National Gallery of Ireland welcomed over one million visitors in 2023

Last year, visitor attendance number represented a 29% growth on 2022 

Highest annual visitor attendance since 2017

National Gallery of Ireland celebrates anniversary year in 2024

The National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to announce that over one million visitors were welcomed through its doors in 2023, marking the highest attendance number since 2017. Major exhibitions including Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker as well as It Took a Century: Women Artists and the RHA and Lavery. On Location helped visitor attendance at the Gallery increase by 29% compared to 2022.  

In 2023, visitors from Ireland and across the world discovered a variety of new acquisitions at the Gallery including: La Vie des Champs (1876-77) by Paul Cézanne; Vase of Flowers with an Ear of Corn (1742) by Rachel Ruysch; Duft (1937) by Hannah Höch; and A Garden in France (1898) by Sir John Lavery. Exhibitions and displays included: Turner: The Henry Vaughan Bequest; James Coleman: Still Life (2013 – 2016); St Dymphna. The Tragedy of an Irish Princess; Pastel Revealed; Shelter; Zurich Portrait Prize & Zurich Young Portrait Prize; and Sarah Purser: Private Worlds.

The Gallery’s wide-ranging education and public engagement programme – devised to support all ages and abilities – continued to deliver experiences in-person, online and beyond the walls of the Gallery over the course of the year. Highlights of 2023 included National Drawing Day and a new innovative programme, Cultural Art Therapy in the Community, funded by Bank of America. It saw the Gallery partner with Saoirse Domestic Violence Services to support vulnerable women and children across the Greater Dublin area. 

The Gallery also continued to develop its audiences through online platforms. On social media, it continues to be ranked as Ireland’s leading cultural institution with over 205,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This represents a 7% growth year-on-year alongside a 16% increase in visitors to the Gallery’s website compared to 2022. 
The Gallery remains committed to facilitating greater access to high quality, free images of art from the national collection by making images available through Creative Commons licensing. Hundreds of new free images were added to the Gallery’s portal in 2023, with over 1,500 images of iconic artworks by artists such as Degas, Titian, William Orpen and Mainie Jellett now available for the public to download. To date, almost 13,000 downloads have been completed by people across the globe. 

The Gallery celebrates two important anniversaries in 2024. To mark these, a special series of free tours and events will take place. On the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Gallery on 30 January 2024, three free tours of the Gallery (160th Anniversary Tour: New Acquisitions; 160th Anniversary Tour: Gallery Highlights and 160th Anniversary: Director's Tour) will take place as well as two special free Library & Archives events (160th Anniversary Tour: From the Archives 1913 – 1924 and 160th Anniversary Pop-In Display: Opening Day 30 January 1864). The following day, on 31 January 2024, the Gallery will unveil the latest addition to the national collection: Titania Enchanting Bottom by beloved Irish artist Harry Clarke. 
A special programme of free events is also planned for 10 August 2024, the 170th anniversary of the National Gallery of Ireland Act, which established the Gallery. This will focus on recent acquisitions to the collection and the architecture of the Gallery. Further details and programming will be announced closer to the date. 

Welcoming the news, Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said “The National Gallery of Ireland’s visitor numbers in 2023 are a strong endorsement of Government investment in our National Cultural Institutions. I was delighted to officially unveil the Gallery’s acquisition of La Vie des Champs by Paul Cézanne in May 2023. As Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, I am proud to support the Gallery and I understand the positive impact that major acquisitions and exhibitions have on the Gallery and its visitor numbers. The National Gallery of Ireland belongs to the Irish public and I encourage everyone to see its latest acquisitions and exhibitions this spring.”

Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, added: “We are proud to celebrate another remarkable year for visitor engagement at the National Gallery of Ireland. Welcoming over one million visitors in a year requires a significant team effort to ensure a high-quality experience for all.  I would like to thank all of our visitors, the Gallery team, our volunteers and Friends, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and our wide base of supporters for helping us to reach this milestone in 2023.”

The Gallery would like to thank the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for its ongoing support. 

Find out more about the Gallery’s 2024 plans and see the full programme at www.nationalgallery.ie. 

ENDS

Media contact:
Kate O’Leary, Communications, National Gallery of Ireland / [email protected]

Notes to editor:

●    For images, please email [email protected] 
●    Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, is available for interview.

1. Free exhibitions currently on display at the National Gallery of Ireland:

Zurich Portrait Prize & Zurich Young Portrait Prize – Open until 10 March 2024. Free entry. On display in Room 23. The annual competition showcasing contemporary portraiture is open to artists from across the island of Ireland, and Irish artists living abroad. 

Sarah Purser: Private Worlds – Open until 25 February 2024. Free entry. On display in the Hugh Lane Room. This exhibition presents a selection of Purser’s finest oils, highlighting her interest in a more intimate style of portraiture and in scenes of domestic life.

2. Upcoming exhibitions and displays at the National Gallery of Ireland:

Turning Heads: Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer – 24 February – 26 May 2024. Ticketed.  Featuring works by Dutch and Flemish artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who were exponents of the tronie – an intriguing painting of a head. Paintings include Study of an Old Woman by Rubens, The Laughing Man, 1629-1630, by Rembrandt and The Man with the Golden Helmet, c. 1650 from the circle of Rembrandt. Vermeer’s most exquisitely detailed tronie, Girl with the Red Hat, c.1665-1667, is an exhibition highlight. 

Walter Frederick Osborne: The Guinness Portrait – 23 March – 1 September 2024. Free entry. In 2023, Walter Frederick Osborne’s full-length portrait of Mary Guinness with her daughter Margaret was presented as a heritage gift to the National Gallery of Ireland. Painted when Osborne was at the height of his powers as a portrait artist, the picture is one of his finest works. The portrait will be displayed alongside comparative works and associated items, such as the silk dress worn by the sitter. 

Titania Enchanting Bottom (1922) by Harry Clarke – On display from 31 January. Free entry: part of the national collection. Purchased in 2023, this is the only stained glass work by Clarke that is inspired by Shakespeare. It depicts Act IV, Scene I from Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Featuring characters from the play including Bottom, Puck, Titania, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Moth, the work is adorned with botanical elements – a detail typical of Clarke’s work. 

Visitor information at the National Gallery of Ireland:

The permanent collection and many temporary exhibitions are free for all to enjoy. Tickets are required for some temporary exhibitions. See nationalgallery.ie.
About the National Gallery of Ireland:

The National Gallery of Ireland is one of the country’s most popular visitor attractions housing the nation’s collection of European and Irish art from about 1300 to the present day, and an extensive Library & Archive. Entry to the collection is free for all to enjoy, learn and be inspired.

2024 at the National Gallery of Ireland:

2024 marks the 160th anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery of Ireland on 30 January 1864 and the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the Gallery through the National Gallery of Ireland Act (1854) on 10 August 1854. The Gallery will publish a new strategic plan for the period 2024-28 in early 2024.

Anniversary events at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2024:

30 January 2024: 160th anniversary of opening

1.    160th Anniversary: Director's Tour (fully booked)
30 January 2024, 12.30pm (free)
Join the Gallery’s Director, Dr Caroline Campbell, for a unique tour through the national collection. The tour will highlight some key works connected to her wide-ranging expertise in Western Art from the Middle Ages to the present day.

2.    160th Anniversary Tour: New Acquisitions

30 January 2024, 1.15pm (free)
Join us for a free guided tour exploring some of the newest acquisitions on display in the Gallery's permanent collection to mark the 160th Anniversary of the Gallery’s opening. 

3.    160th Anniversary Tour: Gallery Highlights

30 January 2024, 3.30pm (free)
Join us for a free guided tour exploring some of the highlights of the Gallery's permanent collection to mark the 160th Anniversary of the Gallery’s opening.

4.    160th Anniversary Tour: From the Archives 1913 – 1924 

30    January 2024, 11.30am (free)
Celebrate the Gallery’s anniversary by joining the Library & Archives team for a talk about the archival exhibit From the Archives 1913 – 1924. Drawing from the institutional archive this display highlights the Directorships of Hugh Lane and Robert Langton Douglas and their valuable contribution to the development of the Gallery and the national art collections.

5.    160th Anniversary Pop-In Display: Opening Day 30 January 1864

30 January 2024, 12pm (free)
The opening of the Gallery was a grand event in Dublin’s social calendar with over 1,500 people in attendance. Join the Library & Archives team for a trip back in time to mark this special anniversary with a display of archival items telling the story of the establishment of the institution and the unveiling of the collection to the public.

10 August 2024: 170th anniversary of the National Gallery of Ireland Act

1.    170th Anniversary Tour: Recent acquisitions

11.30am, further details to follow

2.    170th Anniversary Tour: Architectural Tour

2.30pm, further details to follow

3.    170th Anniversary Pop-In Display: Past lives at the National Gallery of Ireland: 

Further details to follow