Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District will soon have the world’s largest concentration of cultural institutions, including the Louvre and flagship Guggenheim museums, envisioned by Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Though the opening dates have been pushed back for these two talked-about venues (to 2015 and 2017 respectively), visitors to Abu Dhabi can still get a peek at the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s significant new art acquisitions during this fall's Talking Art Series.
Running from October 3, 2012 to June 26, 2013, the series of lectures and public events was designed to build awareness of the future museum and its collection. Examples of these impressive new acquisitions include Paul Gaugin’s “Breton Boys Wrestling”; a statue of a “standing Bactrian Princess” dating from the end of the 3rd millennium BC; a fountain from the early Ottoman period; and Joseph Girault de Prangey’s “Ayoucha”-- the earliest known photograph (quarter-plate daguerreotype) of a veiled woman.
Also coming up in April 2013: an exhibit called “Birth of a Museum” which will showcase the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection. A version of this exhibit will also appear the Louvre in Paris.
For more information, visit www.saadiyatculturaldistrict.ae/en/saadiyat-cultural-district/louvre-abu-dhabi