Tate Modern Surpassed the British Museum to Become London’s Most-Attended Art Institution in 2018

Tate Modern edged ahead of the British Museum to become London’s
most-visited museum in 2018, according to the latest annual survey
by tourism organization Visit England. The report reveals
that UK museums managed to turn around a protracted decline in
attendance last year—but some individual institutions still
struggled to attract visitors and worrying long-term
trends remain regarding museum attendance in the
capital.

Last year saw a six percent increase in museum attendance
nationally, partly helped by a boost in overseas tourists. An
ever-weakening pound has also made staycations more attractive for
British vacationers. But that modest increase has not corrected a
longer-term drop in London in particular: From 2015 to 2017, the
British Museum, National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery
have seen a combined dip in attendance of around 16 percent.

Some attribute the overall decline to the end of the “halo
effect” of the 2012 London Olympics, which boosted the capital’s
international profile. But that does not explain why some
institutions have done well while others have lost (and then
partially recovered) different groups of visitors, notably
Londoners, and people living in the South East of England.

Who Is Up and Who Is Down

Institutions with the most improved attendance last year include
the Royal Academy of Art, whose audience shot up by 50 percent
thanks in part to its David Chipperfield-designed
expansion.

The Victoria and Albert Museum’s attendance continues to buck
London’s downward trend. Last year, when many of its peers
experienced a decline, the V&A’s visitor numbers increased by
four percent, nearly breaking the 4 million mark. The museum of art
and design has added an impressive 1 million visitors since 2016,
boosted by high-profile temporary exhibitions on such subjects as
Winnie-the-Pooh books and Frida Kahlo’s wardrobe.

While Tate Modern’s attendance rose by nearly four percent to
5.87 million, buoyed by its blockbuster Picasso exhibition, Tate
Britain’s attendance was a very different story. In 2018, the
museum of British art’s visitor figures fell by 28 percent, a
reversal in fortune after a relatively good 2017. That tumble came
despite the launch of the Tate group’s millennial-friendly scheme
offering £5 ($6) exhibition tickets to young people.

The British Museum also seen a fall in recent years. Last year,
it attracted 5.8 million visitors, nearly one million fewer than it
did four years ago, despite a crowd-pleasing exhibition of Rodin’s
sculpture. A spokeswoman for the museum noted that it has seen some
reduction in visitors from Europe over the past two years, but that
the financial year of 2018–19 is looking very strong, with
attendance up 10 percent. (To date this fiscal year, the British
Museum appears to have edged out the National Gallery and Tate
Modern to regain poll position—a testament to the fact that
attendance measurements vary depending on how you slice them and
are an inexact science.)

The Tate Woos Millennials 

London’s largest museums are free to visit, however the price of
their temporary exhibitions continues to rise. The Visit England
survey states that nearly half of visitors to venues are motivated
to come because of a temporary exhibition.

Tate Modern’s most expensive shows can cost £25 ($30), while the
V&A and British Museum have both broken the £20 ($24) barrier.
Acknowledging that ticket prices at that level are prohibitive for
many young people, the Tate launched a free-to-join membership
scheme for 16- to 25-year-olds last year. One benefit: low-cost £5
exhibition tickets for members and three friends. Since April 2018,
around 100,000 young people have joined Tate Collective, a gallery
spokesman confirms. So far, no other institution has followed the
Tate’s example.

The artist-led Royal Academy of Arts in
London relies on self-generated income as it does not receive
government funding, unlike the Tate, the British Museum, and the
V&A. Healthy attendance at its special exhibitions is therefore
crucial. The RA’s new chief executive, Axel Rüger, who joined this
summer from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, will be heartened to
see that post-expansion, the RA’s attendance shot up by 51 percent
to 1.6 million visitors. That puts the RA on a par with St Paul’s
Cathedral as a ticketed venue.

Tate St Ives, which won the Art Fund’s 2018 museum of the year
prize, saw its attendance rise by an impressive 36 percent last
year, up to 300,000 visitors, after it unveiled a long-awaited $26
million expansion. It is the only gallery in the Tate group
that charges for access to the permanent collection and special
exhibitions.

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