[:de]Der Traum eines öffentlichen Kunstmuseums wurde bereits einige Jahrzehnte vor der Französischen Revolution von mehreren Ministern des ancien régime gehegt, bevor am 10. August 1793 auf dem Höhepunkt der Revolution das Musée du Louvre in Paris eingeweiht wurde. Andrew McClellan schreibt:

While the passage from royal collection to public museum occurred without fanfare elsewhere in Europe, in France the opening of the Louvre in 1793 was sensational because it was tied to the birth of a new nation. The investiture of the Louvre with the power of a Revolutionary sign radically transformed the ideal museum public. To the extent that the Louvre embodied the Republican principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, all citizens were encouraged to participate in the experience of communal ownership, and clearly many did (S. 9).

Bei der Eröffnung strömte das “Volk” ins Museum und nahm Besitz davon, darunter auch Leute aus entlegenen Winkeln des Landes. Wenig hat sich daran in gut zweihundert Jahren verändert. Mit gegen die 10 Millionen Besuchern pro Jahr ist der Louvre das meistbesuchte Museum der Welt.

Comet Photo AG: Louvre mit Pyramide von I. M. Pei, 1988 (Com_M37-0141-0002-0004)

Wegen stetig steigenden Besucherzahlen wurde der Louvre zwischen 1981 und 1993 zum Grand Louvre umgebaut. Das Herzstück davon ist die Glaspyramide des chinesisch-amerikanischen Architekten Ieoh Ming Pei, von einem Comet-Fotografen vermutlich wenige Monate vor der Eröffnung am 29.03.1989 fotografiert.

Literatur:

Andrew McClellan: Inventing the Louvre. Art, Politics, and the Origins of the Modern Museum in Eighteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1994.

 [:en]The dream of a public art museum had already been cherished by several ministers of the ancien régime a few decades before the French Revolution as the Musée du Louvre in Paris was inaugurated on 10 August 1793 at the height of the revolution. Andrew McClellan writes:

While the passage from royal collection to public museum occurred without fanfare elsewhere in Europe, in France the opening of the Louvre in 1793 was sensational because it was tied to the birth of a new nation. The investiture of the Louvre with the power of a Revolutionary sign radically transformed the ideal museum public. To the extent that the Louvre embodied the Republican principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, all citizens were encouraged to participate in the experience of communal ownership, and clearly many did (S. 9).

At the opening, the “people” flocked to the museum and took possession of it, including people from remote corners of the country. Little has changed in just over two hundred years. With about 10 million visitors a year, the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world.

Comet Photo AG: Louvre with Pyramid of I. M. Pei, 1988 (Com_M37-0141-0002-0004)

The Louvre was converted into the Grand Louvre between 1981 and 1993 due to a steady increase in visitor numbers. The heart of it is the glass pyramid of the Chinese- American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, probably photographed by a Comet photographer a few months before the opening on March 29, 1989.

Further reading:

Andrew McClellan: Inventing the Louvre. Art, Politics, and the Origins of the Modern Museum in Eighteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1994.[:]