Roger's WebPoint©

While its collection halts at the watershed date of 1848, the Louvre is by no means a backward-looking institution. Since the Grand Louvre project brought a doubling of its exhibition space in 1989, the museum has steadily moved with the times.

Its innovative, sophisticated Internet site, for example, is nothing less than a virtual museum that complements the real-world one.

Also notable is an uncompromising engagement with contemporary art, in temporary exhibitions and, in the Palais du Louvre, on a more lasting basis. This represents an active contribution to maintaining that necessary dialogue between the greats of the past and the artists of today.

When 2009 saw the twentieth anniversary of the Pyramid and the Grand Louvre, the museum highlighted its commitment to architectural, museographic, and educational modernity with the creation of new spaces and renovation of others. The new home for the splendid Department of Islamic Arts collection on Cour Visconti is one of the Louvre's most impressive projects. Made possible by the generous patronage of Prince Ali Walid and King Mohammed VI, the new exhibition halls are the work of architect Rudy Riciotti,

with the opening scheduled for 2012. And thanks to the Louvre Atlanta project, there is also the ongoing renovation of the rooms devoted to what is one of the world's largest and handsomest 18th-century objets d'art collections. By 2012 the inspired work of interior designer Jacques Garcia will be offering visitors a completely revamped presentation.

Projects and ambitions on this kind of scale cost money, and the Louvre has radically modernized its management and funding approaches. In 2003 it became the first French museum to sign a performance contract with the state, thus obtaining greater independence, a three-year agreement on the state's contribution, and definition of the goals to be met over that period. At the same time the Louvre has been building up its own resources with an active patronage policy—both individual and corporate—that has facilitated many projects including exhibitions, acquisition of national treasures, and museographic improvements. Several patronage groups have been set up both in France (Young Patrons Circle, the Louvre Corporate Circle, the Cressent Circle, and others) and abroad (American Friends of the Louvre, the International Circle, etc.) The most recent innovation is an endowment fund, based on the Anglo-Saxon model and designed to provide long-term backing for major development projects. These advances will mean the capacity to carry out our cultural and research missions in the fields of heritage preservation, cultural programming, expansion of the collection, development of research, and a new policy of service to the public.

It is this multifaceted museum, at once immense and intimate, that I invite you to discover.

Henri Loyrette, Director of the Musée du Louvre