Editing Louvre (section)

=== 21st century ===
[[File:Cy Twombly Ceiling at Louvre Salle des Bronzes.jpg|thumb|Ceiling by [[Cy Twombly]] installed in 2010 in the {{lang|fr|Salle des Bronzes}}, before the room's redesign in 2021]]

President [[Jacques Chirac]], who had succeeded Mitterrand in 1995, insisted on the return of non-Western art to the Louvre, upon a recommendation from his friend the art collector and dealer {{ill|Jacques Kerchache|fr}}. On his initiative, a selection of highlights from the collections of what would become the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac]] was installed on the ground floor of the {{lang|fr|Pavillon des Sessions}} and opened in 2000, six years ahead of the Musée du Quai Branly itself.

The main other initiative in the aftermath of the Grand Louvre project was Chirac's decision to create a new department of Islamic Art, by executive order of 1 August 2003, and to move the corresponding collections from their prior underground location in the Richelieu Wing to a more prominent site in the Denon Wing. That new section opened on 22 September 2012, together with collections from the Roman-era Eastern Mediterranean, with financial support from the [[Alwaleed Philanthropies|Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation]] and on a design by [[Mario Bellini]] and [[Rudy Ricciotti]].<ref name="Islamic art, covered">Gareth Harris (13 September 2012), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ad9c2ff2-f5bf-11e1-bf76-00144feabdc0.html#axzz26xYVPBmB Islamic art, covered] ''[[Financial Times]]''.</ref><ref>Carol Vogel (19 September 2012), [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/arts/design/the-louvres-new-islamic-galleries-bring-riches-to-light.html The Louvre's New Islamic Galleries Bring Riches to Light] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/2781939|title=Structural Innovation and the Stakes of Heritage: The Bellini-Ricciotti Louvre Dpt of Islamic Arts|author=Denis Bocquet|journal=Academia.edu|date=20 February 2013 }}</ref>

In 2007, German painter [[Anselm Kiefer]] was invited to create a work for the North stairs of the [[Claude Perrault|Perrault]] [[Louvre Colonnade|Colonnade]], ''Athanor''. This decision announces the museum's reengagement with contemporary art under the direction of [[Henri Loyrette]], fifty years after the institution's last order to a contemporary artists, [[Georges Braque|George Braque]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Serafin |first=Amy |date=21 October 2007 |title=The Louvre Now Accepts the Living |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/arts/design/21sera.html |access-date=16 January 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2010, American painter [[Cy Twombly]] completed a new ceiling for the {{lang|fr|Salle des Bronzes}} (the former {{lang|fr|Salle La Caze}}), a counterpoint to that of Braque installed in 1953 in the adjacent {{lang|fr|Salle Henri II}}. The room's floor and walls were redesigned in 2021 by Louvre architect Michel Goutal to revert the changes made by his predecessor Albert Ferran in the late 1930s, triggering protests from the Cy Twombly Foundation on grounds that the then-deceased painter's work had been created to fit with the room's prior decoration.<ref>{{cite web|website=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/arts/design/louvre-cy-twombly-ceiling.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/arts/design/louvre-cy-twombly-ceiling.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited |title=Palace Intrigue at the Louvre, as a Paint Job Leads to a Lawsuit |author=Doreen Carvajal |date=5 March 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

That same year, the Louvre commissioned French artist [[François Morellet]] to create a work for the Lefuel stairs, on the first floor. For ''L'esprit d'escalier'' Morellet redesigned the stairscase's windows, echoing their original structures but distorting them to create a disturbing optical effect.<ref>{{Cite web |title="L'esprit d'escalier", François Morellet {{!}} Cnap |url=https://www.cnap.fr/lesprit-descalier-francois-morellet |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=www.cnap.fr}}</ref>

On 6 June 2014, the Decorative Arts section on the first floor of the [[Cour Carrée]]'s northern wing opened after comprehensive refurbishment.<ref>{{cite web|website=La Tribune de l'Art |title=La réouverture des salles d'objets d'art du Louvre, de Louis XIV à Louis XVI |author=Didier Rykner |date=8 June 2014 |url=https://www.latribunedelart.com/la-reouverture-des-salles-d-objets-d-art-du-louvre-de-louis-xiv-a-louis-xvi-5107-5107-5107}}</ref>

In January 2020, under the direction of [[Jean-Luc Martinez]], the museum inaugurated a new contemporary art commission, ''L'Onde du Midi'' by Venezuelan kinetic artist [[Elias Crespin]]. The sculpture hovers under the Escalier du Midi, the staircase on the South of the [[Louvre Colonnade|Perrault Colonnade]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 January 2020 |title=Elias Crespin, l'art de la ligne au Louvre |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/elias-crespin-l-art-de-la-ligne-au-louvre-20200120 |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref>

The Louvre, like many other museums and galleries, felt the [[impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage]]. It was closed for six months during French coronavirus lockdowns and saw visitor numbers plunge to 2.7 million in 2020, from 9.6 million in 2019 and 10.2 million in 2018, which was a record year.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 January 2021|title=Louvre museum visitors dropped more than 70% in virus-wracked 2020|url=https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20210108-louvre-museum-visitors-dropped-more-than-70-in-virus-wracked-2020|access-date=13 January 2021|website=France 24|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Makoni |first=Abbianca |date=19 May 2021 |title=Bienvenu! Louvre museum reopens after six month shutdown |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/louvre-reopens-paris-coronavirus-pandemic-france-b935995.html |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref>

In preparation for the [[2024 Summer Olympics|2024 Olympics]], the Louvre staged an exhibit about the Games' history that links their ancient beginnings to the modern era.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LaBarge |first=Emily |date=April 26, 2024 |title=At the Louvre, the Olympics Are More French Than You Might Think |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/arts/louvre-olympics-exhibition.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Attendance rose to 8.9 million in 2023, 14 percent above 2022, but still short of the record of 10.2 million in 2018.<ref name="francetvinfo.fr" />

In January 2025, French President [[Emmanuel Macron]] announced plans for a renovation and expansion of the Louvre, including a room solely for the Mona Lisa. The planned renovation and expansion was a result of the increasing number of visitors each year to the Louvre.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Francis |first=Ellen |date=28 January 2025 |title=Mona Lisa to get a room of her own in Louvre museum renovation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/28/louve-museum-renovation-mona-lisa/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129135438/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/28/louve-museum-renovation-mona-lisa/ |archive-date=29 January 2025 |access-date=29 January 2025 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>{{clear}}
<gallery mode="packed" captionstyle="font-size: small;">
File:Pavillon des Sessions 01.jpg|The {{lang|fr|Pavillon des Sessions}}'s display of non-Western art from the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac|Musée du Quai Branly]], opened in 2000
File:Cour Visconti (Louvre) D201512a.jpg|The {{lang|fr|Cour Visconti}}'s ground floor covered to host the new Islamic Art Department in 2012
File:Les arts de lIslam au Louvre (8055981963).jpg|Islamic art display in the covered {{lang|fr|Cour Visconti}}, 2012
File:Louvre, dipartimento di arte islamica, 01.JPG|Underground display of the Islamic Art Department, 2012
</gallery>