PICASSO AND PORTRAITURE CLOSES AS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR EXHIBITIONS IN THE HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Exhibition Has Significant Economic Impact on New York City, Drawing
Out-of-Town Visitors Who Spent More than $260 Million
September 20, 1996
Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation, which
closed on September 17 at The Museum of Modern Art, drew record crowds from
around the world, making it one of the most popular exhibitions in the Museum's
history. The total attendance for Picasso and Portraiture was 500,000.
The exhibition is a testament to the enduring appeal of Picasso's art: it is
the third most popular exhibition ever held at the Museum after Pablo
Picasso: A Retrospective (1980), which attracted one million visitors,
and Henri Matisse: A Retrospective (1992), which had an audience of
940,000 people.
"The strong attendance for this exhibition says a lot about the public's
immense fascination with Picasso, but it also makes a statement about the
growing popularity of museums at a time when participation in the arts in
general is declining," stated Glenn D. Lowry, Director of The Museum of Modern
Art.
Picasso and Portraiture attracted visitors from around the world and
had a significant economic impact on the city of New York. According to a
Museum visitor study, the exhibition attracted some 350,000 out-of-town
visitors to New York City, who spent a total of roughly $268 million during
their stay. Thirty-nine percent of the out-of-towners said that the exhibition
was the impetus for their trip to New York.*
The acoustiguide tour accompanying Picasso and Portraiture, which
featured actor and writer Steve Martin, was one of the most popular in the
Museum's history, with 25 percent of visitors opting to use it.
Picasso and Portraiture was the first comprehensive survey of the
artist's portrait work, featuring 221 paintings and drawings, nearly half of
which were on view for the first time in the United States. The full exhibition
had its only showing at The Museum of Modern Art from April 28 to September 17,
1996. A smaller version of the exhibition opens at the Grand Palais, Paris on
October l8, 1996, and remains on view through January 20, 1997.
Picasso and Portraiture was organized by William Rubin, Director
Emeritus, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, in
collaboration with Hélène Seckel, Chief Curator, the Musée
Picasso, Paris, and with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris.
Picasso and Portraiture was sponsored in part by Philip Morris
Companies Inc. An indemnity for the exhibition was granted by the Federal
Council on the Arts and Humanities. The Luxury Collection of ITT Sheraton was
the exclusive hotel sponsor. The accompanying publication was made possible by
generous grants from the William S. Paley Foundation, Inc., and the Blanchette
Hooker Rockefeller Fund, with additional support from Agnes Gund and Daniel
Shapiro, and Mrs. Donald B. Straus.
* A Study of Visitors to the Picasso and Portraiture Exhibition at The
Museum of Modern Art by Jeffrey K. Smith, Lisa Wolf, and Jane O'Brien, June
1996
For further information or photographic material, please contact Alexandra
Partow, Assistant Director of Communications, 212/708–9756.
