United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi Louvre Previously unexhibited Picasso among 130 works on display

Abu Dhabi's new branch of the Louvre is offering a sneak peek at its collection ahead of its official opening in 2015. The Birth of a Museum exhibition will showcase 130 works from April 22 to July 20 as a taste of the permanent collection approaching. A key attraction will be a formerly unexhibited work by Picasso, his 1928 ink-and-collage 'Portrait of a Lady'.

Thought to have been dedicated to Natalia Paley, a member of the Russian royal family and well-known in Paris's cultural circles, the work has at no time been shown to the public and was cited only once, in John Richardson's 'A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932', published in 2007.

The works included in this prime part of the Abu Dhabi Louvre's permanent collection cover a period of over 5,000 years, with the explicit intention of curators to convey the eternal significance of art beyond the places and eras in which it is created. One of the oldest pieces is The Bactrian Princess, a delicate, detailed sculpture despite its hefty cubical structure of chlorate and calcite. The sculpture was made in the third millenium B.C. in a region in modern-day Afghanistan. The exhibition will have six sections with different themes that ''reflect the museum's DNA'', said curator Laurence Des Cars.

In addition to the spaces set aside for figurative art are galleries on ancient civilizations, the sacred, Oriental art and Western art, ranging from the Mongol Empire to Japanese zen paintings and the icons of modern European art, from Picasso to Manet and Gauguin. Culture in Dialogue is the name given to the last section, where the works are arranged so as to convey the idea of an artistic narrative outside of time and geography.

''The collection aims to highlight the echoes and resonances between different cultures and civilizations, and this was the guiding principle behind their arrangement,'' Des Cars said. The plan for a Louvre branch in Abu Dhabi, the only one of its sort in the world beyond France's borders, took off in 2007 with the idea of inaugurating the museum in 2013. Its planned opening was later shifted to 2014 and has presently been slated for 2015. Designed by Jean Nouvel, the Louvre is located on Saadiyat Island, and island transformed into a sophisticated cultural district. A branch of New York's Guggenheim museum is as well expected to open on the island in 2017, and the museum has by presently begun to hold events and exhibitions. The Zayed Museum will instead focus on the history and the artistic heritage of the United Arab Emirates.