Museum organizers are hoping that the new Louvre attract funds are unemployed former coal mining center

At the opening ceremony the Louvre in Lens, December 4, 2012
Source: artdaily.com

Lance in the city, a former coal-mining center in the north of France, yesterday The official opening ceremony of the branch Louvre. The new building cost 150-200 million works by Botticelli, Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin. Exposure time range of the "Gallery of time» («Galerie du temps») in Lens, as well as in the Louvre, is very wide, from the III century BC before the start of the 1800s. Yes, without the work of Impressionist and Modern, of course, something will be missing, but then they do not exist in the Louvre (which gave the d'Orsay and the Museum of Modern Art). The new branch of the Louvre promised annual updates fifth exposure.

exposition begins Iraqi artifact 3300 BC, and ends one of the canonical works of French art - a painting by Eugene Delacroix " Liberty Leading the People "(" Liberty on the Barricades "). A temporary exhibition at the Lance also brought paintings of Leonardo da Vinci's "St. Anne with the Madonna and Christ Child».

Why Lance has been chosen for the branch of the Louvre? This question is raised by many, including the residents of this generally is not particularly remarkable city. The fact is that for years Lance is in steep decline due to the cessation of coal mining in the region. The unemployment rate is among the highest in the country - 25%. Local people, as they say, do not need art, they need a job. But organizers of the museum hopes that it will help the new Louvre Lance up from her knees. Local authorities also rely on this "Bilbao effect" (an example being the rapid growth of the Spanish city of Bilbao after raising it a branch of the Guggenheim Museum). This is supported by the strategic position and Lance - just one hour from the tunnel under the English Channel, a half hour before the Belgian border, two hours - to the Netherlands. Lance is the second most densely populated region of France. Also nearby Lille is a popular destination for weekend trips to British families. According to calculations of the organizers, in the first year "Gallery of Time" can expect to half a million visitors. Everyone hopes that the branch Louvre - is only the first step in the rehabilitation of Lance.

Prepared Maria Onuchina, AI

Sources : artdaily.com , independent.co.uk , artinvestment.ru