Record-breaking figures for two of the world’s biggest museums
Over 8.4 million visitors have passed through the doors of the four Tate sites this past year making 2016/17 a record breaking year for the institution. Following the opening of the Tate Modern’s new Switch House building in May 2016 the museum has hosted a series of exhibitions featuring a combined 300 artists, whilst the Tate St Ives re-opened in March 2017 following renovations. The most popular exhibition however was the Tate Britain’s David Hockney retrospective which attracted 478,000 visitors — the most visited exhibition in the institution’s history. More via ArtLyst.
The Met museum in New York has also released record-breaking figures for the year 2016/17, welcoming 7 million visitors between April and March, up from the previous year which saw 6.7 million visitors pass through the doors of the three-site institution — also a record-breaking year. The increase is in part thanks to the opening of the new site, the Met Breuer, which opened in the spring in the site of the former Whitney Museum. The news comes at the end of a year fraught with financial stress, as the institution has accrued a considerable deficit, as well as having lost director Thomas P. Campbell. More via Hyperallergic.
The Hamptons gets a new art fair
Following the cancellation of Art Hamptons and Art Southampton this year, a new art fair named The Bridge is to be launched by Max Levai and Pascal Spengemann of Marlborough Contemporary. The event, which has attracted some prestigious blue-chip galleries including Mitchell-Innes & Nash, and David Zwirner, will also present classic cars alongside the contemporary art — attaching itself to the pre-existing fair, the Bridge annual auto show, run by Bob Rubin. More on artnet News.
Auction turnover in Italy increases by 11%
While the Italian art market struggled over the course of 2016, 2017 however marks a positive shift upwards as the country’s auction results in Modern and Contemporary Art sales of the first semester have increased by 11%compared to the previous year. An overall turnover of €75,725,841 was realized by 18 auction houses over 65 sales, with 10,990 lots sold. In particular, Sotheby’s Spring sale of Modern and Contemporary art in Milan has registered a 17% increase compared to 2016, whilst Italian auction houses have also seen a 6% growth in sales results. Average prices have also increased from €7,138 to €9,188. More (in Italian) via Collezione da Tiffany.
