Whichever way you crunch the numbers, attendance for the High Museum of Art’s just-concluded three-year series of exhibits from the Musée du Louvre in Paris was substantial.
More than 1.3 million visitors viewed the seven exhibitions that brought a total of 493 treasures from the Louvre’s collection to Atlanta, making “Louvre Atlanta” easily the High’s highest-attended exhibit in its history.
In its top 10 rankings, the High counts “Louvre Atlanta” as a single exhibit, even though it stretched three years while most special shows typically last two to four months. But if the three biggest Louvre shows are accounted separately, they would rank as the High’s first, second and fourth of all time.
Respectively, the just-closed “The Louvre and the Masterpiece” (Oct. 12, 2008-Sept. 13, 2009) drew more than 545,000 (final numbers are due this week); “The Royal Collections” (Oct. 14, 2006-Sept. 2, 2007), 446,752; and “The Louvre and the Ancient World” (Oct. 16, 2007-Sept. 3, 2008), 342,412.
Rounding out the top five: “The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” (Nov. 16, 2008-April 19, 2009), 403,469, third; and “Impressionism: Paintings Collected by European Museums” (Feb. 23-May 16, 1999), 252,333, fifth.
The High’s strategy to partner with international museums to bring world treasures to Atlanta, followed since the 1996 Olympics show “Rings: Five Passions in World Art” (205,301, ninth), continues to pay dividends.
During “Louvre Atlanta’s” run, High membership grew to more than 50,000 households, placing it in the top 10 among American art museums. “Louvre” exhibits attracted visitors from all 50 states, according to the High.
The shows included rare works by artists including Raphael, Titian, Vermeer, Rembrandt and Velázquez.
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