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July 26, 2008
The things museum directors will do to bring art to the people.
Remember the note about Duran Duran playing a fundraiser for Friends of the Louvre?
Here's a description of the day's events from a BusinessWeek article:
On a breezy June morning, several dozen people climb a narrow staircase to an ornate, high-ceilinged room in the Louvre Museum. Displayed on easels are 22 works by Leonardo da Vinci—a delicate pen-and-ink Madonna and child, detailed architectural sketches, subtly shaded tempera studies of draped fabric. These fragile 500-year-old drawings are rarely seen by anyone but scholars and museum curators.Today, they've been removed from the vaults for a private showing to Friends of the Louvre, an elite group of $10,000-and-up donors. Later, the Friends will dine on veal and asparagus in truffle sauce amid Greek and Roman sculpture in the museum. Still later: a silent auction of luxury vacations and other indulgences and a concert by the '80s band Duran Duran. All told, the soiree will raise more than $2.7 million.
And you want to know why? The government's appropriations for the Louvre only cover half the budget, down from 70% in 2001. So an enterprising director looks to Duran Duran and Abu Dhabi . . . .
Posted by CrankyProfessor at July 26, 2008 8:24 AM