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NewsCoronavirusLiveArt marketMuseums & heritageBook ClubPodcastsDiaryVan Gogh blogThe Year Ahead 2021
NewsCoronavirusLiveArt marketMuseums & heritageBook ClubPodcastsDiaryVan Gogh blogThe Year Ahead 2021
NewsCoronavirusLiveArt marketMuseums & heritageBook ClubPodcastsDiaryVan Gogh blogThe Year Ahead 2021
NewsCoronavirusLiveArt marketMuseums & heritageBook ClubPodcastsDiaryVan Gogh blogThe Year Ahead 2021

Art's Most Popular

The Musée du Louvre—the world’s most popular art museum—saw 72% drop in visitors last year

News
Musée du Louvre

The Musée du Louvre—the world’s most popular art museum—saw 72% drop in visitors last year

Despite kicking off 2020 with a record-breaking Leonardo exhibition, like many museums around the world, the Parisian institution was adversely affected by coronavirus lockdowns

José da Silva

The exceptional piece of calligraphy at the centre of one of 2019's most popular—and most controversial—exhibitions

News
Art's Most Popular 2020

The exceptional piece of calligraphy at the centre of one of 2019's most popular—and most controversial—exhibitions

Tokyo National Museum’s show on Chinese artist Yan Zhenqing ranks 15th in our latest visitor attendance survey despite contentious loan from Taipei museum

Emily Sharpe

Manga beats Rembrandt and Captain Cook to be named the British Museum’s most popular show last year

News
Art's Most Popular 2020

Manga beats Rembrandt and Captain Cook to be named the British Museum’s most popular show last year

The exhibition on the global phenomenon was the largest ever to be staged outside Japan

Emily Sharpe

Art's Most Popular: here are 2019's most visited shows and museums

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Art's Most Popular: here are 2019's most visited shows and museums

Ai Weiwei was a hit in Brazil, records were broken in London and Paris—but is this the final year of museum visitor growth?

Emily Sharpe and José da Silva. Research compiled by Valentina Bin, Erin Irwin and Vanessa Thill

When did just looking at art lose its appeal?

Feature
Art's Most Popular 2020

When did just looking at art lose its appeal?

Sleep in Hopper’s motel room or dive into Monet’s pond—museums are increasingly going beyond traditional exhibition formats to attract visitors

Dale Berning Sawa

Mo people, mo problems: when busy shows go wrong

Feature
Art's Most Popular 2020

Mo people, mo problems: when busy shows go wrong

The cost of producing crowd-pulling shows can outstrip the cash they bring in. Here are some of the downsides of being just too popular

Emily Sharpe

Which museums have the biggest social media followings?

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Which museums have the biggest social media followings?

Increasingly, the digital sphere is a new frontier for institutions to battle it out for the attention of culture-seekers

Aimee Dawson

Legoland vs the Louvre: how do museums stack up against other popular visitor attractions and public events?

Feature
Art's Most Popular 2020

Legoland vs the Louvre: how do museums stack up against other popular visitor attractions and public events?

They might not always draw the crowds that flock to malls and amusement parks, but museums are seen as valuable additions to communities—even by people who have never stepped foot in one

Helen Stoilas

What were the most visited ticketed shows in London, Paris and New York last year?

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

What were the most visited ticketed shows in London, Paris and New York last year?

Londoners stuck to the tried-and-tested and New Yorkers showed their patriotic sides, while Parisians were drawn in by golden treasures

José da Silva

Here are 2019's most visited contemporary art exhibitions

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Here are 2019's most visited contemporary art exhibitions

Jean-Michel Basquiat brought in big crowds in Paris—but who beat him to claim the top spot?

Ben Luke

Here are the most visited Old Master exhibitions of 2019

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Here are the most visited Old Master exhibitions of 2019

The hype surrounding major anniversary celebrations saw big turnouts for Bruegel, Leonardo and Rembrandt

Donald Lee

Here are the ten most visited photography exhibitions of 2019

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Here are the ten most visited photography exhibitions of 2019

Female artists dominated the top ranks of last year's photography shows

Ben Luke

Here are the ten most popular Post-Impressionist and Modern art exhibitions of 2019

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Here are the ten most popular Post-Impressionist and Modern art exhibitions of 2019

Big names such as Munch, Klimt and Van Gogh dominate the rankings, but a couple of lesser-known artists did surprisingly well

Ben Luke

Here are the ten most visited 19th century art exhibitions of 2019

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2020

Here are the ten most visited 19th century art exhibitions of 2019

Which Impressionist made the biggest impression in this category?

Donald Lee

As coronavirus shuts down the capital, our survey shows 2019 was the busiest year for London museums this century

News
Art's Most Popular 2020

As coronavirus shuts down the capital, our survey shows 2019 was the busiest year for London museums this century

Last year also saw record attendances at both Tate Modern and Tate Britain

José da Silva

British Museum knocks Tate Modern off top spot as UK's most popular attraction after miscalculation

News
Museums & Heritage

British Museum knocks Tate Modern off top spot as UK's most popular attraction after miscalculation

Over 300,000 visitors had been missed in the financial year 2018/19 because of 'incorrect light levels caused by a broken light fitting'

Martin Bailey

Do Ho Suh has 2018's most popular contemporary art show, with 1.1 million visitors

News
Contemporary art

Do Ho Suh has 2018's most popular contemporary art show, with 1.1 million visitors

Free exhibition of his installations at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC tops our Art's Most Popular survey

Hannah McGivern

Everything you need to know about 2018's exhibition and museum visitor figures

News
Art's Most Popular 2019

Everything you need to know about 2018's exhibition and museum visitor figures

The Art Newspaper's exclusive annual survey ranks the world's most visited shows in 2018, looks at the rise of Instagram-friendly exhibitions, and reveals the secrets of getting into a blockbuster

The Art Newspaper

Ranked: the top ten most popular shows in their categories from around the world

Feature
Art's Most Popular 2019

Ranked: the top ten most popular shows in their categories from around the world

Including Old Masters, Contemporary, Post-Impressionist and Modern, and more

Ben Luke, Donald Lee and José da Silva

How global art can provide a kick-start to local economies

Feature
Art's Most Popular 2019

How global art can provide a kick-start to local economies

Special exhibitions mean big money—not only for the museums that hold them but for local businesses as well

Helen Stoilas and Judith H. Dobrzynski

Suffering from the blockbuster blues? Here are some top tips for beating the exhibition queues

Blog
Art's Most Popular 2019

Suffering from the blockbuster blues? Here are some top tips for beating the exhibition queues

We asked museums for advice and The Art Newspaper team for their best hacks

José da Silva

Exhibitions are a numbers game, whether we like it or not

Comment
Art's Most Popular 2019

Exhibitions are a numbers game, whether we like it or not

Today's directors are focused on figures—and not always for the right reasons

Brian Allen

A dash of fashion and a pinch of gratis: the perfect recipe for a sell-out show

Blog
Art's Most Popular 2019

A dash of fashion and a pinch of gratis: the perfect recipe for a sell-out show

From creating “experiences” to being fashion-friendly, museums are getting savvy at driving visitors to their exhibitions. Here are some tricks of the trade

Emily Sharpe

Museum visits drop in Taipei as relations sour with China

News
Art's Most Popular 2019

Museum visits drop in Taipei as relations sour with China

Taiwanese museum has seen a significant decline in visitors since 2015, our Art's Most Popular research shows

José da Silva

Heavenly figures: how two Met shows topped The Art Newspaper’s attendance survey

News
Art's Most Popular 2019

Heavenly figures: how two Met shows topped The Art Newspaper’s attendance survey

The New York museum's Heavenly Bodies exhibition came first even though curator “never set out to create a hit”

Helen Stoilas and Nancy Kenney

When it comes to museum attendance, it’s more than just a numbers game

Comment
Leaders

When it comes to museum attendance, it’s more than just a numbers game

London's National Portrait Gallery director on the way cultural institutions engage audiences and measure success

Nicholas Cullinan

Art's Most Popular: here are 2018's most visited shows and museums

Analysis
Art's Most Popular 2019

Art's Most Popular: here are 2018's most visited shows and museums

Fashion continues upward trend in the US, shooting to the top of The Art Newspaper's chart, while the British Museum slips from the top spot in the UK

Emily Sharpe and José da Silva. Research compiled by Valentina Bin, Anna Musini and Vanessa Thill

Art's Most Popular: exhibition and museum visitor figures 2017

News
Art's Most Popular

Art's Most Popular: exhibition and museum visitor figures 2017

The Art Newspaper's exclusive annual survey ranks the world's most visited shows, reveals the most cultured city in the US, and explains the secrets behind naming a blockbuster

The Art Newspaper

The world's most popular exhibition? Ancient sculptures in Tokyo versus Modern masters in Paris

Analysis
Art's Most Popular

The world's most popular exhibition? Ancient sculptures in Tokyo versus Modern masters in Paris

Plus record crowds in US, UK and Australia

Emily Sharpe and José da Silva; research by Sarah Vitale, Dafne Berdini and Anna Musini

Ranked: the top ten most popular shows in their categories from around the world

Feature
Art's Most Popular

Ranked: the top ten most popular shows in their categories from around the world

Including Old Masters, Asian, Post-Impressionist and Modern

The Art Newspaper

How museums can double their visitor numbers—featuring DJs at the Musée Guimet in Paris

Feature
Art's Most Popular

How museums can double their visitor numbers—featuring DJs at the Musée Guimet in Paris

Think differently and "belong to the public"

Georgina Adam

What is the most cultured city in the US?

Feature
Art's Most Popular

What is the most cultured city in the US?

Think Grand Rapids, Bentonville or Houston—but not New York

Helen Stoilas and Victoria Stapley-Brown

The price of gallery-going in London—and how it compares with Paris and New York

News
Art's Most Popular

The price of gallery-going in London—and how it compares with Paris and New York

Blockbuster shows don't come cheap

José da Silva

Why choosing a name for an exhibition is anything but straightforward

Feature
Art's Most Popular

Why choosing a name for an exhibition is anything but straightforward

Active or passive? With or without a colon?

James H. Miller

Infographic: how exhibition titles compare, then and now

Analysis
Art's Most Popular

Infographic: how exhibition titles compare, then and now

Can you spot the difference?

The Art Newspaper

Art's Most Popular: Single work by Leonardo attracts over 10,000 Japanese viewers a day

Archive
Leonardo da Vinci

Art's Most Popular: Single work by Leonardo attracts over 10,000 Japanese viewers a day

For the fourth year the Tokyo National Museum has the highest exhibition attendance, but is only 17th in our list of the most visited museums last year

Jane Morris Helen Stoilas Emily Sharpe

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