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Musée du Louvre

Paris, France

While its collection halts at the watershed date of 1848, the Louvre is by no means a backward-looking institution. Since the Grand Louvre project brought a doubling of its exhibition space in 1989, the museum has steadily moved with the times. Its innovative, sophisticated Internet site, for example, is nothing less than a virtual museum that complements the real-world one.

Also notable is an uncompromising engagement with contemporary art, in temporary exhibitions and, in the Palais du Louvre, on a more lasting basis. This represents an active contribution to maintaining that necessary dialogue between the greats of the past and the artists of today.