Exhibitions organised by the Musée d’Orsay attract over 470,000 visitors in Canberra and 310,000 visitors in Madrid
The Musée d’Orsay is delighted with the huge success of the travelling exhibitions Beyond Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay and From Manet to Impressionism. A Modern Renaissance, organised while work is carried out at the museum.
The first stage of the exhibition Beyond Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay has just closed in Canberra. Originally due to run for 18 weeks and extended for a further two, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) announced a record number of over 476,000 visitors over 20 weeks. This figure includes free admission to the exhibition for 40,000 schoolchildren and free admission for 60,000 children attending workshops.
According to the NGA, this attendance figure, never before achieved in Australia, makes it the most visited temporary exhibition in the country. The exhibition has also attracted visitors from New Zealand and South East Asia.
The next stages of the exhibition Beyond Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay will be at the National Art Centre of Tokyo from 26 May to 16 August 2010 and at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from 25 September 2010 to 18 January 2011.
In Madrid, the first stage of the exhibition From Manet to Impressionism. A Modern Renaissance has also just closed at the Fundación MAPFRE and reports excellent attendance figures of over 315,000 visitors in 15 weeks.
As Spanish museums have few Impressionist paintings in their collections, this exhibition can take credit for putting Impressionism back at the centre of discussions about the origins of the Modern movement.
We should not forget that the aim of the Fundación MAPFRE is to promote cultural awareness to a wide audience and therefore there is no charge for admission.
The exhibition From Manet to Impressionism. A Modern Renaissance will now go on to the De Young Museum in San Francisco from 22 May to 12 September, and then will be at the Frist Center in Nashville from 15 October.
The majority of the Musée d’Orsay masterpieces will, however, remain on display to the public in Paris where they have been re-hung in the Lille gallery, temporarily re-designed for this purpose.
Without the renovation work on the main Impressionist gallery and the Pavilion Amont, these exhibitions would not have happened. They aim to bring French culture to a worldwide audience, and to attract an exceptional number of visitors who may not necessarily be able to come and admire these masterpieces in Paris.