Homage to Christian Boltanski (1944–2021)Les Archives de Christian Boltanski 1965-1988

As part of the homage to Christian Boltanski, Les Archives de Christian Boltanski 1965–1988, an installation piece from the Musée National d’Art Moderne / Centre Pompidou, will be on display at the Musée du Louvre from 13 October 2021 to 10 January 2022. The artwork will be exhibited in the Grande Galerie, one of the most prestigious and emblematic spaces at the Louvre.

A JOINT EVENT BY THE CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES, THE MUSÉE DU LOUVRE AND THE CENTRE POMPIDOU, WITH THE OPÉRA-COMIQUE

The Centre Pompidou, the Opéra-Comique, the Château de Versailles and the Musée du Louvre are celebrating the life and work of Christian Boltanski with a collaborative homage to the tremendous artist who passed away on 14 July. Designed like a cross-section of Christian Boltanski’s oeuvre, this homage invites the public to (re)discover several iconic pieces of his work.

From a sound installation in the royal chapel of the Château de Versailles to monumental archives in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre and a new display devoted to the artist at the Musée National d’Art Moderne, visitors travel through ‘the impossible life of Christian Boltanski’ all the way to the Centre Pompidou car park for a performance of Fosse, his final opera experience created in 2020 by the Opéra-Comique.

Joining forces for the first time, the four institutions thus invite their audiences to remember — remember as the artist always strove to do in the fight against finitude and oblivion, recreating the lives of beings to form through all of their ‘tiny memories’ a fragile and intriguing collective memory of humanity.

CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI AT THE LOUVRE

The display in the Grande Galerie is the third presentation of Christian Boltanski’s work at the Musée du Louvre. The first was for the exhibition ‘The Empire of Time: Myths and Creations’ (14 April–10 July 2000), in which he developed a kind of archaeology of the present by compiling photographs of objects visitors had lost in the museum. The second time, Christian Boltanski was one of the eleven contemporary artists who exhibited in the permanent collections of the museum for the first edition of ‘Counterpoint: Contemporary Art at the Louvre’ (12 November 2004–10 February 2005).

Remaining true to his approach of finding and preserving traces of a lost past, like a form of personal archaeology, Christian Boltanski had exhibited in particular at the heart of the medieval Louvre in the Salle Saint Louis. Grouping his own belongings opposite everyday items recovered from the foundations of the Louvre palace, he thus embarked on an exploration of the cycle of time and the workings of memory, and examined the question of reproduction.

On display until 10 January 2022
Grande Galerie (room 710), Denon wing, level 1