has enriched their artistic traditions. This stunning reliquary from the
cathedral of Moûtier-en-Tarentaise, one of the treasures of the French National Museum for
Middle Ages, will highlight exchanges between cultures around the Mediterranean rim. It was
made by reusing plates of rock crystal from a secular casket made in Fatimid Egypt in the
10th century, and then adding a silver-gilt mount typical of northern French goldwork between
1200 and 1210. This piece shows how the circulation and reuse of Islamic objects
encouraged the spread of Oriental motifs through Europe at the same time as placing them
in a totally Christian context of Western Europe.
10 - Salt cellar
Nigeria, Benin Empire
beginning of 16th century
Elephant ivory
26 x 8 x 8.5 cm
musée du quai Branly
© musée du quai Branly, photo Thierry Ollivier, Michel Urtado
This rare salt cellar comes from the Benin Empire, located to
the southwest of today's Nigeria and dates back to the 16th
century. At the time, many royal workshops worked with
elephant ivory. Some objects were produced for the local elite
while others, like this one, were manufactured for export and
brought back by the Portuguese for a rich European clientele.
The lower part of this salt cellar depicts four bearded
Portuguese soldiers. Two of them holding a lance and a
sword are wearing European garments, a hat with a feather, and a cross pendant on their
chest. The other two figures are wearing a helmet and carrying a small shield. On the top, the
image of a caravel with a sailor is an illustration of the picturesque and African look on new
realities.
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11 - Woman Portrait, also called La Belle Ferronnière
Leonardo da Vinci
Milan, Italy, 1495-1499
Wood (noyer)
Musée du Louvre, Paintings Departement
© Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Angèle Dequier
Leonardo da Vinci is probably one of the most famous
and popular artists in the history of art. Louvre Abu
Dhabi will have the opportunity to display one of his
most attractive works - a portrait of an elegantly dressed
young woman painted when the artist was based in
Milan. Thematically, this picture will illustrate
Renaissance artists' quest for naturalism with the aid of the new technique of oil painting. It
will echo Louvre Abu Dhabi's own Bellini’s Madonna and Child, also painted in oil on wood,
another head-and-shoulders portrait in which the figure is depicted behind a parapet and
against a dark background.
12 - Woman with a Mirror
Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian
Venice, Italy, c. 1515
99.0 x 76.0 cm
oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paintings Department
© Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN / Martine BeckCoppola
The softness and new sensuality with which
Titian depicted his human subjects represent a
crucial turning-point in the history of European
art. Like the Da Vinci portrait, this painting,
loaned by Musée du Louvre, will be located in a
section focusing on the new naturalism in
Renaissance painting.
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13 - Apollo Belvedere
Francesco Primaticcio (1504-1570)
France, 1541-1543
Bronze
218 cm
Château de Fontainebleau,
© Adrien Didierjean, RMN-GP Château de Fontainebleau
King Francis the 1st of France was one of the most important
patrons of the arts of his day. He sought to gather the leading
artists of the Renaissance and the greatest art treasures in his
castle in Fontainebleau. He was especially interested in
classical art - the main yardstick against which art was
measured at the time. He asked the Bolognese painter
Francesco Primaticcio, who was then working for him, to travel
to Rome to purchase classical sculptures and take mouldings of the most famous pieces,
among them the Antiques of the Vatican. It was as a result of this trip that Primaticcio made
in the castle of Fontainebleau this bronze replica of the famous marble statue. This
prestigious statue will offer a perfect illustration of the theme of the influence of models from
the ancient world on the creators of new art.
14 – Dish with blue flowers patterns
Italy, Florence
c. 1575-1600
Ceramic known as Medicis Porcelain, cobalt painted decor
30 cm
Sèvres, Cité de la céramique
© RMN-Grand Palais (Sèvres, Cité de la céramique) / Jean
Popovitch
This Florentine dish is a rare example of artistic emulation
coming from exchanges between artistic traditions of
different civilizations of the world. This dish in blue and
white colors produced in Florence at the end of the sixteenth century is indeed characteristic
of the first European attempts to imitate Chinese porcelain. The beauty and solidity of
porcelain vases imported from China have prompted European potters to innovate in trying
to find the secret technique of that white, soft, translucent, vitreous and sound material. The
choice of a decoration in white and blue shows China's inspiration for this dish. The secret of
porcelain - the use of kaolin clay - will be discovered quite late by Europeans, at the early
beginning of eighteenth century. The so-called Medici "porcelain" is actually a "soft paste"
without kaolin.
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15 - Ewer of Persian shape
China, 16th century AD
47 cm
Porcelain, Gilded Bronze
musée des Arts décoratifs
© Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris/Jean Tholance
This Chinese porcelain ewer is embedded in a Western gilt bronze
mount with a lid in European ceramic. Mould in white clay, the piece
is made out two parts made separately and joint in a second time. On
the belly, symmetrical designs are deeply incised in the raw clay and
represent a flaming jewel springing out of a lotus flower and flanked by foliate scrolls. Other
symmetrical foliage are arranged on each side around the spout and handle. Protruding rings
are separating the shoulder and the mouth. The shape and the vigor of this object are
surprising. It is apparently unique and could be a specific command, like the famous ewer
made for the King Manuel I of Portugal. The bluish-white cover suggests a production from
southern China, perhaps ordered by a Middle Eastern traveler visiting one of the major
trading ports of the region.
16 – Apollo with the Nymphs
François Girardon (1628-1715)
France, 1666-1675
circa 2 x 4 m
marble
Musée national des Châteaux de
Versailles et de Trianon
© Château de Versailles. Dist RMN /
J.M. Mana
The group of seven sculptures in Carrara marble depicting Apollo served by nymphs was
directed by François Girardon between 1666 and 1672 – the group represents the god of
sun, of beauty and arts preparing for sunset. The nymphs surrounding him lavish a Vespers
toilet before going to join the goddess Tethys. Originally, this group was sculpted in the
garden of Versailles in a grotto cave called Tethys. At the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the group will
illustrate the theme of the image of the prince. Louis XIV took the sun as an emblem, and the
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iconography of the arts in Versailles around the myth of Apollo was a form of glorification of
the king. This sculpture group is, thus, one of the most prestigious illustration of the
representation of the prince in European culture of the classical age. For the silhouette of
god, Girardon was closely inspired by the most famous representations of Apollo inherited
from antiquity: the Apollo of the Belvedere. The Louvre Abu Dhabi also borrows for its first
year of opening, a copy of the Apollo of the Belvedere created during the Renaissance by the
Primatice for the Château de Fontainebleau. The unprecedented face to face a few feet
away of the two works will be very eloquent.
17 - Globe
Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718)
Venice, Italy, 1697
146 x 107 x 107 cm
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Maps and
Plans Department
© Bibliothèque nationale de France,
département des Cartes et plans
A room dealing with the Age of Discovery is
located halfway on the tour of Louvre Abu
Dhabi. Several topics have been chosen for this
space including the exploration of the globe, the
discovery of other cultures and the cabinets of
curiosities. The voyages of European navigators
from Christopher Columbus to James Cook
triggered a first wave of globalization. Coronelli's
globe, loaned by the Bibliothèque nationale de
France, embodies this notion. Vincenzo Coronelli was a famous cartographer who made
globes of the earth and the sky of a very high standard. In parallel, Louvre Abu Dhabi owns
also in its collection an Arab astrolabe that represents Arab science's contribution to the
circulation of knowledge from the Middle East to Europe.
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18 - Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)
France, 1803
Oil on canvas
267.5 x 223 cm
Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de
Trianon
© RMN (Château de Versailles) F. Raux
This portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte on horseback is an
iconic image. This remarkable painting that illustrates
the genius of the most important painter of the time
captures also an important moment in history. Louvre
Abu Dhabi's itinerary includes a section about the
turning-point of the late 18th century when the American and French Revolutions and the rise
of Napoleon sparked a feeling that individuals could change the course of history. Louvre Abu
Dhabi has acquired a portrait of George Washington which fits also perfectly in this theme.
19 – The Fife player
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
France, 1866
161 x 97 cm
Oil on canvas
Musée d’Orsay
© Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice
Schmidt
Manet's work epitomizes the sensibility of modern
artists in search of new sources of inspiration.
Fascinated by Velasquez' Pablo de Valladolid, which he
first saw in the Museo del Prado in 1865, Manet
borrowed several features from it in The Fife-player,
painted the following year - notably the disappearing
background, which especially struck him, and which he
compared to air surrounding the figure. Manet chose a
subject from everyday life - an anonymous boy soldier
whom he turned into a monumental figure like a
Spanish grandee, set in an indeterminate space. He
also used a simplified language, a limited palette, and colours applied in flat blocks.
Alongside The Bohemian, with its quintessentially Spanish subject, The Fife-player illustrates
in a different and complementary way the influence of paintings from the Spanish Golden Age
on Manet's work.
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20- Masque anthropo-zoomorphe d’mba
Masque d'épaules D'mba, Guinée, Baga, début du 20e
siècle, bois, fibres végétales, métal, 130 x 55 x 68 cm
Paris, musée du quai Branly
© musée du quai Branly, photo Patrick Gries, Bruno
Descoings
The D’mba headdresses masks are among the best
known and the most fascinating ones of the Baga ritual art.
D’mba embodies a beneficial and protective spirit for
human beings, flora and fauna. The mask is carried out to
dance in public for the fertility of grounds, fertility of beings,
weddings and in a secret context, for the ceremonies
which accompany the dead toward the world of their
ancestors. It represents a woman with maternal breasts, a
crested hairstyle, scarifications and an aquiline nose which
evokes the hornbill’s beak. Its proportions, its simple and elegant forms as well as the care
brought to the ornamental sculpted motifs decorating the mask give it the great aesthetic
strength that struck the interest of the 20th century artists. The collection of the Louvre Abu
Dhabi possesses a photography taken by Walker Evans of a similar mask which was
presented in the important exhibition of African Art at the MoMA in 1935.
21 – La gare Saint-Lazare
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
France, 1877
75.5 x 104 cm
Oil on canvas
Musée d’Orsay
© Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais /
Patrice Schmidt
With this totally new subject, utterly in tune with changes taking place in the society, Monet
offers more evidence of the modern sensibility. The subject of the station - a place of
constant movement, with trains arriving and departing, and a temple of technology, with its
glass and steel architecture, is in itself a symbol of modernity and modern life. Monet depicts
the steam from the trains and the passengers against the backdrop of Haussmann's Paris. In
places, the subject is subsumed by colour, resulting in an almost abstract vision. The SaintLazare Station provides a superb foil to another scene from modern life, Gustave
Caillebotte's The Game of Bezique, from Louvre Abu Dhabi's collection.
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22 - Bacchus in the Vat
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
France
Marble
61.5 x 46.7 x 45 cm
Musée Rodin, Paris
© musée RODIN (photo Christian Baraja)
Rodin carried on a fertile dialogue with Antiquity since his
younger years until his death,. He had a vast collection of
antiques from which he drew a great deal of inspiration.
Bacchus in the Vat is the result of a creative process that
began with one of the works in his collection: an antique
terracotta kylisc. Rodin brought the central motif of the piece
to life in this sculpture. The process took several steps, one
of them an assemblage made up of a Bacchus pulling
himself out of a sort of vat, in this case a Greek vase.
23 - Self-portrait
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
France, 1887
Oil on canvas
44 x 35.5 cm
Musée d'Orsay
© Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
This self-portrait was painted in autumn 1887, during Van
Gogh's Paris period (February 1886 – February 1888). As
this self-portrait shows very clearly, this period is very
significant in the development of the artist's work since he
discovered Impressionism at this time. His palette, which had previously been dominated by
dark, blackish-brown ochre, became permanently lighter. In addition, the pure, expressive
colour placed in separate, juxtaposed strokes expresses his fiery temperament. The fast
painting method and spare use of materials makes this self-portrait exceptionally expressive.
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24 - Les Deux péniches
(Two barges)
André Derain (1880, Chatou – 1954, Garches)
1906
Oil on canvas
80 x 97,5 cm
Bought in 1972
Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée national d’art moderne - Centre de
création industrielle
photography : (c) Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
© Adagp, Paris
Les Deux péniches is an important painting of Derain, one of the Fauvism movement
protagonists with Matisse. It is one of the masterpieces of the National museum of modern
Art’s collection. It was part of the exhibition “Masterpieces” of the Centre Pompidou Metz.
Painted in London, where Derain worked in the footsteps of Monet, the composition is
audacious: seized from a plunging view, the motif is reduced to two barges, one of which is
partially truncated by the edge of the canvas, and to the stretch of water on which they seem
to be slipping. The "photographic" framing recalls the cropping of certain Japanese prints.
Furthermore, the composition that suppresses the skyline increases the frontality of the
painting. Regarding color, Derain’s Fauve repertoire is evident: the pure color, the high
contrasts, the wide and animated strokes used for water. Although he turns later in time to
sobriety and the measure, this painting definitely represents his "youthful turbulences", as
mentioned by Apollinaire in 1916.
25 – Nature morte au Magnolia
(Still Life with Magnolia)
Henri Matisse (1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis
- 1954, Nice)
Oil on canvas
74 x 101 cm
Bought in 1945
Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée national d’art moderne - Centre de
création industrielle
photography : (c) Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
© Succession H. Matisse
To use this image in press :
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Contact : Mme Gwenaëlle Fossard, Issy-les-Moulineaux; 92, avenue du Général de Gaulle,
Email : gwenaellefossard.lhm@orange.fr
Adress : 92, avenue du Général de Gaulle
92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Telephone : 01 40 93 46 18
Email : les.heritiers.matisse@orange.fr, lhm@orange.fr
"For several years now, it has been my favourite picture... I think I have given my utmost..."
intimated Matisse in 1945-1946. The objects seem to hover weightlessly around the
magnolia flower ringed by the cauldron, in a space unified by a luminous red without
landmarks or limits. All Matisse's apparent simplicity and depth are present in this picture.
Still Life with Magnolia illustrates both the freeing of colour to which Matisse, as a Fauvist
painter, contributed, and an opening-up of the pictorial space developed through contact with
the artistic traditions of the "Orient", of which Paul Klee's Oriental Bliss from Louvre Abu
Dhabi's collection provides another example
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26 - Big Electric Chair
(Grande chaise électrique), 12/1967 01/1968
Andy Warhol (Warhola Andrew, dit)
(1928-1987)
Serigraphic ink and acrylic on canvas
137,2 x 185,3 cm
Donation from The Menil Foundation
in memory of Jean de Menil in 1976
Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée national d’art moderne - Centre
de création industrielle
photography : (c) Philippe Migeat Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP /Dist. RMN-GP
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Adagp, Paris
To use this image in press:
Contact : Société des auteurs dans les arts graphiques et plastiques, Mme Sylvie Dumas,
Paris; 11, rue Berryer, sylvie.dumas@adagp.fr
Address : 11, rue Berryer
75008 Paris
Telephone : 33 01 43 59 09 79
Email : adagp@adagp.fr
Web site : www.adagp.fr
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The electric chair motif appeared in Warhol's work in 1963. Alongside such icons of pop
culture as Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis Presley, a Coca Cola bottle, a Campbell's soup
can, etc. He also produced other images (repression of a race riot, car accident, suicide,
poisoning, food, mushroom cloud) reflecting an aspect of the world and American society
marked by death. Big Electric Chair is undoubtedly one of the best known images from his
work in this dark, negative register.
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