Club-supported Le French May brings Louvre masterpieces to Hong Kong

04/26/2017

The Louvre in Paris is renowned as one of the world's ‘must visit' museums and now, Hong Kong people are in for a rare treat, as 126 priceless art works from Musée du Louvre will be on show at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum from today until 24 July. The exhibition is one of the four programmes being supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust as part of Le French May, and is also one of the signature activities for the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Entitled Inventing le Louvre: From Palace to Museum over 800 Years, the exhibition illustrates the diversity and richness of the museum's collections, displaying paintings, sculptures, ceramics, tapestries and more. Highlight exhibits include a statue of Jean de la Fontaine, an ancient Greek statue fragment Horse Head and the Van Dyck painting Saint Sebastian Bound for Martyrdom, all of which are being shown in Hong Kong for the first time. There are multimedia and 3D displays that allow visitors to feel they are venturing into the French palace themselves, as well as education and outreach programmes to help local residents gain a better understanding of the vitality and universal nature of Musée du Louvre. 

Officiating at the opening ceremony yesterday (25 April) were Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip; Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung; Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui; Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Michelle Li; Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Eric Berti; Chairman of the Board of Le French May Dr Andrew Yuen; Director of the Department of Paintings at Musée du Louvre Sébastien Allard and other guests.

The Club's Charities Trust is placing special emphasis on four areas of strategic focus; they are youth, the elderly, sports, as well as the arts, culture and heritage. Dr Ip said that in recognition of the power of the arts in addressing social needs, the Club's Charities Trust was now designating ''Arts, Culture and Heritage'' as an area of strategic focus. ''This exhibition perfectly reflects one of the major objectives of our arts strategy, namely to expand the audience for the arts and make them accessible for all,'' he observed. ''Like last year's Claude Monet: The Spirit of Place exhibition,which the Club also supported,and which attracted close to a quarter of a million visitors, it will undoubtedly make a deep impression – opening eyes and minds to the power of art and its impact across world cultures.''

Other Le French May programmes being supported by the Trust this year are The Royal Concert of the Night ''The Birth of the Sun King'', the Festival opening concert and also the world premiere performed by the globally-acclaimed Ensemble Correspondances; Nicolas Buffe: The Dream of Polifilo, the debut exhibition of this innovative French artist; and Paris Ballet Legends: A Night with the Stars, an iconic ballet performed by stars from the Paris Opera Ballet together with dancers from Hong Kong Ballet. For more information, please visit: http://www.frenchmay.com/.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2015/16 the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong's largest single tax payer and one of the world's largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always ''riding high together for a better future'' with the people of Hong Kong.