THE ART NEWSPAPER, No. 167, MARCH 2006 11 Exhibition attendance figures 2005 This is the extended list made available to download online as a service to The Art Newspaper’s readers. These pages are not as they appear in the printed edition. Hokusai show gets over 9,000 visitors a day Shows in Japan top our survey again this year with the largest daily averages recorded in the last 10 years TOKYO/LONDON. Exhibitions in attendance than their counter- Tokyo have topped our survey parts in the West. Blockbusters of annual attendance figures inevitably sell out in other for the second year running. museum spaces with reduced In 2004, three shows in the floor space and smaller capac- Japanese capital made it into ity figures, placing them lower the top 10 most visited shows. down our survey. In 2005, “Hokusai” at the However, although the Tokyo National Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art attracted a staggering 9,436 vis- declined to disclose a capacity itors a day making it not just the visitor figure for its Vincent year’s highest attended show Van Gogh show, the top US but also the most visited since exhibition in the list (and we started publishing annual number four overall), the attendance figures in 1996. institution still managed to “National treasures of the accommodate 6,571 daily vis- Toshodaiji Temple” at the itors in a space a third of the same museum came second size (929 square metres) of the with 8,678 visitors a day Tokyo National Museum. while “Van Gogh in context” MoMA also made the top at the National Museum of 30 in our survey by pushing Modern Art came 10th with through 3,449 daily visitors 5,890 visitors a day. Shows in for its show of new acquisi- Kyoto, Yokohama and Kobe tions into an small exhibition also attracted huge numbers. area of 409 square metres. A The Japanese phenomenon spokesperson for the New is the result of a number of York museum said that a factors. In 2001 all state-run “capacity visitor figure did museums were semi-priva- not apply” to the museum. tised; national museums are This MoMA exhibition is now responsible for generat- only four places lower than ing profits from tickets and Tate Britain’s show on Turner merchandising, so institutions Whistler and Monet (no.19), are spending considerable the highest ranked UK show. sums on marketing and the Tate only allowed 500 visitors curatorial emphasis has shifted at any one time into an area Daily Total Exhibition Venue City Dates to crowd-pleasing artists such more than twice the size of Record attendance: Hokusai as Hokusai and Van Gogh. MoMA’s (934 square metres). at the Tokyo National 9,436 332,939 Hokusai Tokyo National Museum Tokyo 25/10/05-4/12/05 The upshot appears to be a The same show at the Grand Museum tops our survey 8,678 402,921 National Treasures of the Toshodaiji Temple Tokyo National Museum Tokyo 12/1/05-6/3/05 drive to accommodate as many Palais attracted 119,332 more this year. Above, The Great 7,066 621,814 19th-century Masterpieces from the Louvre Yokohama Museum of Art Yokohama 9/4/05-18/7/05 visitors as possible. But what people, but it was open for a Wave off Kanagawa from 6,571 459,972 Vincent van Gogh: the drawings Metropolitan Museum of ArtCONTINUED New York ON 18/10/05-31/12/05 PAGES 12-18 sort of experience does the vis- slightly longer period of time “Thirty-six views of Mount 6,387 433,397 Cézanne and Pissarro 1865-85 Museum of Modern Art New York 26/6/05-12/9/05 itor have with so many people The Paris museum declined to Fuji”, 1823-29 6,043 501,601 Turner Whistler Monet Grand Palais Paris 13/10/04-17/1/05 admitted at any one time? The reveal its maximum capacity 5,992 425,404 19th-century Masterpieces from the Louvre Kyoto City Museum Kyoto 30/7/05-16/10/05 Tokyo National Museum’s and floor space size. another attraction. This 5,991 293,551 Thomas Demand Museum of Modern Art New York 4/4/05-30/5/05 most popular exhibitions took So is today’s international includes the Mori Art 5,934 937,613 Tutankhamun and the pharaohs LACMA Los Angeles 16/6/05-20/11/05 place in the 2,900 square- exhibition-goer put off by Museum, which issues com- 5,890 518,307 Van Gogh in context National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo 23/2/05-22/5/05 metre Heisei wing, with a these bone-crushing experi- bined tickets for exhibitions 5,692 337,475 Masterpieces from Museum Island, Berlin Tokyo National Museum Tokyo 5/4/05-12/6/05 capacity of around 2,000 peo- ences? Our survey reveals that and the observation platform at 5,644 866,812 Tutankhamun, the golden beyond Kunst der Bundesrepublik Bonn 4/11/04-1/5/05 ple at any one time—a figure 234 shows attracted more than the top of the skyscraper. The 5,519 463,603 Chanel Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 5/5/05-7/8/05 Japanese commentators say is 1,000 visitors a day, a 3% drop Colosseum also issues com- 5,238 386,841 Friedlander Museum of Modern Art New York 5/6/05-29/8/05 only achieved by cramming on 2004, but the causes of this bined tickets for shows and 4,985 346,847 Works from the UBS Art Collection Museum of Modern Art New York 4/2/05-25/4/05 the visitors in together. This are impossible to determine. entrance to the site (see p.18). 4,386 305,131 Groundswell: contemporary landscape Museum of Modern Art New York 25/2/05-16/5/05 inevitably leads to “bottle- Over 600 international insti- Only shows that ended in 4,311 362,152 Matisse: his art and his textiles Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 23/6/05-25/9/05 necks” at certain popular van- tutions were contacted for this 2005 are included. Exhibitions 4,144 370,011 Salvador Dalí Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia 16/2/05-30/5/05 tage points in exhibitions. survey. A number of institu- which closed in January will 4,024 382,269 Turner Whistler Monet Tate Britain London 10/2/05-15/5/05 Certainly, the vast capacity tions have been excluded be ranked in next year’s list. 3,969 286,330 Dresden: mirror of the world National Museum of Western Art Tokyo 28/6/05-19/9/05 of Japanese venues enables because tickets to their shows KayJ For Itoicommentarand yJane, see p.30 Morris 3,722 73,914 The dancing satyr Tokyo National Museum Tokyo 19/2/05-13/3/05 them to achieve much higher also included entrance to 3,575 607,699 The Aztec empire Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 19/3/05-19/8/05 All figures were calculated automatically by Methodology used was supplied by the institutions con- 3,449 266,526 New work and new acquisitions Museum of Modern Art New York 29/6/05-26/9/05 our database which computes the number cerned. Many institutions have one ticket for 3,396 699,483 Pharaoh Institut du Monde Arabe Paris 15/10/04-12/6/05 of days an exhibition was open using the the entire museum and cannot provide indi- 3,358 272,000 Turks, 600-1600 AD Royal Academy of Arts London 22/1/05-12/4/05 following formula: total number of days duces an imperfect number (a division of vidual attendance for temporary exhibitions. 3,278 721,074 Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 8/3/05-6/11/05 between start date and end date, divided by seven) all figures are out by a potential Some institutions offer a number of 3,201 214,500 Dresden: mirror of the world Hyogo Prefectural Museum Kobe 6/3/05-22/5/05 seven, multiplied by the number of days per margin of 2%. However, as the same margin exhibitions for a single ticket: these are 3,165 231,040 Baseball as America Museum of Fine Arts Houston 22/5/05-14/8/05 week the institution is open, minus excep- applies uniformly to all averages given, the shown as one entry. A number of institutions 3,150 440,564 Monet, the Seine and water lilies Museo di Santa Giulia Brescia 23/10/04-3/4/05 tional closures. As this formula always pro- list represents a fair comparison. All data did not provide us with data. 3,079 267,859 Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre Art Institute of Chicago Chicago 16/7/05-10/10/05 12 THE ART NEWSPAPER, No. 167, MARCH 2006 ExhibitionDaily Total Exhibition attendance Venue City Dates figuresDaily Total Exhibition 2005 Venue City Dates 3,040 315294 The Aztec empire Guggenheim Museum New York 15/10/04-13/2/05 1,568 86,235 Raphael’s La Fornarina Museum of Fine Arts Houston 13/2/05-17/4/05 3,030 221,918 Diane Arbus revelations Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 8/3/05-30/5/05 1,550 134,865 Maurizio Cannavacciuolo BALTIC Gateshead 4/6/05-29/8/05 3,014 160,583 Robert Mapplethorpe; and Oteiza Guggenheim Museum New York 28/6/05-28/8/05 1,545 308,619 Jeremy Blake: Winchester Museum of Modern Art San Francisco 19/2/05-10/10/05 3,013 256,073 Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre National Gallery of Art Washington 20/3/05-12/6/05 1,520 130,519 John Szarkowski: photographs Museum of Modern Art San Francisco 5/2/05-15/5/05 3,002 369,249 Frida Kahlo Tate Modern London 6/6/05-9/10/05 1,519 103,044 Spain in the age of exploration 1492-1819 Seattle Art Museum Seattle 16/10/04-2/1/05 2,973 300,294 Neo Impressionism from Seurat to Paul Klee Musée d’Orsay Paris 15/3/05-10/7/05 1,519 148,623 Robert Bechtle: a retrospective Museum of Modern Art San Francisco12/2/05-5/6/05 2,964 211,313 Rembrandt’s late religious portraits The Getty Museum Los Angeles 7/6/05-28/8/05 1,515 148,209 2004 SECA Art Award Museum of Modern Art San Francisco22/1/05-15/5/05 2,943 183,757 Basquiat Brooklyn Museum New York 11/3/05-5/6/05 1,514 106,000 Summer exhibition 2005 Royal Academy of Arts London 7/6/05-15/8/05 2,902 266,986 Rembrandt’s late religious portraits National Gallery of Art Washington 30/1/05-1/5/05 1,500 15,000 The show, part I: fine and applied arts Royal College of Art London 27/5/05-5/6/05 2,846 253,323 China: dawn of a golden age