Visitor Figures

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

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

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

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”

Leaderscomment

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

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

Louvre Abu Dhabi tops one million visitors in its first year

Leonardo da Vinci’s La Belle Ferronière will remain on loan to the museum for another year

There is more to exhibitions than number-crunching

Our public institutions must hold their nerve and dare to offer audiences varied experiences, even at the expense of popular appeal

London's National Portrait Gallery’s contemporary art programme resonates more with the art world than the public

Though not as dire as first thought, visitor figures for the museum's contemporary shows have still been poor

London's National Portrait Gallery's steep decline in visitors due to counting error

“Human error” by Ipsos Retail Performance blamed for museum’s disastrous recent visitor numbers

Is the UK museum boom over?

Analysis of government data and The Art Newspaper's own figures reveals a steady decline in visitors since 2014

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

What is the most cultured city in the US?

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

How abolishing museum image fees could boost audiences

New research shows that image licensing is barely profitable for some UK museums

Tatearchive

Longer shows pay off for Tate as Matisse brings in the numbers

The Cut-Outs retrospective was seen by 563,000 visitors

Tatearchive

Tate Modern loses top museum slot by a hair

The gallery was beaten to the post by the British Museum

A not so golden Olympics- tourist numbers drop

London’s leading museums lose more than a million visitors during the Games, but Hirst helps Tate Modern buck the trend

Charles Saatchi, the comeback king: New Chelsea gallery a definitive success

Attendance figures for the the Saatchi Gallery exceed their 1 million visitor goal

Zoffany at Tate cancelled

The 2010 exhibition may instead be shown at the Royal Academy

Tatearchive

Tate aims to increase ethnic minority visitors

In the current funding agreement with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the gallery’s “Diversity strategy” is described as a “key priority”

Royal Academy and Tate exhibitions heading for top attendance

“Turks: A journey of a thousand years 600-1600” and “Turner, Whistler, Monet” have been wildly successful