In December 2020, the German auction house Lempertz presented La fillette au brasier, the last nocturnal painting by Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) still in private hands. The work came from the important collection of the Bremen entrepreneur Hinrich Bischoff, who died in 2005.
Sold for €3.6 million ($3.2 mil), the masterpiece became the artist's most expensive painting, as well as the most expensive old master's painting ever sold in Germany. De La Tour's works, inspired by Caravaggism and known for their dramatic chiaroscuro, are found in institutions like the Met and the Louvre.
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As reported by the UAE newspaper The National, the work is now one of the latest acquisitions of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2017. The museum has recently expanded its collection with 27 new works, including Entre chien et loup by Marc Chagall, two bronzes by Auguste Rodin and 25 Japanese woodcuts from the 18th and 19th centuries, including The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.
“Our universal museum is proud to see such a strong collection taking shape, despite the background challenges of our times,” said Manuel Rabate, director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, in a statement.
The museum also negotiated 18 new loans from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, including the 1901 portrait L'Algérienne by Henri Matisse, as well as works by Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti.
