Amid cultural clash, Louvre honors Islamic art

PARIS (AP) ― In its boldest development in a generation, the Louvre Museum has a new wing dedicated to Islamic art, a nearly 100 million $130 million project that comes at a tense time between the West and the Muslim world.

Louvre curators tout their new Islamic Art department, which took 11 years to build and opens to the public on Saturday, as a way to help bridge cultural divides. They say it offers a highbrow and respectful counterpart to the recent unflattering depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in Western media that have sparked protests by many Muslims.

A member of the media takes snapshots of a ceramic tile wall displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Sept. 20.

Still, one of the Louvre’s own consultants acknowledged that some Muslims could be “shocked’’ by three images of Muhammad with his face exposed in the new wing. Many Muslims believe the prophet should not be depicted at all ― even in a flattering way ― because it might encourage idolatry.

The galleries provide a needed showcase one of the West’s most extensive Islamic art collections, some 18,000 artifacts that range from the 7th century to the 19th century.

But the wing does not dwell on the old: It is housed under a futuristic, undulating glass roof designed by architects Rudy Ricciotti and Mario Bellini that has garnered comparisons to a dragonfly wing, a flying carpet, even a wind-blown veil. It marks the Louvre’s biggest change since I.M. Pei shook up the famed Paris museum with his iconic glass pyramid in 1989.

France, meanwhile, is bracing for possible disruptions at embassies across the Muslim world on Friday after the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published lewd caricatures of Muhammad on Wednesday. The publication raised concerns that French interests could face violent protests like the ones targeting the United States over a video produced in California that ridiculed the prophet. Those protests, which continued on Thursday, have left at least 30 people dead.

But could the new museum wing actually be good timing?

The Louvre collection’s mission is to foster understanding between the West and the Islamic world. Instead of highlighting Islam as one united religion, it celebrates the secular, tolerant and cultural aspects of different Islamic civilizations.

Sophie Makariou, head of the Louvre’s Islamic art department, hopes the new wing will teach lessons about tolerance and diversity.

The Queen's Andy Warhol print is actually a conservative choice

The Royal Collection's latest purchase of an Andy Warhol portrait of the Queen shows great caution, writes Florence Waters.

Detail of Andy Warhol's portrait of the Queen

The Queen is the most portrayed royal in history – and among the most popular subjects for portrait artists ever. She has taken centre stage in various art exhibitions in her Jubilee year, notably a Cecil Beaton photography show at the V&A and a historic survey of her changing image at the National Portrait Gallery (both excellent shows are touring the country). 

It’s appropriate then that the Queen’s Royal Collection have invested in a new, contemporary portrait of Elizabeth in this year before their own exhibition opens at Windsor. It’s also appropriate that, when her face feels more familiar to us than ever before, the chosen portrait will be presented in a series of four. The Queen’s face, which adorns our stamps and bank notes, is after all a commodity – and that’s the idea that fascinated Warhol above all else. 

Some may be surprised to see that, bending tradition slightly, curators have chosen not a painted royal Diamond Jubilee portrait, but a splashy series of four late Warhols, all screen-printed in monochrome, with abstract collage effect colour-block squares and complete with sparkly tiaras made from crushed glass. 

However, the portraits are actually a pretty conservative investment. Warhol dominates the contemporary art sales rooms like no other artist, so really these prints – not one-offs, but part of a limited edition (estimated at £150,000 so on the cheaper scale for Warhol) – show the Royal Collection exercising great caution in a new market. Of course, with these glamorous shots, there’s no risk of repeating the Lucian Freud disaster again, either! 

For the artist who once said “I want to be as famous as the Queen of England” you might think that his portrait taking place up next to royals painted by Van Dyck and Holbein would have delighted Warhol. But I wonder … 

What’s sad about this purchase is that, in buying just these four prints of Elizabeth II, the Royal Collection have divided up what should have been a wider series of beautiful Queens, including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland. The original series boldly puts all these beauties on a level paying field, asking us to compare them, our relationship with each of them, and observe how differently each one carries their power.