David Zwirner: Louvre Acquires Marlene Dumas's 'Liaisons' for Permanent Collection
The Facts
The Musée du Louvre has acquired Marlene Dumas's 'Liaisons', a nine-panel painting cycle installed in the Porte des Lions atrium, making Dumas the first contemporary female artist to enter the museum's permanent collection. The canvases, conceived for the wall at the entrance to the Gallery of the Five Continents and the Louvre's painting department, match the dimensions of the marble bas-reliefs that once hung there. The work has been on view since December 2025. Louvre president Laurence des Cars called Dumas 'one of the greatest painters of our time,' and Dumas said the faces mix past and present, including 'the nameless,' from fugitives to those branded as aliens.
The Signal
The acquisition signals the Louvre's commitment to integrating living artists into its encyclopedic collection and diversifying a canon long dominated by European men. For Dumas, it places her in direct dialogue with the Old Masters near the Grande Galerie, a powerful endorsement of her standing as a painter. For collectors, the museum's embrace of a contemporary female artist may reinforce demand for Dumas's work, particularly her large-scale figural cycles.
- Artists: Marlene Dumas
- People: Marlene Dumas, Laurence des Cars
- Museums: Musée du Louvre
- Locations: Paris
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