Words Lindsey V. Thompson, Teen Vogue
The Louvre is now honoring a different kind of art, and it involves a musical video masterpiece created by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Following the international acclaim for the music video the Carters filmed in the renowned museum, the Parisian art hub is adding a 90-minute self-guided tour inspired by the art featured in the iconic couple’s “APESH*T” video.
Image: YouTube – APESH*T – The Carters
Thetour is currently only available in French, but don’t worry, the museum will be adding translations of several other languages soon. The tour itself covers 17 of the “key works” featured in the video. The fourth stop on the tour is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, but if you expect the viewing room to be as open and empty as it was for the Carters in the video, think again. Over 8 million people visit the Louvre each year, and considering the Mona Lisa is essentially the most famous painting in the world, it’s a safe bet to guess that most of them make a stop at da Vinci’s masterpiece. So if you do make it to the museum, be ready for a crowd and don’t expect to be able to reenact Jay and Bey flanking the painting with your bestie.
“Beyoncé and Jay-Z visited the Louvre four times in the last 10 years,” a spokesperson from the museum told artnet after the video dropped. During their last visit, in May 2018, they explained their idea of filming. The deadlines were very tight but the Louvre was quickly convinced because the synopsis showed a real attachment to the museum and its beloved artworks.” According to the museum, hundreds of productions are filmed in the Louvre each year, and can cost upwards of 15,000 euros, or $17,500.
Although renting out the largest, busiest museum in the world is pretty much the most epic thing a person could do, the Carter’s message in the video is about a lot more than showing off in front of some of the world’s most beloved artistic works. By positing themselves among the art, they’re communicating that they too are creators of fine art and are even works of fine art themselves. “It was important to my mother to surround us with positive, powerful, strong images of African and African-American art so that we could see ourselves in them,” Beyoncé told the New York Times in 2017.
Image: Instagram @Beyonce
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are currently on their On the Run II tour, performing “APESH*T” and other songs from their nine-track album, Everything Is Love, their biggest collaboration yet. The tour is currently traveling around Europe and will make its way stateside later this month.
Feature Image: Uriel Soberanes for Unsplash
