The Louvre turns to merch

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


The Louvre turns to merch
CASETiFY’s products include phone cases featuring famous works of art from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The famous French museum has embraced all retail opportunities in an effort to offset the economic effects of the pandemic. Via Musée du Louvre via The New York Times.

by Elaine Sciolino



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Can face masks and T-shirts save the Louvre? Probably not, but maybe they can help keep the museum’s name alive while its doors stay shut.

In normal times, the Louvre is one of the most visited museums in the world: 9.6 million people walked its halls in 2019. But the coronavirus has deprived it of foreign tourists and government decrees closed it down twice for nearly six months last year, a loss of 90 million euros (about $108 million) in revenue, according to the Louvre. Since last March, the museum, along with other French cultural institutions, has remained shut indefinitely. (It opened last year from early July to the end of October.)

“We need to find new ways to make money,” said Adel Ziane, director of external relations for the Louvre. “The COVID crisis has made it more urgent than ever to diversify and make the most of the Louvre name.”

One of his answers is retail. A lot of retail.

On Feb. 4, Uniqlo began selling a Louvre collection of clothing in its stores around the world, under a four-year licensing agreement with the museum. Peter Saville, an English graphic designer, splashed the museum’s inventory numbers and taglines next to the artworks on T-shirts and sweats.

Uniqlo’s two-minute promotional video for the line features Uniqlo-clad models walking through the Louvre’s galleries. The Louvre has produced its own short video featuring a museum official touting the values of “universality and timelessness” that it shares with Uniqlo.

The Louvre has also collaborated with CASETiFY, a tech accessories company, to put the images of some of its most recognizable women — Mona Lisa, Venus, Liberty Leading the People — onto iPhone covers, AirPods cases, grip stands, wireless charging pads, and water bottles.

Maison Sarah Lavoine, a tiny boutique located near the Tuileries Garden, offers a fancy throw pillow and ceramic candle holders said to be inspired by the pedestals of the garden’s statues.

During the pandemic, visits to the Louvre.fr website have exploded, according to the museum. But the Louvre had to rely on an umbrella online site, Boutique de Musées, to sell its wares, thus lumping them in with merchandise from museums like Versailles and the Musée d’Orsay. As a result, in late January, the Louvre created a separate online identity with its own e-boutique.

“We wanted to take control, to promote whatever we wanted, to tell our own stories — and reach the widest possible audience around the world,” said Yann Le Touher, head of sponsorships, branding and commercial partnerships for the Louvre. Louvre.fr is where you can find Louvre Swatches, a Louvre perfume by L’Officine Universelle Buly; and Louvre Monopoly.




The merchandise expansion is just one of the ways the museum has been getting creative with funding.

In December, for the first time in its history, the museum organized an auction with Christie’s and Drouot to raise funds to turn an unused museum space into a 12,000-square-foot educational, hands-on art “studio” for adults and children. Up for sale at the auction were donated works of art from Pierre Soulages and Jean-Michel Othoniel; a watch from Vacheron Constantin (the winning bidder could choose a piece of art from the museum to be reproduced on the dial, though the Mona Lisa was off-limits;) and a variety of museum-related “experiences.”

One unidentified bidder paid 80,000 euros ($96,600) to be able to witness, in person, the process of the Mona Lisa being taken out of its case for its annual inspection.

In total, the auction raised more than 2.3 million euros ($2.8 million). “Bidders from all over the world came together to show their support,” museum director Jean-Luc Martinez said. “The desire for the Louvre is now more than ever alive.”

Cozying up to popular culture is not new for the Louvre, which welcomes — often at stiff rental fees — filmmakers, videographers, photographers, fashion designers, artists.

For two nights in 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z took over the galleries, staircases, corridors, and main courtyard of the Louvre to produce a music video that has been watched more than 200 million times on YouTube.

More recently, the makers of the Netflix series “Lupin” rented the museum for five days and nights. And Louis Vuitton, because of its status as a major donor to the Louvre, has an exclusive arrangement that gives it access to various museum spaces for its shows, which have taken place in the outdoor Cour Carrée and the glass-roofed Cour Marly (the location for the next one, to be revealed digitally March 10, remains to be seen).

It’s all about the buzz and the bottom line; the fees are negotiable.

“The cost of the museum depends on the project,” said Ziane. “Is it day or night? How may galleries? Do you want the Mona Lisa? Do you want an aerial shot of the Pyramid? The prices can go quite high.”

In the meantime, those who want to don Mona Lisa on their face, can buy a “Monna Pop” face mask with 16 images of her face in bright pop-art colors on the Boutique de Musées site for 9.90 euros.

The website proclaims, “Cover your mouth and nose with style!”

© 2021 The New York Times Company










Today's News

March 4, 2021

'Limitless! Five Women Reshape Contemporary Art' opens at McNay Art Museum

Louvre recovers 16th-century armour, four decades after theft

Boy Scouts will sell nearly 60 Norman Rockwell works to pay sex-abuse claims

The Louvre turns to merch

Nationalmuseum acquires a floral still life by Berjon

New technique reveals centuries of secrets in locked letters

White Cube opens an online exhibition of works by Gilbert & George

Toko Shinoda dies at 107; Fused calligraphy with abstract expressionism

Ruiz-Healy Art opens group exhibition "Plurality of Isolations"

Kunsthalle Basel opens an exhibition of works by Lydia Ourahmane

IMMA opens an exhibition of the work of Chantal Joffe inspired by Lucian Freud's paintings of his mother

Miller & Miller announces Music Machines, Clocks & Canadiana auction

South Street Seaport Museum launches collections online portal featuring over 1,300 pieces on virtual display

New leadership appointments at Christie's

Ten important works by Edward Seago to go up for auction at Dreweatts

Ruth Noack named Executive Director and Curator of new cultural center The Corner At Whitman-Walker

Nohra Haime Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Valerie Hird

Asya Geisberg Gallery opens Angelina Gualdoni's fifth solo exhibition with the gallery

Sargent's Daughters opens a solo exhibition of video, installation and works on paper by Abbey Williams

Over £94,000-worth of contemporary art sold on behalf of Kettle's Yard House and Gallery

Karl Lagerfeld's mirror leads Bonhams Modern Design │ Art auction

Sex tape satire at Berlin fest tackles pandemic-era 'hypocrisy'

Margaret Maron, acclaimed mystery writer, dies at 82

New York to allow limited live performances to resume in April




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful