Louvre to evacuate artworks as waters rise in Paris
Source: AFP
Paris (AFP) - The Louvre museum in Paris said it would close on Friday to evacuate artworks held in its underground reserves as the swollen River Seine burst its banks in places.
"The aim is to move works situated in areas vulnerable to flooding to safety by moving them to higher floors," the world's most-visited museum said in a statement.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/louvre-evacuate-artworks-waters-rise-paris-152543765.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
- "THE RISING TIDE" by Brit. sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor; 4 ghostly statues only visible twice a day at low tide.
"Underwater Sculptures Emerge from Thames in Climate Change Protest: Jason deCaires Taylor’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Close to Houses of Parliament, Are Political Comment on Impact of Fossil Fuels", Guardian, Sept. 2, 2015.
At high tide, you might barely know they’re there. But as the water level of the Thames comes and goes twice a day with the tide, the four ghostly heads – and the horses they sit atop – slowly emerge fully into view.
The sculpture, entitled The Rising Tide, has been installed near the bankside of Vauxhall bridge and is the work of Jason deCaires Taylor, 41, a British artist best known for creating the world’s first underwater museum in Cancun, then again in the Bahamas.
For the past decade, Taylor’s work has been motivated by conservation and redressing climate change, with his underwater museums solely designed to draw divers away from the most fragile and delicate parts of coral reefs. His newest work in the Thames, he says, is no different in its political purpose. “Working in conservation, I am very concerned with all the associated effects of climate change and the state of peril our seas are in at the moment,” said Taylor. “So here I wanted a piece that was going to be revealed with the tide and worked with the natural environment of the Thames, but also alluded to the industrial nature of the city and it’s obsessive and damaging focus just on work and construction.”
The installation, which sits less than a mile from the Houses of Parliament, comprises four life-size shire horses, standing as a symbol of the origins of industrialisation but also as a warning for the bleak future it is creating for the world by their representation of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. While the bodies of the figures and horses are moulded from real life, each of the horses’ heads has been replaced by the “horse head” of an oilwell pump – a political comment on the impact of fossil fuels on our planet.
For Taylor, the position of the sculpture is particularly opportune. “I quite like the idea that the piece sits in the eye line of the place where many politicians and so many people who are involved in climate change all work and make these damaging deals and policies, yet who are in this state of mad denial,” he said. The middle-aged suited figures that sit on top of two of the horses, looking defiantly into the distance, are also a direct reference to the politicians and businessman who Taylor believes are allowing climate change to continue under their watch. Taylor added: “The suited figures are ambivalent to their situation – I wanted to create this striking image of a politician in front of the Houses of Parliament, ignoring the world as the water rises around him. And they are sitting on horses that are grazing, taking as much as they can from the ground.” Continued.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/02/underwater-sculptures-thames-london
Breaks my heart. 
(Via @lawrencejrneil )
I have been looking at some of the pics on Twitter -- it's heartbreaking. They are also removing works from the Musee D'Orsay.
Were there a month and a half ago.
the shape of the lamp post on the left and the depth of the water. It might be from the historic Jan. 1910 Paris flood. Found some amazing vintage photos at the website, irishprintgallery:
This is a selection of the Great Flood of Paris in January 1910.
•In late January 1910, following months of high rainfall, the Seine River flooded Paris when water pushed upwards from overflowing sewers and subway tunnels, and seeped into basements through fully saturated soil.
•The waters did not overflow the river’s banks within the city, but flooded Paris through tunnels, sewers, and drains.
•Some of the embankments and bridges were inundated with flood waters but these were quickly patched up by the emergency crews.
•In neighbouring towns both east and west of the capital, the river rose above its banks and flooded the surrounding terrain directly.
Winter floods were a normal occurrence in Paris but, on 21 January, the river began to rise more rapidly than normal. Over the course of the following week, thousands of Parisians evacuated their homes as water infiltrated buildings and streets throughout the city shutting down much of Paris’ basic infrastructure.
•Police, fire-fighters, and soldiers moved through waterlogged streets in boats to rescue stranded residents from upper-storey windows and to distribute aid.
•Refugees gathered in makeshift shelters in churches, schools, and government buildings.
Although the water threatened to overflow the tops of the quay walls that line the river, workmen were able to keep the Seine back with hastily built levees.
•Once water invaded the Gare d’Orsay rail terminal, its tracks soon sat under more than a metre of water.
•To continue moving throughout the city, residents traveled by boat or across a series of wooden walkways built by government engineers and by Parisians themselves.
•On 28 January the water reached its maximum height at 8.62 metres (28.28 feet), some 6 m above its normal level.
The picture postcards speak for themselves but the messages on the back (also illustrated) often give additional details about the social and economic disruption. Many people collect vintage postcards from Paris but the following cards show Paris in a very different way to how we usually remember a trip to Paris. This is just a small selection – there are many hundreds of different cards available to collectors.~ More photos at the link.
*More Photos, https://irishprintgallery.wordpress.com/
