Art at school

Located in the Palais du Louvre, the School is fortunate to be in close proximity to the exceptional collections of the eponymous museum. But its premises also lend themselves to hosting a number of works of art that accompany the course of studies pursued within its walls.

Thus, during the XX^e century, a very fine bronze print of the Aurige of Delphi by Barbedienne (placed in the rotunda opposite the Imhotep room) and a bust of Jacques Jaujard, director of the Musées de France and the École du Louvre between 1940 and 1944, a great Resistance fighter, by Georges Saupique, were deposited.

The beauty of the new library's completely uncluttered space, underlined by the quality of the furniture and the architect's work on light - sandblasted mirrors reflecting the light coming from the wolf's leap - is enhanced by the presence of several works of art donated by M. Majid Boustany to the French State for allocation to the École du Louvre: an easel by Francis Bacon (1909-1992), which stood in the artist's studio on rue de Birague, a symbolic object of pictorial creation, now installed at the entrance to the library, and a photograph by artist Jesse A. Fernandez, Francis Bacon in his studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, 1977, which marks the entrance to the Research Center.

Finally, another exceptional gift from Mr. Majid Boustany, two works by Antony Gormley, in corten steel, designed especially for the school library. Witness VII and Witness VIII, 2021, as witnesses not only to a meditation on the body, but as "thought stimulants for students at work", in the words of the artist himself. This British artist, whose installations can be found all over the world, and who has been seen in London, New York, Sao Paulo and Hong Kong, is not yet very present in France: his work Cloud Chain was unveiled to the public at the inauguration of the Archives Nationales in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine in 2013, and the Musée Rodin is devoting a monographic exhibition to him (autumn-winter 2023-2024).

Vue de la bibliothèque de l'École du Louvre

Mr. Majid Boustany wished to add a new donation of contemporary artworks, destined for the establishment's entrance hall. For the latter, mineral and monumental, architect Antoine Stinco (1934-2023) had cultivated the emptiness of certain spaces, such as a large white square overhanging the main staircase leading to the library, lecture theaters and classrooms. The choice fell on a work by François Morellet, π baroco n°2 bleu, 1=45° (angles on the same side), 7 elements, 2001, a composition made of blue neon tubes. The latter is particularly suited to the proportions of the space.

It is joined by a sculpture by César, a double bronze bust entitled La Marseillaise (1997) which symbolizes, in this same entrance hall, the dialogue between two eras, romantic ardor and contemporary outlook in a republican continuity.