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Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
How visiting the Louvre became a nightmare
When I visited the Louvre last November, I had the foresight to buy a €22 ticket in advance. Still, a queue zig-zagged across the Cour Napoléon as cold, restless tourists took photos beside its iconic pyramid. Forty-five minutes later – an hour past our booked entry time – we descended on the escalator into the cavernous entry hall. Our visit didn't improve from there. As swarms of people made a beeline for the Salle des États to see the Mona Lisa, smartphones at the ready, my fiancé and I attempted a circular route through the gallery's lower levels. We found the spaces so overcrowded and the signage so poor it rendered the museum virtually unnavigable. Several hours later – I lost track of time, and not in a good way – we queued once more for an overpriced americano from a Paul concession under the pyramid, and collapsed on a bench, our feet aching. None of this is news, not least to the custodians of the museum themselves. In a leaked memo, Laurence des Cars, the Louvre's director, said it has deteriorated to the degree that a visit to the museum is a 'physical ordeal'. Parts of the museum, which is the world's most visited, are in 'very poor condition,' she continued. Some are 'no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of artworks.' Many of its buildings, she says, are reaching 'a worrying level of obsolescence'. The structural issues are one thing; to tourists, more pressing is the overcrowding and sub-par food and facilities. Des Cars, who became head of the institution in 2021, said these fall 'well below international standards'. The timed entry slots are an unwelcome hangover from Covid days. To add insult to injury, this week president Emmanuel Macron has announced that British tourists will pay extra for the privilege, as part of a drive to raise money for much-needed refurbishments from non-EU citizens. As part of a museum-wide renovation expected to cost up to €800 million, the Mona Lisa will finally be afforded a room – and an entrance – of her own. Having left it crumbling for the duration of his seven-year presidency, there is also a sense that Macron has pushed forward with its renovation, named 'New Renaissance,' to burnish his reputation as he prepares to leave office in 2027. But it has problems that cannot easily be solved, even with a multi-million pound cash injection. The Mona Lisa is one reason why the Louvre – both a celebrated cultural institution and a vital political tool – was able to deteriorate to such a degree. The sheer popularity of its most famous painting has strained its infrastructure and markedly worsened the visitor experience. Of the nine million visitors to the Louvre each year, a staggering 70 per cent are there just for a glimpse of the portrait's enigmatic smile. When I did eventually join the throng to see da Vinci's masterpiece in November, we were rushed along by stewards in a queue 25 people deep. Having endured a historic acid attack, a cake, and this month, a thermos of pumpkin soup thrown by climate protestors, the Mona Lisa is guarded more closely than ever, leading to a heavy security presence and a hassled, austere atmosphere. The popularity of the painting is a double-edged sword. It draws visitors in, but in some ways the museum's main problem is its 'freak celebrity,' explains Alastair Sooke, the Telegraph's chief art critic. 'There's no other work that commands these crowds,' he says. 'An extravagantly high proportion of the people who visit understandably want to see this painting.' This causes obvious practical problems for visitors as the building itself cannot cope. 'You are forced to go through long queues at the entrance, very heavy security and then traipse along this Where's Wally? trail that eventually takes you to the room, [which] was totally chaotic,' he adds. The other masterpieces in the Louvre's largest room are almost completely ignored, Sooke says. 'I went and stood by these pictures and nobody stopped.' Over the past two decades, the number of yearly visitors to the Louvre has risen significantly, yet its infrastructure and facilities for visitors have not risen to the challenge – it has not had a significant revamp since the construction of I. M. Pei's glass pyramid in 1989. In 2005, it had 7.3 million visitors; by 2010 that had risen to 8.5m, then 8.6m in 2015 and 8.9m by 2023. The ticket price has risen in tandem: from €7.50 in 2003, to €10 in 2011, €15 in 2015. It is now a hefty €22. Perhaps some of these problems could be solved by learning by example from the museum's great European neighbours. Emily Gordenker, director of Amsterdam's Van Gogh museum, which welcomed 1.7 million visitors last year (a fraction of the Louvre), said it had made the 'difficult decision' to cap visitor numbers per day. 'It's a relatively small building and we limit it to 5,000 visitors per day, which is an awful lot for our building,' she said on the Today programme. 'We've done that to improve the experience people have, and it has made a marked difference.' De Car imposed a 30,000-per-day visitor cap on the Louvre in 2022, but it seems to have done little to address chronic overcrowding. 'In a way, it's a nice problem to have – so much interest, so many visitors… but it brings with it another kind of a burden,' Gordenker said. She added that 'nobody is served by standing 30 feet away from the painting itself… with lots of people in front of them.' It should not, however, look to Britain for inspiration. 'The British Museum is approaching a similar crisis,' says Sooke. 'It's our most visited, our prestige museum, and currently the visitor experience is dire.' It has several parallels with the Louvre – overbearing private security, irritating timeslots, tired and antiquated galleries. Nick Trend, the Telegraph's consumer and culture editor, says that although other museums manage queues better – the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid being one example – the Louvre does have 'particular problems that others don't.' 'It has absolutely enormous collections and one thing that everyone wants to see, miles and miles of corridors and acres of rooms in bizarre, interlocked buildings. These things would be a problem anywhere,' he says. 'I think the Louvre will always have a problem.' Trend suggests visiting in winter or, better yet, going somewhere else. 'The Prado [in Madrid] has free entry at the end of the day and very long opening hours, which helps,' he says. 'If you want to see great art, particularly in the high season, go there, or to Vienna.' Having braved the crowds and trekked the corridors, I'm inclined to agree. I hadn't been to the Louvre for ten years before I visited last autumn. I'll leave it another ten – at least – before I go back.
Observer
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Louvre opens first fashion exhibition after shock memo about decay
The Louvre in Paris opened its first-ever fashion exhibition on Friday, seeking to draw new, younger audiences amid national concern about conditions inside the landmark art destination. The show, called "Louvre Couture", welcomed its first visitors a day after a shock memo from the museum's director about water leaks, building problems and overcrowding made headlines internationally. The exhibition features around a hundred items of clothing by 45 top designers, placed alongside objects from the Louvre's vast collection of decorative artworks, from chests of drawers to armour. In one instance, a Dolce & Gabbana wool dress printed with a mosaic and embroidered with crystals, stones, and sequins echoes the patterns of an 11th-century Italian mosaic from Torcello, near Venice. Louvre director Laurence des Cars said the show demonstrated "a subtle and precise dialogue between creations from the 1960s to today and the collections of the decorative arts department, highlighting the deep connection between art and designers". The world's most-visited museum is hoping to emulate the success of fashion exhibitions hosted by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and London's Victoria and Albert in recent years. A major 2017 retrospective about Christian Dior at the Museum of Decorative Arts, which occupies a wing of the Louvre Palace, led to huge queues and drew a string of A-listers. - 'Not good enough' - The Paris landmark has become a national subject of concern after the revelation Thursday of a confidential memo written by des Cars to Culture Minister Rachida Dati warning about the "proliferation of damage in museum spaces." Des Cars wrote that the museum suffered from leaks and extreme temperatures, and was a "physical ordeal" for some visitors because of a lack of relaxation areas. "Food options and restroom facilities are insufficient in volume, falling well below international standards," she added. In a sign of the importance of a building that is a "source of French pride", President Emmanuel Macron announced a visit to the national monument next Tuesday. "It would be wrong to remain deaf and blind to the risks affecting the museum today," an aide told reporters. The head of state is expected to inspect the galleries personally, having hosted a state dinner there in July for other world leaders on the eve of the Paris Olympics. The Louvre received 96 million euros ($101 million) in public subsidies in 2024. It is hoping for an extra 100 million to cover renovations, a source close the institution told AFP on condition of anonymity. It welcomed 8.7 million people last year -- around twice the number it was designed for. Asked about conditions inside on Thursday, Culture Minister Dati said she wanted to increase prices for non-European visitors to help increase funding. "The visiting and working conditions are not good enough for... the biggest museum in the world," she told reporters. "We need to be innovative, including with financing." The Louvre is set to host a fundraising gala during Paris Women's Fashion Week in March when around 30 tables have been offered for sale, with more than one million euros raised already. "Louvre Couture" runs until July 21. —AFP By Sandra BIFFOT-LACUT and Adam PLOWRIGHT
Boston Globe
28-01-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Macron announces a major overhaul to modernize Louvre and a dedicated room for the Mona Lisa
The Louvre's latest overhaul dates back to the 1980s, when the iconic glass pyramid was unveiled. Now, the museum is not up to international standards anymore. Advertisement A look at what's at stake: Water leaks and other damage Louvre Director Laurence des Cars sent a note expressing a series of concerns to Culture Minister Rachida Dati earlier this month saying the museum is threatened by 'obsolescence.' According to the document first released by French newspaper Le Parisien, she warned about the gradual degradation of the building due to water leaks, temperature variations and other issues 'endangering the preservation of artworks.' The pyramid that serves at the museum's entrance, unveiled in 1989 as part of late President François Mitterrand's project, now appears outdated. The place is not properly insulated from the cold and the heat and tends to amplify noise, making the space uncomfortable for both the public and the staff, des Cars stressed. In addition, the museum suffers from a lack of food offerings and restroom facilities, she said. A costly and complex overhaul 'We're faced with a collective challenge,' an official at the French presidency said. 'That is, how can we adapt the Louvre to expectations, welcome visitors from across the world in comfortable conditions and also be leading a commitment for artistic and cultural education?' The official could not be named in line with the French presidency's customary practices. The financing needed for such a major renovation has not been specified, but any renovation work at the former royal palace is expected to be costly and technically complicated. The Pompidou Center, another major museum in Paris, is set to close to undergo a five-year renovation worth 262 million euro ($273 million), starting from the end of the year. Advertisement Half the Louvre's budget is financed by the French state, including the wages of the 2,200 employees. The other half is provided by private funds including ticket sales, earnings from restaurants, shops and bookings for special events, as well as patrons and other partners. That includes the United Arab Emirates' financing for the right to use the brand for the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum. May Mona Lisa have its own room? Questions had arisen about how the Mona Lisa should be displayed in the museum. Des Cars asked for the issue to be 'reassessed,' suggesting a possible transfer of the museum's most popular attraction to another room that would be specifically dedicated to it. That's what Macron said will happen. The Mona Lisa is now being shown behind protective glass in the museum's largest room, overcrowded with long, noisy queues of visitors eager to take a selfie with Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. That makes some other paintings in the room by the greatest Venetian painters like Titian and Veronese go unnoticed by many. The museum's latest big renovation in the 1980s was designed to receive 4 million annual visitors. Last year, the Louvre received 8.7 million visitors, over three-quarters being foreigners mostly from the United States, China and neighboring countries Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain.
