Have you ever wondered which are the world’s most visited art museums? Paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, murals, crafts, photographs…there are lots of different forms in which visual artists chose to express themselves, and art museums and galleries are where we can find their pieces exhibited. But not every museum is devoted to art, some, like the Natural History Museum, are focused on history, technology, science, war, and other areas. For this list we’ve decided to rank only art museums according to their number of yearly visitors.
If you happen to be interested in art, you’ll be definitely interested in our list of the 6 Richest Painters In The World 2014.
Let’s take a look at this artistic countdown and find out which are the world’s most visited art museums.
10. Musée d’Orsay
With 3,500,000 visitors a year, this Paris museum is one of the top choices for tourists around the world. The Musée d’Orsay holds mostly French art within its walls, mainly dated between the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of World War I. This museum is particularly renowned because it has the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the world.
9. Musée National d’Art Moderne
Yet another French museum, the Musée National d’Art Moderne receives around 3,745,000 visitors every year. This museum, which is located in the Centre Pompidou, is dedicated to modern and contemporary art. With masterpieces dating from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards, you’ll find pieces from various artists including Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Starck, and many more.
8. National Gallery of Art
Together with its Sculpture Garden, the National Gallery of Art is an American museum free of charge and open to the public located in Washington D.C. Every year, 4,093,070 people visit its art facilities and enjoy a wide range of paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, sculptures, medals, and more. Some of the greatest attractions of the National Gallery of Art are a Leonardo da Vinci painting, the only one in the Americas, and the largest mobile created by Alexander Calder.
7. National Palace Museum
Located in Taipei, Taiwan, the National Palace Museum is the only Asian art establishment on our list and naturally the most visited of that continent. The National Palace Museum receives 4,500,278 visitors yearly, and those people are able to enjoy the largest collection of ancient Chinese art and artifacts in the world.
6. Tate Modern
Located in London, the Tate Modern is a British art gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art. At this museum you can find a wide national collection of British art ranging from pieces from the beginning of the past century to modern day creations. Around 4,884,939 visitors enjoy both the permanent and temporary collections of this one-of-a-kind gallery each year.
5. Vatican Museums
The museums of the Vatican City receive around 5,978,804 visitors annually. Founded in the early sixteenth century, this unique gathering of galleries holds a collection built up by the Popes over the centuries. Among the impressive pieces held in the Vatican Museums you can find the renowned Sistine Chapel and many masterpieces of the Renaissance period.
4. National Gallery
Located in Trafalgar Square in London, the National Gallery is an art museum that was founded in the early nineteenth century which receives around 6,031,574 visitors per year. The main collection can be enjoyed free of charge and it includes paintings from the mid-13th century to 1900.
3. Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City’s most visited museum receives around 6,226,727 people yearly. The Met is the largest museum in the United States and it houses a permanent collection of over two million pieces. From Ancient Egypt to contemporary America, the range of masterpieces displayed at the Met is incredibly wide.
2. British Museum
Established in the mid-18th century, the British Museum has since then been dedicated to culture and human history. This London gallery has one of the largest collections in the world, which comprehends over 8 million works, so it is not surprising that around 6,701,036 people chose to visit it every year.
1. Louvre
By far the most visited art museum in the world is the Louvre, with 9,334,435 people walking down its halls every year. A Paris landmark and a historical building, the Louvre is a comprehensive museum that houses pieces of all times, from prehistory to the twenty-first century.
