The First Museum Partnership by an Automotive Brand

The Louvre Museum, one of Europe's historic art institutions and the world's third-largest museum, welcomes approximately 8.5 million visitors annually. Its collection boasts some 380,000 works, with 36,000 pieces on display, ranging from ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artifacts to Italian Renaissance and Dutch paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, and French paintings from the 15th to 19th centuries.

The long-term official partnership agreement, spanning three years until 2013, was established with the Louvre by Maybach, the flagship brand of Germany's Daimler. The Maybach company was founded by Wilhelm Maybach, who, alongside Gottlieb Daimler, conducted engine research as a chief engineer at Daimler, and his son Karl. Although the company was later absorbed by Daimler, the image of high-performance engines and ultra-luxury cars held special significance for Daimler, leading to the brand's revival in 2002 under its ultra-luxury name. Maybach vehicles can be considered among the world's finest ultra-luxury cars, on par with Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Transcending the realm of mere automobiles, Maybach vehicles, from their engines to their interiors, can be considered works of art and craftsmanship, making a partnership with a museum a natural fit. Indeed, over the past five years, Maybach has supported numerous artists, including photographer David LaChapelle and designer Tim Blesheim. The brand has also collaborated on projects with Julian Schnabel, a painter, sculptor, and film director. Furthermore, the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation maintains deep ties with the arts through collaborations with artistic institutions and support for the St. Moritz Art Masters. In January of this year, Maybach became the first automotive brand in the world to forge a partnership with the Louvre, arguably the world's foremost museum.

Tony Cragg's new work "Versus"

Exhibition of Works by Tony Cragg, a Master of New Sculpture

Maybach's initiative at the Louvre Museum involves the exhibition of works by world-renowned contemporary artists. The exhibition space is located directly beneath the glass pyramid, constructed in 1989 to the design of I.M. Pei. Remarkably, this marks the first time works will be exhibited in this particular space.

The inaugural artist to be featured in this space, which will host numerous contemporary artists in the future, is Tony Cragg. Born in Liverpool, England, in 1949, Cragg graduated from the Royal College of Art and emerged as a leading figure of the New Sculpture movement in the late 1970s. He has been based in Wuppertal, Germany, since 1977. He received the Turner Prize at Tate Britain in 1988 and opened a sculpture park in Wuppertal in 2009.

In conjunction with Maybach's role as an official partner of the Louvre, Cragg has unveiled his new work, "Versus." Eight monumental sculptures were specially created for this occasion, intended for exhibition in the Cour Marly and the Cour Puget.

The first exhibition under Maybach's partnership, featuring Tony Cragg's new sculpture "Versus," is scheduled to be on display until October 2011.