The Louvre has sold its name to an Abu Dhabi group that will recreate a satellite museum in the desert:
The Abu Dhabi initiative has stirred an uproar in French art circles. “It’s scandalous,” says Didier Rykner, an art historian who has collected more than 5,000 signatures—including some former top Louvre curators—on a petition opposing the plan. Critics say such megadeals make it harder for less wealthy museums to obtain art on loan. Loyrette says the Louvre still lends individual works free of charge, but for exhibits drawn exclusively from its collection, “we ask for a fee, which is perfectly normal.”
The Louvre can’t afford to sit still, he says. The French government now covers only half of the museum’s $350 million annual budget, down from more than 70% when Loyrette took over in 2001. “We are expected to find private funds for new initiatives,” the lanky, 56-year-old art historian says in his office, where the antique furniture is piled high with art books and catalogs. He’s doing just that. On July 17 the Louvre broke ground for a new Islamic-art wing that includes $54 million in financing from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and French companies.
Admirers say Loyrette’s freewheeling intellect and personal charm make him an almost irresistible fund-raiser. Harry Fath, owner of a Cincinnati property-management company, met Loyrette at a reception and invited him to Cincinnati. Loyrette accepted and spent a weekend with Fath and his wife, chatting about opera, enthusing about the city’s architecture, and giving a talk to the local art museum board. “By the end of the weekend, I gave him a check for $50,000,” Fath says.
That’s one helluva’n effective houseguest!
Deep, random thoughts from the front lines.
So I already commented on what went on through my mind where I signed a contract where the Applicable Law was Israel, read more here.
Today I signed a contract with a French-based organization… (no, sadly, we’re not selling to Pernod Ricard) and read:
PLAY
