The Art Newspaper has unveiled the 100 most popular art museums in the world in 2022 in its annual visitor figures survey, revealing an uneven post-pandemic recovery.
The publication’s analysis shows that attendance in Paris and Seoul was almost back to normal last year, but city’s including London struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels.
As for China, regular lockdowns and pandemic rules continued to impact attendance, and Russian museums were affected due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, the world’s top 100 art institutions enjoyed a combined total of 141 million visits compared with 71 million visits in 2021 and just 54 million in 2020.
However, in 2019, the top 100 art museums had 230 million visits.
Once again, the Musée du Louvre in Paris tops the list with 7.7 million visitors in 2022. In 2021, the museum welcomed 2.8 million visitors, but 9.6 million people in 2019.
In second place is the Vatican Museums, which welcomed 5 million guests. London’s British Museum and Tate Modern regained their spots in the top five in 2022.
Also in the top five is the National Museum of Korea, with 3.4 million visitors.
Uneven post-pandemic recovery
Other institutions to make the top 10 are the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Russia’s State Hermitage Museum.
In Europe, Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence made the top 20.
Other UK museums to make the top 20 are London’s National Gallery, V&A and Somerset House, and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The State Russian Museum is in the top 20, as is the State Tretyakov Gallery. New York’s Museum of Modern Art takes 17th place, and Hong Kong’s M+ follows in 18th.
Images: Louvre / British Museum
