![The room's post-conservation colouring is one of the key questions for the team, who are using precisely tinted mineral wax to polish the rosewood veneer while suggesting some of its original tone. Picture: Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SNTXACSIN4W6TDSENBUS6C6SDM.jpg?smart=true&auth=cb0081b2cf3b46a0252db1d1202680aafb9776864fc4ad798e38fb2cf32b55e2&width=400&height=225)
![The client: Harold Harmsworth, the first Viscount Rothmere, left, seen here with his brother, the Viscount Northcliffe, centre, founded the British newspaper the Daily Mail in 1896. Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS / Corbis via Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/A7DOA6AVGL3E6AKT4PHSOKWVPE.jpg?smart=true&auth=6a11145dbb4f76ff9b27db49b92b56e00b4d003be712848c906ba21525d77d01&width=400&height=225)
![Harmsworth commissioned Ruhlmann at the height of the decorator's fame, following the construction of Ruhlmann's House for a Collector at the 1925 Paris Exposition. Branger / Roger Viollet / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/P6Q3D3CDDGEZ2ODTUYO32273EE.jpg?smart=true&auth=b63ef90a538e9c3776674421d2a66b0f1573f7810d81884989c5c1eba1669cea&width=400&height=225)
![At some point in its history, the wood panelled interior was bleached, draining its Indian rosewood of its original colour. Conservator Jean Perfettini and Agence-France Museums curator Juliette Singer discuss the conservation works. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/EAI75ZIO6EME424XYCYL6SOAWE.jpg?smart=true&auth=afface3c638fa01a4839cbc9a1d021f6a539a89033b1ad00be743df079637e6e&width=400&height=225)
![Conservator Thierry Palanque holds one of the low-relief carvings by the sculptor Louis Rigal that adorn the panelled interior. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/X3SCHKFYLCWNPOJF7EA34VW75I.jpg?smart=true&auth=c4055e7846dceaed142fe9aa638c81345d696235063c6609700d66ed507f2674&width=400&height=225)
![Part of the interior's international conservation team, the restorer and cabinetmaker Romain Lauchet repairs one of the room's classically-inspired Art Deco columns. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/IIJZ4MS4L2OO3ZFDLKOUI4IJ7E.jpg?smart=true&auth=6826a4f87751ff47d12954ba08a2af2acc1d76abf058e55118f6abd85981fea2&width=400&height=225)
![Over the decades, the room's oak panelling and rosewood veneer has shrunk and cracked and now requires expert repair and conservation. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AJ3AK7JPBMRARE2FUDBCC3Z2SI.jpg?smart=true&auth=7d7df38ebba2ba239bdf19942a8aca24310abaaa678e6788d4c001a5158afe08&width=400&height=225)
![Designed for a British newspaper magnate in 1925, the interior of 154 avenue de Champs Elysees in Paris epitomises the work of the French designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann. It was acquired by the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2012. Courtesy @Feau&Cie](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HPJTBP6SG4UDOEFGM7A6LVARJY.jpg?smart=true&auth=5ac24eb8dd8db0ee08c36d8a8b7c0a68f6a6550cfcbeae423afbd7c894057942&width=400&height=225)
![The room's post-conservation colouring is one of the key questions for the team, who are using precisely tinted mineral wax to polish the rosewood veneer while suggesting some of its original tone. Picture: Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SNTXACSIN4W6TDSENBUS6C6SDM.jpg?smart=true&auth=cb0081b2cf3b46a0252db1d1202680aafb9776864fc4ad798e38fb2cf32b55e2&width=400&height=225)
![The client: Harold Harmsworth, the first Viscount Rothmere, left, seen here with his brother, the Viscount Northcliffe, centre, founded the British newspaper the Daily Mail in 1896. Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS / Corbis via Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/A7DOA6AVGL3E6AKT4PHSOKWVPE.jpg?smart=true&auth=6a11145dbb4f76ff9b27db49b92b56e00b4d003be712848c906ba21525d77d01&width=400&height=225)
![Harmsworth commissioned Ruhlmann at the height of the decorator's fame, following the construction of Ruhlmann's House for a Collector at the 1925 Paris Exposition. Branger / Roger Viollet / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/P6Q3D3CDDGEZ2ODTUYO32273EE.jpg?smart=true&auth=b63ef90a538e9c3776674421d2a66b0f1573f7810d81884989c5c1eba1669cea&width=400&height=225)
![At some point in its history, the wood panelled interior was bleached, draining its Indian rosewood of its original colour. Conservator Jean Perfettini and Agence-France Museums curator Juliette Singer discuss the conservation works. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/EAI75ZIO6EME424XYCYL6SOAWE.jpg?smart=true&auth=afface3c638fa01a4839cbc9a1d021f6a539a89033b1ad00be743df079637e6e&width=400&height=225)
![Conservator Thierry Palanque holds one of the low-relief carvings by the sculptor Louis Rigal that adorn the panelled interior. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/X3SCHKFYLCWNPOJF7EA34VW75I.jpg?smart=true&auth=c4055e7846dceaed142fe9aa638c81345d696235063c6609700d66ed507f2674&width=400&height=225)
![Part of the interior's international conservation team, the restorer and cabinetmaker Romain Lauchet repairs one of the room's classically-inspired Art Deco columns. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/IIJZ4MS4L2OO3ZFDLKOUI4IJ7E.jpg?smart=true&auth=6826a4f87751ff47d12954ba08a2af2acc1d76abf058e55118f6abd85981fea2&width=400&height=225)
![Over the decades, the room's oak panelling and rosewood veneer has shrunk and cracked and now requires expert repair and conservation. Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AJ3AK7JPBMRARE2FUDBCC3Z2SI.jpg?smart=true&auth=7d7df38ebba2ba239bdf19942a8aca24310abaaa678e6788d4c001a5158afe08&width=400&height=225)
![Designed for a British newspaper magnate in 1925, the interior of 154 avenue de Champs Elysees in Paris epitomises the work of the French designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann. It was acquired by the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2012. Courtesy @Feau&Cie](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HPJTBP6SG4UDOEFGM7A6LVARJY.jpg?smart=true&auth=5ac24eb8dd8db0ee08c36d8a8b7c0a68f6a6550cfcbeae423afbd7c894057942&width=400&height=225)
![The room's post-conservation colouring is one of the key questions for the team, who are using precisely tinted mineral wax to polish the rosewood veneer while suggesting some of its original tone. Picture: Christophe Morin for The National](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SNTXACSIN4W6TDSENBUS6C6SDM.jpg?smart=true&auth=cb0081b2cf3b46a0252db1d1202680aafb9776864fc4ad798e38fb2cf32b55e2&width=400&height=225)
Louvre Abu Dhabi: recapturing the magic of Ruhlmann's Paris
We meet the team charged with moving a seminal 1920s art deco room from France to its future home at the Louvre Abu Dhabi
Nick Leech
July 25, 2017
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- Listen In Arabic
July 25, 2017