Louvre skimped on security to spend on art in years before heist, says auditor
A report found the museum spent nearly four times as much on expanding its collection as it did on maintaining and protecting it.
PARIS—France’s state auditor issued a searing assessment of the Louvre Museum’s finances on Thursday, alleging its management prioritized the acquisition of new artworks over the maintenance and security of its existing collection.
The auditor released its 153-page report after a team of thieves used low-tech methods to break into the museum last month and steal France’s crown jewels, drawing attention to the Louvre’s porous security.
The audit found that the museum spent 105 million euros—roughly $121 million at today’s rates—on art acquisitions between 2018 and 2024 while spending only 26.7 million on maintenance and security over that same period. During that time, the museum spent a mere €3 million, the audit said, on advancing an €83 million plan for security upgrades.
The Louvre purchased 2,754 artworks over the audit period, the auditor said, adding that only one in four of those works were put on display.
The wide-ranging report described the “paradox" of a museum flush with revenue from ticket sales and the licensing of its name while struggling to upgrade security systems that monitor a collection of priceless works such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
“The management of the world’s largest and most visited museum can only be judged fairly if the assessment is based on the long term," the Louvre said in a statement on Thursday.
Last month a four-man team of thieves exploited a blind spot in the Louvre’s surveillance system, parking a truck-mounted lift at the foot of the museum that they used to break into one of its upper galleries and make off with $102 million in jewels. The heist employed tools such as angle grinders to carve through an exterior window and display cases in an operation that spanned eight minutes.
The auditor’s findings are likely to deepen the embarrassment of President Emmanuel Macron’s administration, which is ultimately responsible for the Louvre. Laurence des Cars, the museum’s director, tendered her resignation to Macron’s culture minister after the heist, but it wasn’t accepted.
Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com and Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com
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