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Matisse: The Cut-Outs becomes Tate's most popular exhibition ever Matisse: The Cut-Outs becomes Tate's most popular exhibition ever
(about 5 hours later)
A Matisse exhibition has proved to be Tate's most popular show ever by some margin, with visitor numbers exceeding half a million for the first time. There were many people who thought the summer exhibition of Matisse's cut-outs was truly glorious and life-affirming, while others muttered their six-year-old could do them – either way, it proved to be the most popular show in Tate's history, it was announced on Monday.
Figures published on Monday showed that Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs had 562,622 visitors, surpassing the Matisse Picasso exhibition of 2002 – the previous record holder at 467,166 – and the Damien Hirst exhibition of 2012, with 463,087. Newly published figures showed that Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs received 562,622 visitors, surpassing the Matisse Picasso exhibition of 2002, the previous record holder at 467,166, and the Damien Hirst exhibition of 2012, with 463,087.
Tate's director, Nicholas Serota, who co-curated the latest show, put its success down "to the joyous quality of the works themselves". He added: "Also, the fact they have not been brought together for nearly 40 years captured people's imagination. People were aware that this would be a one-off opportunity they might have in their lifetime." Tate's director, Nicholas Serota co-curated the show, which ran from April until last week at Tate Modern, and put its success down to "the joyous quality of the works themselves". He added: "Also, the fact they have not been brought together for nearly 40 years captured people's imagination. People were aware that this would be a one-off opportunity they might have in their lifetime."
The cut-outs, produced between 1937 and Matisse's death in 1954, represented a glorious final chapter in a long artistic career and the Tate show was one of a number of big exhibitions in the UK exploring the later works of a series of artists, with Late Turner at Tate Britain opening last week and Rembrandt's late works at the National Gallery launching next month. The cut-outs, produced between 1937 and Matisse's death in 1954, represented a glorious final chapter in a long artistic career and are represented in Tate's permanent collection by the hugely popular work The Snail.
Tate visitor numbers were revealed in an annual report which showed that 7.04 million people visited its four galleries – Britain, Modern, Liverpool and St Ives – in 2013-14. That is down on the 7.7 million the previous year – but was to be expected, says Tate, given the Olympics spike of 2012 and the now completed redevelopment of Tate Britain. They are deceptively simple, in that Matisse was cutting coloured paper with a big pair of scissors, and Tate produced books for young people encouraging them to think the cut-outs could be a starting point for them. "That doesn't mean to say that anyone believes that the works could be made, with all their sophistication, by a six-year-old," said Serota.
The Matisse cut-outs was Tate's most popular show by some margin, although not the UK's most visited show. The Royal Academy's David Hockney exhibition in 2012, for example, attracted 600,989 visitors.
Serota said the Matisse visitor numbers exceeded expectations but there had been shows which had done the opposite, including Tate Britain's Kenneth Clark exhibition, which ran from May to August and had a total attendance of 31,343. "It was a very fine show, very well reviewed," said Serota. "But perhaps didn't quite capture the public imagination to the degree we anticipated."
In 2013/14 at Tate Britain the biggest attendance was at its Lowry exhibition – 212,637 – while the figure for Ruin Lust was 32,480 and Art Under Attack was 32,268. At Tate Modern Paul Klee saw 303,863 visitors with Ibrahim El Salahi receiving 34,062.
Serota said not every show had to get big visitor numbers. "Part of our responsibility is to open up new areas of inquiry to throw light on work that has been forgotten."
The overall visitor numbers, shown in Tate's annual report, were 7.04 million people across its four galleries – Britain, Modern, Liverpool and St Ives – in 2013-14. That is down on the 7.7 million the previous year and saw a £3.2m drop in self-generated income. But that was to be expected, said Tate, given the Olympics spike of 2012 and the now completed redevelopment of Tate Britain.
Tate Modern retained its position as the most-visited gallery of modern and contemporary work in the world and Serota said its £215m extension would open to the public, as scheduled, in 2016.Tate Modern retained its position as the most-visited gallery of modern and contemporary work in the world and Serota said its £215m extension would open to the public, as scheduled, in 2016.
Tate also revealed details of some of the works, which will be lent to galleries around the UK – including Tracey Emin's My Bed, which will go to her hometown gallery of Turner Contemporary in Margate; David Hockney's My Parents, which will go to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich; and Wassily Kandinsky's Cossacks, which will travel to mima in Middlesbrough. Tate also revealed details of some of the work which will be lent to galleries around the UK including Tracey Emin's My Bed, which will go to her hometown gallery of Turner Contemporary in Margate; David Hockney's My parents, which will go to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art in Norwich; and Wassily Kandinsky's Cossacks, which will travel to mima in Middlesbrough.
In terms of acquisition, work to the value of £33.6m entered the collection with a big chunk of that being the £23m which was raised to acquire John Constable's masterpiece Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows.
Other acquired works included Martin Creed's Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off, a room where the lights did exactly that; a piece called One Year Performance 1980-81 for which the artist Tehching Hsieh punched a time card every hour for 366 days; and Douglas Gordon's Film Noir (Fly) which is a 30 minute film of a fly dying.