Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers breaks records at the National Gallery

Vincent van Gogh continues to captivate audiences like no other. With 334,589 visits, the recently concluded Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers exhibition at the National Gallery has officially become the most popular ticketed exhibition in the museum’s history. Running from 14 September 2024 to 19 January 2025, the exhibition surpassed the attendance of previous record-holders, including Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan (323,827 visits) and Velázquez (302,520 visits). The record-breaking numbers included an astonishing final weekend, during which the exhibition ran non-stop for 36 hours from Friday evening to Saturday night (17–18 January) to meet overwhelming demand. This marked only the second time in the museum’s history that such an around-the-clock event was held, the first being the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in 2012. Over the closing weekend alone, more than 19,500 people, or one visitor every 10 seconds, walked through the gallery’s doors to see Van Gogh’s incredible works. An Exhibition That Redefined Van Gogh Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers provided visitors with a unique and moving exploration of the artist’s imaginative transformations. This was the National Gallery’s first exhibition entirely dedicated to Vincent van Gogh and included over 60 works from museums and private collections across the globe. Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, summed up the significance of the exhibition perfectly, saying, “Van Gogh has become a talisman for passion, authenticity and commitment to his art. The paintings in this exhibition are among his most striking works and have a freshness and immediacy about them. The show… Read More