What Are the Best Visitor Sheets for Art Galleries
The recovery begins. Or and then we hope. While 2021 was not a walk in the park—as the pandemic spawned new variants while nations rolled out vaccination programmes to combat them—the museum sector began to welcome back growing numbers of visitors.
Overall, the number of people visiting museums grew, with the top 100 institutions in the earth having a combined total of 71 meg visitors compared with 54 million in 2020. This does not indicate a decline in the severity of the pandemic—there were more deaths globally in 2021 than in 2020—merely it does reflect the fact that museums were open for more than days as lockdown restrictions were lifted. Although there was a 31% rise in visitors year-on-year, overall numbers were notwithstanding 69% lower than in 2019, when the top 100 museums had 230 million visitors.
The summit 100 institutions in the world had a combined total of 71 million visitors compared with 54 million in 2020
The Musée du Louvre in Paris is the perennial topper of this listing, with an impressive ii.eight million visitors, a 5% increase on 2020 but nevertheless well beneath its pre-pandemic levels. In 2019 it was visited past 9.vi million people. (For more on how institutions have been faring in France, come across French museums survived a drastic autumn in tourism just may face up uphill struggle equally state support dries up).
In second place is the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg with virtually 2.three million visitors, upwardly past 88% on its 2020 figure and only 6% lower than its pre-pandemic level. The museum, which houses a vast collection of Russian art, was merely closed for 10 days due to Covid-nineteen restrictions compared to the 116 days the Louvre shut its doors. In pre-Covid times, the second spot on this list would often be occupied by the National Museum of China in Beijing but several of the land-run museums in China could not provide us with figures this year, choosing to release them later in the year.
Four Russian museums brand the top ten list cheers in large part to being closed for fewer days than the other museums in our pinnacle 20. One of the most successful museums in our survey was Moscow'southward Multimedia Art Museum, which fabricated a almost full recovery with ii,242,000 visitors last twelvemonth compared to 2,236,000 in 2019.
It is to be expected that the Western world's ostracisation of Russia, following Vladimir Putin'south invasion of Ukraine in February, will have some impact on visitor numbers this year and perhaps for some years to come. However, international tourism to Russia in 2021 remained well beneath pre-pandemic levels, and then the autumn may not exist as drastic as it could exist, merely we will accept to wait until next year's survey to assess the state of affairs.
Closures hit Europe difficult
Of the more than 370 museums that were able to provide usa with data, 300 recorded the number of days they had had to close due to Covid-19 restrictions. The total number of lost days from these institutions worldwide came in at more than 31,000—the equivalent of 86 years' worth of museum visits! Of the 300 museums that had to close at least one day due to restrictions in 2021, the average number of days closed was 106 compared with an average of 145 in 2020.
From an analysis of our comparable data (200 museum sample), we found that 72% of museums had more visitors in 2021 than in 2020, while 28% had fewer. Although the spread of museums faring worse in 2021 than 2020 was broad—with examples ranging from Austria and Australia to the US and the United Arab Emirates—the majority were in Europe, in countries like Deutschland, the Netherlands and the Great britain. The netherlands in detail was hit hard, with its museums being closed for, on average, 150 days in 2021, while in the UK it was 139 days and in Federal republic of germany, 138.
Subsequently lengthy delays, the Humboldt Forum in Berlin finally opened terminal July and saw visitor numbers pinnacle 515,000 for 2021, thanks in role to its inaugural ivory prove Photo: Stefanie Loos
New kids on the block
In theory, a global pandemic would not seem to be the ideal time to open a new museum. Only several organisations around the earth went for it and were able to concenter sizeable audiences. Berlin'south long-awaited Humboldt Forum stormed into our top 150 list after finally opening on 20 July, post-obit delays due to construction issues and then the pandemic. Although the museum was just open for one-half of 2021, information technology racked up a very impressive 515,000 visitors, who flocked to its cultural events and inaugural exhibition about ivory. In Paris, some other long-awaited museum, the Bourse de Commerce-Pinault Collection, flung open up its doors and welcomed near 509,000 visitors into its distinctive rotunda.
The Jean Nouvel-designed Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai, which is existence brash by Tate on some of its early shows and operations, opened in July and had 450,000 visitors. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the M+ museum finally opened in November later many years of delays and was visited by a remarkable 371,000 people.
Grayson and Philippa Perry'southward free Fine art Club exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery had more than 202,000 visitors and helped the Uk museum to rebuild its omnipresence Photo: Andrew Brooks
UK museums hold up
In the Great britain, the British Museum (BM) was the most visited fine art museum in the land, with 1.3 meg visitors, a 4% increase on 2020 thanks to it being open up more days, merely this was still well below the half-dozen.2 million visitors it enjoyed in 2019. Its most popular exhibition was on the Roman Emperor Nero merely a surprise hitting was a small display of recently discovered drawings by the Japanese artist Hokusai, famed for his Dandy Wave impress.
More than than half of museums effectually the Uk had higher company figures in 2021 than in 2020. These ranged from Glasgow's Hunterian Museum (up by 82%) and Gateshead'south Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (57%) in the north, to Tate St Ives (43%) and Modern Art Oxford (v%) in the due south. Even so, several institutions actually recorded lower visitor figures in 2021 than in 2020, almost notably the National Gallery. Of the major London museums, it suffered the biggest fall in attendance, despite existence airtight for the aforementioned number of days (136) equally other stalwarts like the BM and the two Tates. With 709,000 visitors terminal year, the National Gallery saw a drib of 41% compared with 2020 and 88% compared with 2019. A spokesperson for the gallery attributed the fall to a lack of major exhibitions throughout much of 2021, and the absenteeism of international visitors (although all big London museums had to contend with the latter).
One of the most popular United kingdom exhibitions concluding twelvemonth in total numbers, rather than visitors per day, was Grayson's Art Lodge at Manchester Fine art Gallery. The free exhibition brought together works from the British potter Grayson Perry'south Aqueduct 4 television programme, which documented and encouraged artists—amateurs and professionals—beyond the UK to make works during the national lockdown. More than than 202,000 people visited to run across works past artists such as Antony Gormley and Chantal Joffe equally well every bit celebrities including Noel Fielding and Joe Lycett.
An installation view of Automania at the Museum of Mod Art in New York, featuring a red 1946 Cisitalia 202 and green Volkswagen Beetle © 2021 MoMA. Photograph: Robert Gerhardt
Audiences driven to US museums
The top three most visited art museums in the US make for unsurprising reading, with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Fine art (almost 1.96 million visitors to its Fifth Artery site) followed by the National Gallery of Fine art in Washington, DC (ane.7 million) and the Museum of Mod Art in New York (1.16 one thousand thousand). The three museums have comfortably topped the list of most popular Us fine art museums at least every bit far back as 2007 (when our records for these specific figures begin). All iii showed significant uplifts in attendance compared with 2020, with 84%, 133% and 64% more than visitors respectively. But all remain well below 2019 levels, with 68%, 58% and 42% fewer visitors.
The four big New York museums—the Met 5th Avenue, MoMA, Whitney Museum of American Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim—jointly welcomed three.9 million visitors, near doubling the previous twelvemonth's effigy of ii.2 meg equally the museums were able to open for more days compared with 2020. Only the full is still well below the almost 11 one thousand thousand who visited all four in 2019. In absolute numbers, MoMA had the most popular show of the four big New York museums, with Automania, an exhibition near cars that collection more than 475,000 people to the museum. Visitors taking a spin effectually the show were able to enjoy archetype cars such as the Jaguar E-Type Roadster and the Volkswagen Beetle, every bit well every bit works of art inspired past vehicles including Andy Warhol's Orange Auto Crash Fourteen Times (1963) and Judy Chicago's Flying Hood (1965/2011).
Meanwhile in California, museums that had undergone one of the longest US lockdowns in 2020—with near closed for well over 200 days—were able to welcome back visitors with gusto. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art was the nigh popular art museum in the state, with well-nigh 621,000 visitors. Having to only close for 77 days compared with 249 in 2020, meant that information technology saw a 197% ascent in visitors—but this was still down 36% on its 2019 figures. The state's second most popular art museum was the Getty Middle with 508,000 visitors, a 90% increase on 2020, followed by San Francisco'due south M. H. de Immature Museum with 394,000 visitors (upward by 69%), no dubiousness helped past its most pop prove, which brought together the treasured possessions of Frida Kahlo. (For more on the recovery of American museums, come across Bouncing back: the United states of america museums that accept regained the visitors lost to Covid closures).
Melbourne bounces dorsum
In Brazil, three of the iv Centro Cultural Banco practice Brasil outposts in São Paulo, Rio do Janeiro and Belo Horizonte—which in the past accept successfully attracted thousands of visitors a day to blockbuster shows on the likes of Salvador Dalí and Yayoi Kusama—saw their numbers driblet by more than xc% compared with pre-pandemic figures.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the southern hemisphere, the NGV International in Melbourne was the most popular museum in Commonwealth of australia, welcoming almost 802,000 visitors despite being based in the city that enforced the world'due south longest lockdown. Visitors were up by 26% compared with 2020, only withal downward 67% on 2019. Across the Tasman Sea, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa had 809,000 visitors, a iii% decrease on 2020 despite being open for more than days (a spokesperson put this down partly to four months of daily visitor restrictions). The Australasian region has recently seen a huge spike in its coronavirus cases this year afterward having largely independent the spread for 2 years. But with plans to reopen borders, company figures are very likely set to go upwards.
Equally many countries attempt a transition into a "post-Covid" world, lifting restrictions in the hope that the disease that has plagued usa for more than two years recedes, it will be interesting to meet if next yr'due south survey points to renewed enthusiasm for museum-going or whether new habits take been formed. Until and then, keep condom and deport on visiting those museums.
• Research conducted past Justin Kamp and Alva Muris
• Museums in the Top 100 list marked with an asterisk (*) signal institutions with more than ane building. We have separated the venues to give a more accurate reflection of footfall. The institutions' additional venues and combined totals are: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue (Met Cloisters: 153,400; full for the Met: two,111,400); NGV International (Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia: 149,214; total for National Gallery of Victoria: 950,913); Getty Center (Getty Villa: 259,256; total for both: 767,705); Gallery of Modern Fine art and Queensland Fine art Gallery (total for both: 840,553); M.H. de Young Museum (Legion of Honor: 170,078; total for Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: 564,480); Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) shares a building with the National Portrait Gallery and therefore both take the same visitor numbers (Renwick Gallery: 90,808; full SAAM and Renwick: 420,491); Upper Belvedere (Lower Belvedere closed in 2021; Belvedere 21: 39,101; total for Galerie Belvedere: 367,519).
Source: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/03/28/visitor-figures-2021-top-100-most-popular-art-museums-in-the-world