On Attendance, Blockbusters, and Tut

Tut made the papers again this week, as The Art Newspaper published its survey of the top museum exhibitions of 2007 (pdf). The lede is about the Tokyo National Museum, and how its exhibition on Leonardo attracted over 10,000 people a day. Philadelphians, however, noted that the paper's coverage fails to highlight a noteworthy detail--that the Franklin Institute's (that's now The Franklin to you, pal) Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs was the most-attended exhibition of 2007. The Inky picked up the slack, though. [Is the Inquirer's art coverage getting better? Or is it just better coverage of the biggest institutions? Or am I imagining things?] [and as long as I'm writing notes in brackets, why isn't the PMA on the list? Their 638,000+ attendance this year (from their '07 Annual Report) should bring them in right around SFMoma and Tate Liverpool.]

The survey has other people asking questions and indulging in the regular practice of ruminating on the pros and cons of the Blockbuster. Here's one from the same Art Newspaper, with the familiar Tut picture. Apparently, London is not as good as Paris at having them.