Saatchi Gallery dominates list of 2010's most popular London exhibitions

Saatchi Gallery dominates list of 2010's most popular London exhibitions

08 April, 2011
by: Spoonfed Arts Team

Another excellent year for the Saatchi Gallery.

Last week, The Art Newspaper published its annual report on worldwide museum figures, and in London at least, it made happy reading for the Saatchi Gallery. Three of the top five most visited exhibitions in London in 2010 were at Charles Saatchi's contemporary art institution on the King's Road, and they were only beaten to the top spot by the Van Gogh exhibition at the venerable Royal Academy of Arts.

It was a good year for London's institutions in general, as the British Museum , with 5.8 million visitors over the course of 2010, was the second most visited museum in the whole world. Tate Modern and the National Gallery also featured in the top five most visited museums worldwide. As in 2009, the world's most popular art museum was The Louvre in Paris, way out in front with 8½ million visitors, whilst New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art came in third.

Coming so soon after the Arts Council's funding announcements, these figures make interesting reading, and suggest that – in some ways at least – the continuation of funding to the major London institutions (at the possible expense of creativity in what has patronisingly been dubbed 'the regions') will reap dividends.

The full list of London's ten most popular exhibitions, in terms of visitors per day, is below:

1. The Real Van Gogh @ Royal Academy (4,785)
2. Newspeak @ Saatchi Gallery (4,097)
3. Abstract America @ Saatchi Gallery (4,006)
4. The Empire Strikes Back @ Saatchi Gallery (3,998)
5. BP Portrait Award 2010 @ National Portrait Gallery (3,189)
6. Jean Nouvel Pavilion @ Serpentine Gallery (2,979)
7. Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 @ National Portrait Gallery (2,506)
8. Kienholz: the Hoerengracht @ National Gallery (2,400)
9. Wolfgang Tillmans @ Serpentine Gallery (2,297)
10. Summer Exhibition @ Royal Academy (2,236)

For the full results, visit The Art Newspaper.

Click here to see all London exhibitions.
Click here for things to do in London.
Return to Spoonfed's London Art homepage.

Spoonfed Arts Team