Bernard Arnault's name was expected to appear at the Louvre, which has ambitions to open a new entrance at Place du Louvre to relieve the flow of visitors, a project whose €450 million price tag is proving far too astronomical for the public purse. Ultimately, it's on the left bank, at the Musée d'Orsay, that the billionaire will lend his support through a partnership signed for the 2026-2030 period with its flagship, Louis Vuitton.
Le Monde has learned the leather goods manufacturer is to allocate €20 million to finance the redevelopment of the entrance area, aimed at improving visitor reception and reducing queues. The project, which will be carried out between 2025 and 2028 as the museum remains open, includes renovation of the forecourt, restoration of the entrance marquee and refurbishment of the hall of columns and the top of the nave. To facilitate the flow of visitors, the exit will be relocated to the Quai de Seine.
Exchanges between Arnault and the museum date back to the tenure of Laurence des Cars, now president of the Louvre. They were stepped up while Orsay was run by Christophe Leribault, now at the helm of the Château de Versailles. In January 2023, the LVMH group enabled the museum to acquire a painting by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894), Partie de Bateau (1877-1878), classified as a national treasure three years earlier. This cost €43 million – 90% of which was tax-exempt. The same year, the museum hosted a Louis Vuitton fashion show and sported an advertising banner on its façade.
The marriage of art and luxury could reach a new level. The agreement between Orsay and Vuitton may include a surprising provision: loans of works from the museum's collections to the future flagship of Louis Vuitton, located at 103 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, whose facade is today obscured by an enormous monogrammed metal trunk that irritated Green elected representatives in the fall. This immense store, the largest ever opened by the leather goods manufacturer, is expected to feature, in addition to 6,000 square meters of sales space, 3,500 square meters of showrooms to tell the brand's story. "At the moment, nothing has been decided," said a person close to the matter, without denying the information.