© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved
Photo © Majid Boustany
Photo © Majid Boustany
Witness VII (foreground) and Witness VIII (background), 2021 © Antony Gormley
Photo © Majid Boustany
Witness VIII (foreground) and Witness VII (background), 2021 © Antony Gormley
Photo © Majid Boustany
Photo © Majid Boustany
Photo © Majid Boustany
Photo © Majid Boustany
Photo © Majid Boustany
On 11 March 2022, the École du Louvre unveiled an ambitious architectural project in the presence of Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, the French Minister of Culture, and H.R.H. the Princess Caroline of Hanover. This project is the aspirational initiative of Claire Barbillon, Director of the École du Louvre, and has been made possible by the exceptional patronage of Majid Boustany, Founder and President of the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation.
This patronage represents the greatest support ever received by a teaching institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture.
The project, entitled ‘École du Louvre 2021-2022’, includes the redevelopment and refurbishment of the library, its documentation and IT services, the cafeteria, and the creation of a research centre.
For this major project, and to bring artworks, for the first time, into this environment dedicated to study and research, Majid Boustany has gifted to the École du Louvre two sculptures for the library by the British artist Antony Gormley, an easel of Francis Bacon’s standing in the library hallway, as well as an artwork by François Morellet and a sculpture by César, both displayed in the Jaujard Hall. I also wished to enrich the new library with an important collection of books on Bacon, making it one of France’s largest repositories of publications on the painter.