Louvre Photo

Why it is worth going

The subject is the building and nothing beyond its walls and the Tuileries gates: its works and galleries, famous and anonymous visitors, museum staff, hidden corners and back corridors, in more than 300 photographs.¹ The run starts with the first photographers and ends with the photographers the museum has invited in recent years, most recently Robert Polidori, and passes through the Paris Commune, the removal and return of the collections in both World Wars and the Grand Louvre works of the 1980s.¹ Prints come from the Louvre's curatorial departments and from the National Archives, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée Carnavalet, among others.¹ The curators are Quentin Bajac, director of the Jeu de Paume, and Dominique de Font-Réaulx of the Louvre.¹ The two of them lead a tour in French on Thursday 19 November 2026 at 11:30, about an hour and a half, meeting at the groups desk under the pyramid.² Twenty-minute guided introductions run every Wednesday and Friday evening at 18:30, 19:00, 19:30 and 20:00 until 9 April 2027, and a full tour every Sunday at 11:30 from 15 November 2026 to 12 April 2027.³ Members of the Amis du Louvre see the show free, and on the Wednesday and Friday late openings may bring a second person.³ The museum warns of a possible queue at the exhibition door when visitor numbers are high.¹ A private viewing after hours is offered to corporate patrons, as a tour added to an event they host; it suits a company receiving guests, not a single visit.⁴ The ticket terms allow two months to claim a refund, the help centre one month: claim within the month.⁵⁶