Press release 5/12/2017
National Gallery of Ireland attracts over one million visitors in 2017
Over one million visitors have been welcomed by the National Gallery of Ireland in 2017, in what has been a phenomenal year for the Gallery. Attendance figures for the Gallery have increased by over 100% since the reopening in June of the refurbished galleries on Merrion Square. It follows on the success of the reconceived permanent collection, tailored education programming and the outstanding quality of exhibitions on Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Margaret Clarke, Vermeer, Käthe Kollwitz, William Orpen, and Frederic William Burton.
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD congratulated the Gallery on its wonderful attendance record and programming: “This significant milestone of one million visitors at the National Gallery is a true success story and indicative of the benefit of significant capital and ongoing Government support of our National Cultural Institutions. It is also a testament to the superb work of the Board and staff of the Gallery on producing a cultural space of excellent international standing and renown.”
Welcoming new Minister for Culture, Josepha Madigan TD, Sean Rainbird, Director, National Gallery of Ireland, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new Minister for Culture, Josepha Madigan to the Gallery today to celebrate our record visitor attendances in 2017. This has been an extraordinary year for the Gallery. We have enjoyed welcoming so many visitors from Ireland and oversees to explore the national collection within these beautifully restored galleries on Merrion Square. We look forward to building on the success of the refurbishment and the positive feedback of our visitors with a renewed confidence in the future development and expansion of the Gallery.”
The Gallery’s wide-ranging public education programme of events, tailored to suit all age groups, attracted over 95,000 people in 2017. This represents a 12% increase on numbers in 2016. There has also been an overwhelming response to the Gallery’s online platforms (website and social media), with 1.5 million digital visits in 2017, of which 870,000 were visitors to the website representing a 79% increase on 2016.
Notes
1. Visitor attendance figures for the National Gallery of Ireland in 2017, to date, are 1,006,846, an increase on 2016 figures (755,577).
2. The Gallery’s refurbished Dargan (1864) and Milltown (1903) wings reopened to the public on 15 June 2017, with a new presentation of the permanent collection of Irish and European art.
3. Coinciding with the reopening was the exhibition Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry which attracted over 100,000 visitors from 17 June to 17 September. The exhibition continues at its final venue in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, until 21 January 2018.
4. Continuing at the National Gallery of Ireland is Frederic William Burton: For the Love of Art until 14 January; Käthe Kollwitz: Life, Death and War, until 10 December, and Aftermath: The War Landscapes of William Orpen, marking the 100th anniversary of William Orpen’s service as official war artist, until 11 February.
5. The programme for 2018 opens with the Gallery’s annual exhibition of Turner watercolours, featuring new work by Niall Naessens (1-31 January). It will be followed by Emil Nolde: Colour is Life (14 February – 10 June), featuring over 100 paintings and drawings by the pioneering German Expressionist, Emil Nolde, in an exhibition in collaboration with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It will be followed by an exhibition on Irish artist, Roderic O’Conor (18 July – 28 October), with a focus on his graphic work and his relationships with Paul Gauguin and Theo van Gogh, art dealer and brother of Vincent, as well as Armand Seguin, Robert Befan and Cuno Amiet. The autumn programme for 2018 will include a centenary exhibition on Countess Markievicz (27 October 2017 – 17 March 2019), followed by an exhibition on Canaletto and the Art of Venice (5 December – 24 March 2019).
6. Future Plans: The Gallery will build on the momentum of the refurbished historic wings with the completion its Master Development Plan (MDP). This will involve further improvements in the public route between Merrion Square and Clare Street; the full integration of technologies across all wings; new conservation studios; new facilities for Ireland’s largest art library and archive of Irish art; and education studios and rooms which support the centrality of this activity within a twenty-first century Gallery.
Testimonials
RA Magazine, September 2017
John Banville
“The ‘new’ gallery is a joy: stately as ever but with a cool contemporary beauty added, the place lifts the soul, and demonstrates the centrality of art to the life of the nation.”
Architecture Ireland, Issue 4 – July-August 2017
Dr Sandra O’Connell
“This is one of the largest refurbishment projects in the history of the state. The end result is a spectacular elegance and beauty that allows the paintings to shine and visitor numbers to soar.”
Apollo Magazine, August 2017
Tom Walker
“The renovated wings are abuzz. Old favourites, many now restored, are looking fresh and the (excellent) ‘Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting’ exhibition is packing in the punters…it is the quintessential international blockbuster show, and presumably it would have been impossible to host without newly available rooms. So the gallery is back playing with the big kids.”
The Financial Times, FT Weekend 8 July/9 July 2017
Claire Wrathall
“As Enda Kenny said in his speech at the Gallery, ‘we want to breathe new life into Ireland as an artistic nation.’ Which I’d say the revivified National Gallery of Ireland shows every sign of doing.”
Irish Arts Review, June Issue 2017
James Howley
“The National Gallery of Ireland now has a building that matches the highest environmental and security standards found in some of the great galleries in the world…”
theartsdesk.com, 22 June 2017
Marina Vaizey
“The marvellous National Gallery of Ireland, founded in the 1860s, has opened its doors to its brilliantly revamped, updated and expanded galleries. As a spectacular bonus in its opening summer, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting reposes in the enfilade of the newly re-done permanent galleries for temporary exhibitions.”
The Irish Times Weekend, 10-11 June 2017
Frank McDonald
“It’s a revelation, quite literally…Cutting-edge architects Heneghan Peng have deftly combined old and new in the National Gallery of Ireland’s stunning renovation…”
The Sunday Times, Culture, 11 June 2017
Stephen Best
“With its mesmerising mix of architectural styles and spaces, the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) has some of Dublin’s most unexpected and compelling civic spaces. …The visitor experience is utterly changed, and the architecture is again in harmony with the art.”