Sarkozy presides over Louvre Abu Dhabi groundbreaking while launching French military base in the region

By Anna Somers Cocks | From issue 203, June 2009
Published online 20 May 09 (Museums)

LONDON. From the days of the monarchy, France has very deliberately made culture a partner in its foreign policy. President Nicolas Sarkozy took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Louvre Abu Dhabi on the occasion of his visit to inaugurate a new French military base in the UAE capital on 27 May. The museum project also benefited from the attention of Gulf heads of state coming to Abu Dhabi for the security conference chaired by the French president on 25 and 26 May. France has strong strategic interests in the UAE, where it already has an airforce and naval presence, and where it hopes to build two nuclear reactors.

An exhibition has been mounted of the first works of art bought for the future museum. Mondrian’s Composition in Blue, Red, Yellow, Black, which fetched €21,569,000 at the Yves Saint Laurent sale this February, is among them.

In April, a meeting took place in Paris at which the Agence France-Muséum, the body set up to realise the Louvre Abu Dhabi from the French end, showed representatives from Abu Dhabi a number of works from which to choose. One of those selected is an 18th-century chinoiserie Beauvais tapestry, The Prince Embarking, shown at the 2008 Biennale des Antiquaires. Examples of medieval art are a Gothic sculpture and a Limoges enamel.

The contract signed between the French government and Abu Dhabi in March 2007 states that the Louvre Abu Dhabi will show “comparisons between works of various periods and geographical origin, with an emphasis on the dialogue between civilisations”, and The Art Newspaper understands that this means a rich account of Western as well as Islamic and other art. Senior figures in the Tourism Development and Investment Company, which is administering the Louvre Abu Dhabi project, have been attending lectures on the history of art at the branch of the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi, another instance of French cultural diplomacy.

The Gulf emirate is paying €1bn ($1.6bn) over 30 years to the Agence France-Muséum, which will administer this capital sum for the benefit of a consortium of participating French museums, including the Louvre, whose share is 40%.