Abstract

This paper highlights the dialogue between the present and the past within the new orientations of a certain number of art museums. The recent commission by the Musée du Louvre of a monumental work for permanent display by the contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer (1945-) is an illustrative example of this phenomenon. The growing importance of contemporary art in the 21st century Museum of Fine Art shows how the art museum intends to be inclusive in regard of a long historical perspective.