Photo : © Agence Meurisse
Exhibition "Louvre Photo" at the Louvre Museum
Forget the usual statues and look at how the world's most famous palace has been captured through the lens for nearly two centuries. From hidden backstage areas to the changing crowds, this exhibition offers a fresh, witty, and deeply nostalgic perspective on an iconic landmark. A must-see journey that explores the museum as both a sanctuary for art and a living subject of photography.
Musée du Louvre (Paris 1st)
About
Discover the Louvre through the lens of history in the exhibition Louvre Photo, running from 4 November 2026 to 3 May 2027. This retrospective features over 300 photographs that capture the museum as a subject, an inspiration, and an artistic canvas. From the early days of photography to modern commissions, the exhibition explores the evolution of the palace, its hidden areas, and its visitors. Suitable for visitors aged 8 and up, the exhibition is fully accessible to those with motor, sensory, or cognitive disabilities, ensuring an inclusive experience for everyone within the historic walls of the museum.
The opening of the Louvre preceded the birth of photography by a few decades. The museum, which associates the real with the imaginary and allows for travel through time and space, has been a fertile cradle of inspiration for the first photographers. The exhibition Louvre Photo focuses on the Louvre as a model, as a subject, as a source of inspiration, and as an object of subversion. Through more than 300 photographs of the Louvre, its works, its exhibition halls, its open spaces, as well as famous and anonymous visitors, museum actors, hidden places, and behind-the-scenes areas, Louvre Photo invites discovery and revelation, summoning renewed, distanced looks, sometimes with humor or a twist, on the museum, the institution, and its collections.
Louvre Photo covers the long period from the invention of photography until now, from the first photographers to those invited by the museum today, such as Robert Polidori recently. This period has been marked by major historical events such as the Commune, the First and Second World Wars, and the diplomatic and tourist boom of the "Trente Glorieuses" (thirty glorious years). It has also been punctuated by key moments in the history of the Louvre, such as the transformation of the palace into a museum under the Second Empire, the displacement and return of works during the two world wars, and the creation of the Grand Louvre in the 1980s.
By situating itself in a single location—that delimited by the walls of the building and by the gates of its gardens, notably the Tuileries—Louvre Photo highlights the photographic collections preserved at the Louvre within the various collection departments, still-active documentary funds, as well as the collections of French institutions, including the National Archives, the Médiathèque de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Carnavalet, and the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris. The exhibition also showcases commissions made to photographers by the Louvre since the early 2000s.
Find a guided tour of the exhibition every Sunday at 11:30 AM and free, open-access "mini-tours" during the museum's late-night openings (Wednesday and Friday) at 6:30 PM, 7:00 PM, 7:30 PM, and 8:00 PM.
Our take on this event
Louvre Photo offers a comprehensive visual journey through the museum's history, documenting its transformation from the Second Empire to the Grand Louvre era. The exhibition showcases more than 300 photographs, including depictions of the palace interiors, gardens, famous visitors, and behind-the-scenes moments. The collection highlights the museum's role as a source of creative inspiration, drawing from internal archives and major French institutions like the National Library of France and the Musée d'Orsay.
The display honors both historical documentation and contemporary works commissioned by the Louvre since the early 2000s, reflecting on major historical events that have intersected with the museum's lifespan.
Visitors can join a guided tour every Sunday at 11:30. Additionally, free drop-in mini-tours take place during the museum's late-night openings on Wednesdays and Fridays at 18:30, 19:00, 19:30, and 20:00. The museum is equipped to welcome all guests, offering full accessibility for wheelchair users as well as tailored support for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted, or living with cognitive disabilities.
