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Louvre Abu Dhabi

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The museum provides a historical narrative of art from prehistoric times to the present in a manner that illustrates the shared human experience

Developed jointly by the United Arab Emirates and France, Louvre Abu Dhabi presents a historical narrative of art that spans the entire history of civilization and emphasises the shared human experience.

Opened in November 2017 on Saadiyat Island in a building designed by notable architect Jean Nouvel, the museum’s 23 permanent galleries depict a wide range of cultures, traditions and epochs in a unique side-by-side presentation. This enables visitors to discover shared influences and intriguing connections between different cultures.

The museum also features special exhibition spaces, a Children’s Museum, an auditorium, restaurants, retail shops and a research centre.

Architecture

Virtually surrounded by the sea, the dozens of buildings that comprise the museum are linked by waterfront promenades and by the museum’s most arresting feature, its dome.

The huge, 180-metre-wide dome is comprised of eight layers and appears to float above the museum complex. As sunlight filters through the dome’s perforations, it creates a ‘rain of light’ effect in the museum galleries below.

Notable artworks

The museum collection includes a number of significant works, including one of the finest examples of a standing Bactrian Princess from approximately 2000 BCE, a 3,000-year-old Middle-Eastern gold bracelet with lion's head and an 1878 painting by Osman Hamdi Bey titled 'A Young Emir Studying'.
Other important works include Paul Gauguin’s masterpiece ‘Children Wrestling’, the René Magritte painting ‘The Subjugated Reader’, a 1928 collage by Picasso titled ‘Portrait of a Lady’, nine canvases by contemporary artist Cy Twombly and the most ancient known photographic representation of a veiled woman.