The Louvre, the world’s largest museum, and the Orsay, home to France's collection of impressionist art, saw clear drops in the number of visitors during the Games. While expected, given the focus on sport during the Games, the museums hope their autumn exhibitions will make up for the shortfall.
The Louvre saw a drop of 22 percent in the number of visitors during the two weeks of the Olympic games, from 27 July to 11 August, it announced Monday.
In the ten days leading up to the opening ceremony, from 15 to 26 July, when access was limited by security protocols and the museum was closed for two days, 45 percent fewer people visited compared to the same period the year before.
The Orsay museum said it had a drop of 29 percent in the number of visitors during the Games, and the Orangerie, which houses Claude Monet’s Water Lilies and is located at Concorde, the plaza hosting the Olympic BMX, breaking and 3x3 basketball events saw 31 percent fewer visitors.
The drop in visits was expected, as the museums are along the River Seine, whose access was limited in the days leading up to the opening ceremony, and visitors to Paris prioritised sporting events over cultural visits.
The Louvre is counting on its exhibition ‘Figures du Fou’ (Figures of madness) that opens on 16 October to bring back the crowds.
While visits to the museum dropped, visitors flocked to the Tuilleries gardens and the Carrousel around it to see the Olympic cauldron rising above the city on a helium balloon each night.
And one museum benefited from the Olympics: the Monnaie de Paris, the former site of the national mint, which produced the Olympic medals.
With an exhibition about the Olympics, and selling commemorative medals, the museum saw an increase of 62 percent of visitors during the two weeks of the Games compared to the two weeks preceding them.
(with AFP)
