Luxembourg opens spectacular Museum of Modern Art

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Luxembourg (dpa) - Luxembourg opened Saturday its spectacular new Museum of Modern Art, known as the Mudam for short, based on its French name, with a selection of European royals at the party.

Chinese-born U.S. modernist architect Ieoh Ming Pei, 89, who shot to prominence with the glass pyramid he created in the courtyard of Paris's Louvre art museum in 1989, designed the Mudam as an arrow-shaped building of glass and concrete.

Its location in a crowded section of the city that is already the home of European institutions dismayed some Luxembourgers keen to preserve the historic flavour of the city. The 88-million-euro (111-million-euro) price tag led to controversy in the grand duchy.

The Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean is named after Grand Duke Jean who abdicated in 2000 after 25 years as ruler.

Guests Saturday included King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Danish crown prince Frederik and Australian-born spouse Mary.

The museum's first show, Eldorado, contains works by 60 modern artists.

The Mudam permanent collection contains 230 works by 100 artists

The museum, promoted by former prime minister Jacques Santer, is one of a string of cultural projects meant to establish the prestige of Luxembourg, once best known for steel mills and as a tax haven.

Santer, 69, who later went on to become president of the European Commission for a spell, is a fervent admirer of Pei, and critics suggest that is why he arranged for the pricey U.S. design and why there was no architectural competition to come up with a possibly less costly plan.

"Pei's architecture itself is the principal work of art on this site," said French arts consultant Bernard Ceysson who devised the overall concept. The total floor space in the building is 8,400 square metres, one third of that exhibition space.