An oasis of...

Dhabi are two separate entities. Linked by a 30-year government-to-government contract, the Middle Eastern counterpart may borrow artworks from 13 leading French institutions.

And now, to the 12 chapters across the museum’s galleries, which starts with the infancy and climaxes to the eventual flourish of civilization.

The First Villages, The First Great Powers and Civilizations and Empires lay down the foundations of humanity’s first brush with the concept of togetherness and community, traditions and customs and, finally, rule and authority.

A favorite of many is the sarcophagus of the Egyptian Queen Henuttawy which alludes to the observance of ancient rituals even back then.

This is my first time to witness ancient leaves and pages from the Qur’an, the Torah and the Bible in one center stage in Universal Religions, which chronicles the rise of organized beliefs and how they forever changed ancient societies.

Travel and trade was the highlight of Asian Trade Routes, From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and The World In Perspective, which trace the crisscrossing paths of lasting settlements as they engaged in worldwide barter, and how these voyages contributed to the fields of mathematics and science.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s La Belle Ferronniere, a portrait of an unknown woman, is a focal point of one of the chambers.

Jealousy and rivalry between nations soon sparked continental encounters, well-documented in The Magnificence of the

Court, a record of the displays of power and influence exercised by royalty.

A marble Horses of the Sun sculpture and a Bronze Oba Head from the Kingdom of Benin – now Nigeria – both exemplify supremacy.

A New Art of Living took us to the industrial age, where the sheer amount of mass manufactured goods all over the globe coincided with the era when individuals and families became more obsessed with intellect.

Of prominence is an oil-on-canvas painting by Jacques-

Louis David of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte Crossing the Alps on May 20, 1800.

The last galleries – A Modern World, Challenging Modernity and Global Stage – is a step-by-step account on how the advances in technology challenged artists to radically alter their presentations, the constant reinvention of concepts and finally, the influence of mass media and the internet in breaking down borders to spread a multicultural and multifaceted image of the world of art.

Vincent Van Gogh’s Self Portrait and Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Blue, Red, Yellow and Black masterfully display the out-of-the-box style of artists of the moment. Other notable highlights include The Saint-Lazare Station by Claude Monet, Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child and soon, Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, a painting of Christ which recently hit the gavel at $450.3 million, smashing all previous auctioned art prices.

Contemporary artists may call this their haven, as exemplified by For Louvre

Abu Dhabi by Jenny Holzer, a recipient of the Leone d’Oro at the Venice Biennale in 1990, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award in 1996 and the Barnard Medal of Distinction in 2011, and Germination, by Giuseppe Penone, who has participated in a retrospective at MoMA in 1970, four Documentas in Kassel since 1972, five Venice Biennales from 1978 and exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou in 2004, the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 2012 and the Château de Versailles in 2013.

A popular stopover is the café inspired by the Op-Art movement of the 1960s. It blends beautifully with the rest of the museum, for from certain angles, the hub may seem entirely black and white, but from other vantage points, the room blooms into full color.

Special exhibitions, an Art Club, a Children’s Museum, a series of Family Workshops and almost unlimited references for educational institutions likewise serve the core purpose of the museum – all ventures equally worthy to be advocacies.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi lives up to the name of what Abu Dhabi best represents – the grandest, the unsurpassed, the unrivaled and the incomparable.

Photos of artworks by EDU JARQUE. Additional photos courtesy of The LOUVRE ABU DHABI The museum’s collection ranges from an archaic Sphinx made of shell limestone and Phemba, a maternity figure (top left, insets); a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh (left); and contemporary art like Fountain of Light by Ai Wei Wei (above right).

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is itself a work of art. Its unique façade lights up Abu Dhabi’s ever-changing skyline. The museum is a cluster of 55 buildings, all galleries, with a total of 6,400 square meters of exhibit space.

The intricate roof of the museum, created by architect Jean Nouvel, creates a “rain of light.”