Marlene Dumas becomes first contemporary woman artist in Louvre's permanent collection by Clément Ghys
November 2025
On the ground floor of the Denon Wing of the Louvre, the wing that runs along the Seine, nine new works have just been hung. Nine paintings by the Dutch and South African artist Marlene Dumas. Stoic, enigmatic, silent faces, pine green turning to muddy brown, tangerine orange, faded blue: Nine canvases forming a series called "Liaisons," which Laurence des Cars, the museum's president and director, commissioned. Their unveiling to the press on Thursday, November 6, should have been one of the highlights of the autumn season for the museum, as it was meant to embody the ambition that des Cars set for herself from the moment she was appointed on September 1, 2021: to transform the old institution from the ground up. This transformation was in line with the ambitious Nouvelle Renaissance du Louvre project, launched in January by President Emmanuel Macron, which by 2031 would notably see the Mona Lisa moved to a dedicated space beneath the Cour Carrée. Read more.