Photos: First Louvre museum outside France opens in Abu Dhabi

Updated On Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

After 10 years of controversy and delays, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the vast museum project dedicated to culture and art in collaboration with France and designed by Jean Nouvel opened under a giant silver dome that gently filters the blazing sunlight on a desert island.

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The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel seenduring its inauguration on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital on November 08, 2017. More than a decade in the making, the “Louvre in the sands” opened its doors Wednesday, winning praise from French President Emmanuel Macron as a “bridge between civilisations” and religions. (Luovic Marin / AFP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel seenduring its inauguration on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital on November 08, 2017. More than a decade in the making, the “Louvre in the sands” opened its doors Wednesday, winning praise from French President Emmanuel Macron as a “bridge between civilisations” and religions. (Luovic Marin / AFP)

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A journalist walks under light filtering through the dome at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. France’s Pritzker prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, conjures up the image of an Arab medina with a silver-toned dome and honeycombed patterns which appear to float over the white galleries. To reach the ground, each ray of light crosses eight layers of perforations, creating a constantly shifting pattern that mimics the shadows cast by palm trees or the roof of a traditional Arab market. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

A journalist walks under light filtering through the dome at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. France’s Pritzker prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, conjures up the image of an Arab medina with a silver-toned dome and honeycombed patterns which appear to float over the white galleries. To reach the ground, each ray of light crosses eight layers of perforations, creating a constantly shifting pattern that mimics the shadows cast by palm trees or the roof of a traditional Arab market. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

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French President Emmanuel Macron, (2nd left), and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, (R), visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum during its inauguration. The opening comes a decade after France and the UAE signed a 30-year partnership reported to be worth $1.1 billion, including nearly half a billion dollars for the rights to the Louvre tag alone. Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first museum beyond France to bear the Louvre badge. (Ludovic Marin / Pool photo via AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

French President Emmanuel Macron, (2nd left), and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, (R), visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum during its inauguration. The opening comes a decade after France and the UAE signed a 30-year partnership reported to be worth $1.1 billion, including nearly half a billion dollars for the rights to the Louvre tag alone. Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first museum beyond France to bear the Louvre badge. (Ludovic Marin / Pool photo via AP)

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The museum’s exterior seen on opening day. This 12-gallery museum is the first of three to open on Saadiyat Island, where the UAE plans to launch the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, and Norman Foster’s Zayed National Museum. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

The museum’s exterior seen on opening day. This 12-gallery museum is the first of three to open on Saadiyat Island, where the UAE plans to launch the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, and Norman Foster’s Zayed National Museum. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

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Moroccan King Mohammed VI looks at a painting titled “Whistler’s Mother” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1871) as he visits the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum during its inauguration. The museum is displaying more than 235 works of art from the Emirati collection, including Edouard Manet’s “The Gypsy” and works by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian and Turkey’s Osman Hamdi Bey. (Ludovic Marin / Pool photo via AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

Moroccan King Mohammed VI looks at a painting titled “Whistler’s Mother” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1871) as he visits the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum during its inauguration. The museum is displaying more than 235 works of art from the Emirati collection, including Edouard Manet’s “The Gypsy” and works by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian and Turkey’s Osman Hamdi Bey. (Ludovic Marin / Pool photo via AP)

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A worker cleans a window under the dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. During construction, the project faced criticism over labourer work conditions, including low pay and long hours in the heat. Multiple deaths were reported, according to Abu Dhabi authorities. Hundreds working on projects on the island, including the Louvre, were deported or lost work visas for launching strikes, according to a 2015 Human Rights Watch report. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

A worker cleans a window under the dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. During construction, the project faced criticism over labourer work conditions, including low pay and long hours in the heat. Multiple deaths were reported, according to Abu Dhabi authorities. Hundreds working on projects on the island, including the Louvre, were deported or lost work visas for launching strikes, according to a 2015 Human Rights Watch report. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

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Visitors look at a painting titled “La Belle Ferroniere” by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It also has around 300 pieces on loan, including an 1887 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh and Da Vinci’s painting pictured above. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

Visitors look at a painting titled “La Belle Ferroniere” by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It also has around 300 pieces on loan, including an 1887 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh and Da Vinci’s painting pictured above. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

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Pictures are projected on the Pyramid of the Louvre in Paris, celebrating the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The museum expects to welcome around 5,000 visitors in the first few days following the public opening on November 11. Jean-Luc Martinez, president-director of the Louvre in Paris described it as a bridge between Asia, Africa and Europe. “It’s a place to see the world from Abu Dhabi.” (Christophe Ena / AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

Pictures are projected on the Pyramid of the Louvre in Paris, celebrating the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The museum expects to welcome around 5,000 visitors in the first few days following the public opening on November 11. Jean-Luc Martinez, president-director of the Louvre in Paris described it as a bridge between Asia, Africa and Europe. “It’s a place to see the world from Abu Dhabi.” (Christophe Ena / AP)

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A Jewish funerary stele from France in 1250 sits next to a Tunisian Muslim’s funerary stele and a Christian archbishop’s stone epitaph from Tyre, Lebanon at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Artwork here offers a history of the world and its major religions, not shying away from Judaism in a country that officially does not recognize Israel. In a Middle East still torn by religious and sectarian conflict, simply putting them side by side is a major statement. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

A Jewish funerary stele from France in 1250 sits next to a Tunisian Muslim’s funerary stele and a Christian archbishop’s stone epitaph from Tyre, Lebanon at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Artwork here offers a history of the world and its major religions, not shying away from Judaism in a country that officially does not recognize Israel. In a Middle East still torn by religious and sectarian conflict, simply putting them side by side is a major statement. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

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A security guard looks at “Untitled Anthropometry Ant 110” by artist Yves Klein at the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum. The authorities have put in place strict measures to protect the art from the heat in a country where summer temperatures soar well above 40 degrees Celsius. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

A security guard looks at “Untitled Anthropometry Ant 110” by artist Yves Klein at the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum. The authorities have put in place strict measures to protect the art from the heat in a country where summer temperatures soar well above 40 degrees Celsius. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

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The conservative mores of Abu Dhabi, the more buttoned-up capital of the UAE, can be seen in the relative absence of pieces depicting nudity. Where seen, it is only lightly represented, either in bare breasts on an Italian dish or nude bronze ballerina statuettes by Edgar Degas, seemingly dancing in the line of sight of James McNeill Whistler’s painting of his mother. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

The conservative mores of Abu Dhabi, the more buttoned-up capital of the UAE, can be seen in the relative absence of pieces depicting nudity. Where seen, it is only lightly represented, either in bare breasts on an Italian dish or nude bronze ballerina statuettes by Edgar Degas, seemingly dancing in the line of sight of James McNeill Whistler’s painting of his mother. (Guiseppe Cacace / AFP)

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Some five percent of the museum, which will open to the public on Saturday, is dedicated to contemporary and modern art, including a monumental piece by China’s Ai Weiwei. The exhibition currently ends with his 23-foot-high “Fountain of Light”, a reinterpretation of Tatlin’s Tower. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

Updated on Nov 09, 2017 11:19 am IST

Some five percent of the museum, which will open to the public on Saturday, is dedicated to contemporary and modern art, including a monumental piece by China’s Ai Weiwei. The exhibition currently ends with his 23-foot-high “Fountain of Light”, a reinterpretation of Tatlin’s Tower. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)

News / Photos / News / Photos: First Louvre museum outside France opens in Abu Dhabi

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