Metropolitan Museum of Art Visitation Surges

The New York times is reporting on increased visitor numbers to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The fiscal year for the Met ended on June 30, and visitors for the year totaled 5.7 million.  This is the highest level in 40 years and 400,000 more than what was recorded in 2010. The cause for the surge in numbers are attributed to several factors, including popular special exhibitions, an increase in tourism, and perhaps most importantly, one of the greatest art collections.

Additionally, the article reports the viewing of the Met's website increased by 17.5% to 47 million visits.

The increased visitation to the Met is a positive sign for our cultural economy.   It was only a short while ago that reports on museum visitation and interest in our cultural heritage was down, due to the economy and a connected decline in tourism.

This news coupled with the recent positive trends being seen in art sales is a real positive for our cultural heritage and for the art market.

The NY Times reports

But it is the popularity of “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” that has come as perhaps the biggest surprise. Since it opened in May, more than 500,000 people have seen the show, which chronicles the work of McQueen, who committed suicide last year at the age of 40. (It could not hurt that Sarah Burton, creative director of the Alexander McQueen label, designed Kate Middleton’s royal wedding dress.) The show, on view through Aug. 7, has been extended twice and the hours lengthened.

In addition to the increased number of people who have physically visited the Met, the museum said, traffic to its Web site, www.metmuseum.org, has increased 17.5 percent over the last year, to some 47 million visits.

“More and more people use the Internet to plan visits, but there are those who keep coming back to things like the timeline of art history,” said Mr. Campbell, who added that a redesigned Web site would appear in the fall.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE

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