Louvre Art Museum in Abu Dhabi

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Louvre Abu Dhabi is an open-air and inclusive museum that celebrates stories of cultural connections to build understanding across cultures and reveal that we have more in common than we know. Located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the museum was designed by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, who drew inspiration from Arab architecture with Emirati traditions. Louvre Abu Dhabi focuses on intercultural interactions: stories of human creativity that transcend individual cultures or civilizations, times or places. The museum's growing collection of treasures includes important works of art and artifacts spanning the entire history of mankind around the world. Encompassing all categories of art, it combines all kinds of material artistic expression from the past to the present, and brings together ancient archaeological finds, objects, sculptures, paintings and contemporary installations from around the world.

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Show key points

  • Louvre Abu Dhabi is an inclusive open-air museum that promotes cultural understanding by highlighting shared human experiences through art.
  • Designed by famed architect Jean Nouvel, the museum’s architecture blends Emirati traditions with innovative global design, particularly evident in its iconic dome.
  • Its permanent collection spans the entire history of human creativity worldwide, featuring everything from ancient artifacts to contemporary installations.
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  • The current exhibition, "Post-Impressionism: Beyond Appearances," showcases masterpieces by iconic post-impressionist artists and explores their influence across nine thematic sections.
  • Highlighting post-impressionism's reach beyond Europe, the exhibit concludes with work by Egyptian artist George Hanna Sabbagh, aligning with the museum’s global artistic vision.
  • The upcoming "Art Here 2024" exhibition invites regional artists from the GCC and North Africa to display outdoor sculptures and audiovisual works under the museum's dome.
  • The dome, weighing as much as the Eiffel Tower and made up of 7,850 interlaced metal stars, creates dramatic natural light effects inspired by desert palm fronds, offering a unique visual experience.

The ongoing exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi

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In October and November 2024, Louvre Abu Dhabi is now exhibiting an exhibition called "Post-Impressionism": Beyond Appearances showcasing iconic masterpieces from the Post-Impressionist period, including works by renowned artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Henri-Edmond Cross, Emile Bernard, Paul Serousser and Maurice Diñon.

The artistic narrative of the current exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi

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The exhibition tells its artistic narrative in nine sections, each celebrating individual styles and common themes that connect this influential era of art. Visitors can follow trails dedicated to Neo-Impressionism, Cézanne, Gauguin and Pont Aven, Van Gogh, Nabis, Toulouse-Lautrec, and some recent emerging. These sections offer an in-depth look at post-impressionist famousities, allowing visitors to delve deeper into their work and ideas. The final section of the exhibition, featuring the work of Egyptian artist George Hanna Sabbagh, illustrates the far-reaching impact of post-Impressionism beyond Europe and underscores the museum's dedication to its desire to bring art history together in one place.

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Upcoming exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi

For the fourth edition of Art Here, Louvre Abu Dhabi invited contemporary artists from the GCC and North Africa (citizens and residents) working in sculptural, audiovisual installations suitable for outdoor spaces, to become part of its global story. Louvre Abu Dhabi aims to support art practitioners in the region by giving them a central platform for expression in the 'Art Here' exhibition.

'Vigilance' is at the centre of 'Art Here' exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi

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Taking place outdoors and under the dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Art Here 2024 will give artists the opportunity to present new artwork within one of the museum's most exceptional venues.

The magnificent architecture of the Louvre Abu Dhabi

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Engineer Nouvel wanted the Louvre Abu Dhabi to be a piece of art, and expressed interest in the dome of the museum, which is itself a work of art that represents a distinctive icon in the memory of those who visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi to be evidence of the continuity of human creativity, the development of artistic thought, and the ability to combine creative planning with careful implementation.

The dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is heavier than the Eiffel Tower

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We find that the dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi weighs about 7,500 tons, and with its bright silver color, gives the impression to those who look at it that it floats above the museum in a fantasy view, it is worth noting that that dome that looks like it is made of light materials that weigh equal to the weight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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Ray of light ... Natural painting inside the Louvre Abu Dhabi

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The dome consists of 7850 stars intertwined with each other in a dazzling harmony that takes the breath, especially when the sun's rays pass through the spaces of the stars, to paint a natural painting on the floor of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum and its interior walls in what is known as the "ray of light", which Nouvel was inspired by the passage of the Abu Dhabi sun's rays between the spread palm newspapers to give an authentic Arab character to the museum and make the experience of visiting it unique and distinctive.

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