ABU DHABI 24 October 2018: Louvre Abu Dhabi will unveil this month 11 exceptional new art acquisitions and 40 loans.
These include a majestic medieval sculpture from China, an extremely rare Egyptian Mamluk carpet, a spectacular Ottoman horse armour from late 15CE, and 4 outstanding tapestries from French royal manufactures depicting The Hunts of Maximilian, the Habsburg Duke of Brabant (1482-1494)
A rehang of the modern and contemporary art galleries brings new loans, including works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Francis Picabia, Henri Matisse and Man Ray.
The new acquisitions will join the 657 artworks on display along the permanent collection of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The new acquisitions in Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent collection include:
- A monumental 175cm Avalokiteshvara Buddhist sculpture from China (11-12thC CE) representing Guanyin, a divinity of compassion, made in the Buddhist classical form from the Song dynasty (960-1279);
- Four tapestries depicting The Hunts of Maximilian from an original drawing by Bernard van Orley from France (1665-1674) which are part of series of tapestries currently in Musée du Louvre’s collections, depicting the hunting parties of Archduke Maximilian, the Habsburg duke of Brabant, commissioned by the Habsburg court, the new acquisition represents the hunt in September;
- A Japanese Samurai armour (18th CE) bearing the crests of the 4th Lord Nabeshima, feudal lord of Saga in Hizen, a masterpiece by famous armour maker Miyata Katsusada (1707-1730);
- A rare conical helmet from Mongolia or China (13th -14th CE) part of a medieval suit of armour reflecting Ottoman turban helmets;
- A Phoenix-headed Ewer from the Tang Dynasty, China (8th CE) in white earthenware with a three-coloured glaze;
a rock crystal knife with a jewelled parrot from India (ca. 1600), a ceremonial knife that is as much a piece of jewellery as it is a weapon; and - A jeweled katar dagger from India (18th CE) inlaid with 481 rubies and almost one hundred emeralds, a weapon worn at court as a symbol of wealth and power.
From the region, the acquisitions include:
- A rare Albarello decorated with fleurs-de-lys from Syria or Egypt (14th -15thC CE), used for medicines or perfumes belonging to a group of Syrio-Egyptian ceramics of the Mamluk period influenced by Chinese Yuan dynasty (1268-1644) ceramics;
- Three Medallion Mamluk Carpet from Egypt (late 15thC CE), named after the characteristic of the decoration of the piece, the carpet is an exceptional and rare example of court workshop in Cairo, made in the style of the typical Moorish decoration seen in stucco or woodcarving at that time;
- Rare Ottoman horse armour (15-16thC CE) bearing the Saint Irene mark of the imperial ottoman arsenal in Istanbul, one of less than twenty known Ottoman horse armours to date; and
- A Mamluk Bowl from Egypt or Syria (late 13th or early 14th CE), an example of early metalwork that flourished under the Mamluks, at a time where the inlaying tradition, one of the jewels of the arts of Islam, was developed, commissioned by Ahmad ibn al-Jundi al-Tarrab, a high ranking mamluk officer under the sultanate of al-Malik Al Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala’un (1299-1340).
New masterpieces from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s regional cultural institutions and 13 French partner museums will join the 300 loans on display along the permanent collection of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
A major rehang of the final permanent galleries will bring works from modern and contemporary masters including:
- Emile Bernard’s Woman smoking a tambac (1900)
- Vincent van Gogh’s The dance hall in Arles (1888) and
- Claude Monet’s Madame Louis Joachim Gaudibert (1868) from Musée d’Orsay
- Francis Picabia’s Animal trainer (1923)
- Man Ray’s Suicide (1926) and
- Henri Matisse’s Reader on black background (1939) from Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Pompidou.
New loans also include:
- Joseph Aved’s Full length portrait of Mehmet Said Pasha, bey of Rumelia (1742) from Château de Versailles, and
- Dje(m) al-ed-din Mohammed ibn Mohammed el Hachimi el-Mecki’s Arab celestial globe (1573) from Mecca on loan from Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Loans from regional institutions include Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Cabra (1981-82) from the collection of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Children’s Museum will see two new loans from Musée du Louvre:
- An Egyptian Cat’s Mummy (Late Period) and an
- Askos in the Shape of a Duck (4th-1st century BCE).
The loans are showcased as part of the Children’s Museum’s new exhibition Animals: Between Real and Imaginary until July 2019. The exhibition explores how animals have been represented throughout art history across many eras and regions.
Visitors are invited to explore the new loans and Louvre Abu Dhabi’s acquisitions starting the end of October 2018.
da Vinci On Display
Many of the museum’s exceptional loans remain on display, including iconic masterpieces such as La Belle Ferronière by Leonardo da Vinci and Woman with a Mirror by Titian from Musée du Louvre; Portrait of the Artist’s Mother by James Abbot McNeill Whistler from Musée d’Orsay, an ornamented Buddha from Cambodia from Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, an anthropomorphic mask from Mexico from Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac and The Belvedere Apollo by Francesco Primaticcio from Château de Fontainebleau.
The new displays in Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent galleries will be unveiled ahead of the museum’s first anniversary celebrations, which will include a two-day symposium, Worlds in a Museum, that brings global industry leaders together to discuss the future of contemporary museography in a globalised world.
The museum’s permanent galleries are complemented by its ongoing programme of exhibitions, including Japanese Connections: The Birth of Modern Décor (until 24 November 2018), which traces the influence of the iconic Japanese Ukiyo-e aesthetic on French artists and modern French décor, through a presentation of 59 prints, paintings and screens including the works of French group, the Nabis, and five Japanese Ukiyo-e masters from the 19th and 20th centuries.
For its second exhibition of the season, Louvre Abu Dhabi will present a special edition of the touring exhibition Roads of Arabia: Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia, curated by Jamal S. Omar, Vice President of Antiquities and Museums Department at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director and Noëmi Daucé, Chief Curator for Archaeology at Louvre Abu Dhabi. The acclaimed exhibition will explore the archaeological and cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia and the diverse history of the Arabian Peninsula, in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. The exhibition will also feature additional artefacts from the UAE that are displayed for the first time, highlighting the shared history of the two nations through five chapters.