Louvre Abu Dhabi draws one million people in debut year

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Doreen Carvajal

The French Culture Minister Franck Riester, center, visits the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Nov. 9. The museum, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, is celebrating the first anniversary of its official opening to the public on Nov. 11.

A year since its opening, the Louvre Abu Dhabi drew more than a million visitors to its dome-shaped museum that features borrowed treasures by Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh from the collections of French institutions. Those visitors were dominated by foreign tourists, with more than 60 percent from other countries — topped by India, along with Germany, China, England, the United States and France, according to the new museum. The crowd figures are still small in comparison to the flagship Louvre in Paris, which is lending its brand through a 30-year government accord between the United Arab Emirates and France. [More]