Louvre and Guggenheim to receive funding as part of conservation project
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(Credits: Kevin Poh)
24 museums across the world, including the Musée du Louvre in Paris, have been provided with a boost after receiving funding as part of the Bank of America Art Conservation Project.
Notable museums that have been selected as beneficiaries of the project also include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Nara National Museum in Japan. The conservation scheme has been running for over a decade, and the Bank of America use the programme to support artistic endeavours.
The Bank of America say of the venture: “Since 2010, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project has provided funding for more than 260 projects in forty countries to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art, including works that have been designated as national treasures.”
To date, the banking giant have distributed more than $20 million to museums. The recipients of the funding in 2024 has been decided by a team of five advisors who work at the Bank of America’s Global Arts sector along with seven advisors from the conservatory community. This includes figures from New York’s Guggenheim Museum, which will receive funding, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Although it’s an American scheme, the Bank of America will help preserve art also located in Asia, South America and Europe. In the United Kingdom, the National Gallery in London will receive funding, as will the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
In a statement, Brian Siegel, Global Arts, Culture & Heritage Executive at Bank of America said of the programme: “This year, we are proud to share a slate of projects that feature some of the most celebrated artists of all time.”
Siegel continued: “The Art Conservation Project reflects our longstanding commitment to cultural history, so that these works may be appreciated and experienced by generations to come.”
The artwork at the Louvre which will be supported by the conservation project is ‘Paintings Restoration in The Napoléon III Apartments’, which was created in the 19th century.
Meanwhile, the Parisian museum recently hiked its basic ticket price by 30 per cent, which coincides with the Olympics coming to the French capital later this year. Admission fees significantly increased from €17 to €22 in January 2024.
Defending the controversial decision, the Louvre said in a statement: “More than 3.6m visitors, most of them French, […] have passed through the doors of the collections and exhibitions of the largest museum in the world for free.”
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