An art historian museologist as visitor at

Louvre Abu Dhabi | art collection

23 February 2020

I visited The Louvre Abu Dhabi museum on 23 February 2020. It was a great pleasure to enter into this magnificent building. Check out my post about this amazing art collection and exhibitions. You can see some pictures of mine. Enjoy 🙂

Home page of museum: https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/ (Source of text)

Louvre Abu Dhabi museum has 12 different galleries. This galleries tell a chronological history of human creativity that explores the shared ideas and issues that have defined our common humanity from pre-history to the present.
Featuring a global selection of around 600 masterpieces drawn from our growing permanent collection, our displays are also regularly updated with a rolling roster world-class loans from our international partners, which means that there is always something new for visitors to discover.

At the works of Cy Twombly

GALLERY 1

THE FIRST VILLAGES

It took millions of years for the human species to spread across the globe from its origins in East Africa but by around 10,000 BCE, in the Near East, China and Central America, communities began to settle in the first villages where they domesticated animal and plant species.

Enterieur of Gallery 1

Two-headed monumental statue, Jordan, Ain Ghazal, ca. 6500 BCE, plaster, bitumen(eyes), Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Enterieur of Gallery 1

GALLERY 2

THE FIRST GREAT POWERS

Kingdoms began to appear in the fertile valleys of the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Indus and Yellow River around 3000 BCE. The emergence of these first great powers was accompanied by the spread of bronze weapons and axes, swords and armour became emblems of prestige and splendour for the powerful.

Enterieur of Gallery 2

Sarcophagus of Princess Henuttawy: Coffins and mummy wrappings – 950-900 BCE

painted wood, stuccoed and painted cloth, height 180 cm

Ramsesses II, pharaoh of Egypt 1279-1213 BCE

diorite, height 259 cm

GALLERY 3

CIVILISATIONS AND EMPIRES

The first kingdoms began to give way to vast cultural and political groups from around 1000 BCE. The Assyrian and then Persian empires dominated the Middle East, Greek cities became established around the Mediterranean basin while the Nok and Olmec cultures spread across West Africa and Mesoamerica respectively.

Sphinx, 600-500 BCE, limestone, height 57 cm

Winged Dragon, Northern China, 450-250 BCE, bronze, 48.5 x 67 cm

Winged Dragon, Northern China, 450-250 BCE, bronze, 48.5 x 67 cm

Male Torso (Roman replica of a Greek original from 450 BCE) 1-200 CE, marble height 141 cm; Athena ca. 100 BCE or 100-200 CE, marble, height 235 cm

Statues of Ancient Greek, Roman and Northen China

Portrait of Agrippina

marble

Hadrian, Roman emperior 127-128 CE
Marble height 64 cm, Crete, Heraklion

Interior of Exhibition “Dialogue at a Distance between India and Rome”

GALLERY 4

UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS

Beginning around 2000 years ago, the spread of universal religions succeeded in reaching most of the civilized areas of Europe, Asia and Africa in just a few centuries. By addressing their message to all humanity without distinction, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam transcended local cultural characteristics and deeply transformed communities that had thrived during Antiquity.

GALLERY 5

ASIAN TRADE ROUTES

The expansion of universal religions paralleled the establishment of vast trading networks between Africa, Asia and Europe. China emerged as one of the main actors in these exchanges and a major hub for innovation in the 7th century, producing world-changing inventions such as porcelain, gunpowder, paper and printing.

The Universal Religions

GALLERY 6

FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE ATLANTIC

A melting pot for the cultures of Christianity, Byzantium and Islam, the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages served as a focal point for commercial and cultural routes from across Asia and Africa.

Statue of a young man, 1325-1521, Mexican, volcanic stone, height 65 cm

Tapiestry of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar ca. 1520, Southern Netherlands, wool, silk, 347 cm (on the wall); “Mari-Cha” lion 1000-1200, Spain or southern Italy,bronze, height 73 cm

INTERSECTION: COSMOGRAPHY

At the end of the 15th century, navigators such as Ibn Majid, Zheng He and Christopher Columbus established direct contact between cultures and civilisations that up until then had been unknown to one another, establishing networks of exchanges on a truly global scale.

GALLERY 7

THINKING THE STATE

Following the great voyages of exploration, territorial and commercial expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries brought radical change to the exercise of power and to modes of representation and communication. From Qing China to the conflicts in the Americas, from Mughal India to the Ottoman empire, the dividing up of territories required the creation of strong networks to ensure stable governance in the new empires.

GALLERY 8

FIRST GLOBALISATION

The circulation of goods and people experienced unprecedented acceleration during the modern period. In just three centuries, new systems of global exchange and the emergence of new empires transformed societies and territories, resulting in enormous displacements of people, either due to slavery, economic migration or war.

Parisian woodwork panelling and ceiling with an Allegory of Nobility ca. 1650

from France, Paris, wood painted decoration, gold, 314.4 x 392.5 cm

GALLERY 9

A NEW ART OF LIVING

During the 18th century, the affluence that had previously been the preserve of monarchs was attained by an increasingly large segment of society. The spread of manufactured products around the globe progressively transformed economies and stimulated new modes of consumption in China, Japan and Europe where manufacturers offered new goods to an increasing number of consumers.

Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757-1822)| Fight between Creugas and Damoxenos 1797-1803

plaster 212 x 205.5 cm

GALLERY 10

A MODERN WORLD

Economic competition between nations in Europe gave birth to the Industrial Revolution, which initially powered Europe’s colonial enterprises before spread progressively to the rest of the world during the 19th century.

Rodin – Antiquity at the service of modern sculpture

Roman Bust, called Togatus 1-100 CE Roman empire, height 182 cm – Auguste Rodin | Jean d’Aire (from the group The Burghers of Calais) 1895-1903, plaster, height 202 cm

GALLERY 11

CHALLENGING MODERNITY

Ideas of modernity and progress, which had been exported globally by Western colonialism and industrialisation, were brought into question during the 20th century. The arts became subject to constant questioning and reinvention, reflecting the disruption caused by imperialism, two world wars and decolonisation, producing radical movements such as Cubism, Abstraction and the imaginative universe of the Surrealism.

Jean Tinguely Presse “orange a+b” 1960

GALLERY 12

EPILOGUE

Susanna Fritscher (Vienna, 1960) | Für die Luft (For the Air) 2017, special reconfiguration for Louvre Abu Dhabi : Sept. 2019 Installation made of silicone threads and painted steel Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle

Susanna Fritscher (Vienna, 1960) | Für die Luft (For the Air) 2017

At the works of Cy Twombly

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