Louvre acquires its first video work in historic collection

The Musée du Louvre has made history by acquiring its first-ever video work, "Les 4 temps" (The 4 Seasons) by Algeria-born artist Mohamed Bourouissa. The milestone acquisition marks a significant step forward for the world's most visited museum as it embraces contemporary digital art, with the piece scheduled to debut on October 22, 2025, just nine days from today.theartnewspaper+1

Historic Digital Debut for the Louvre

The video work centers on the iconic Tuileries Gardens, the historic public space that connects the Louvre to Place de la Concorde. Created in 1564 for Catherine de' Medici and opened to the public in the 17th century, the gardens now receive 14 million visitors annually and have been under the Louvre's management since 2005 as a UNESCO Historic Monument and World Heritage Site.theartnewspaper+3

"We wanted to do, for the first time, a video portrait of this garden—the largest in the centre of Paris, and the only attached institutionally to a major museum," said Donatien Grau, the Louvre's head of contemporary programmes.theartnewspaper

The work will be presented in the Salle de la Chapelle, overlooking the gardens through January 19, 2026. Notably, the piece includes a personal connection to Bourouissa's background—in the distance, viewers can see the 4 Temps mall in La Défense, the Paris suburb where the artist was raised.artnews+1

From Instagram Project to Museum Collection

The acquisition stems from an innovative year-long Instagram project that began in February 2024. The Louvre invited Bourouissa to present a new video each week for an entire year on the museum's Instagram channel, documenting the garden across all four seasons. Over 52 weeks, the project reached millions of viewers before the videos were removed from Instagram and transformed into the standalone artwork.theartnewspaper+1

"Fifty-two weeks and 52 videos—we could follow the life of the garden for an entire year, across the four seasons," Grau explained. Bourouissa also composed original music for the piece, recording the vibrations of the garden's plants.artnews+1

Rising Art World Recognition

The Louvre acquisition comes during a banner year for the 47-year-old Franco-Algerian artist. In September, Bourouissa was awarded the prestigious Mario Merz Prize for his film "Généalogie de la Violence" (2024), which examines police brutality. The biennial award, which promotes emerging and innovative artists, will commission a solo exhibition at the Fondazione Merz in Turin, Italy in 2027.artsy

Bourouissa's work has gained international acclaim for focusing on marginalized communities and examining social dynamics of control and power. His practice spans photography, video, sculpture, and installations, with recent solo exhibitions at Fondazione MAST in Bologna and Palais de Tokyo in Paris.musee-lam+2

The video enters the Louvre collection through the "Histoire du Louvre" program, which focuses on contemporary or historic works that reflect the institution's history. As Grau noted, "Mohamed was the right artist; he is one of the greatest video artists of our time, has engaged with the logics of garden, as well as with the history of art that the Louvre embodies".theartnewspaper