La National Gallery of London wins new visitors with its programme, launched in response to the cost of living crisis and which will continue as part of its major autumn exhibition The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Frans Hals (30 September 2023 – 21 January 2024). People will be able to visit the exhibition for just £1 per entry, while it remains free to see the museum collection.
The National Gallery became the first national art gallery in the UK to launch such an exhibition program when on Friday evening, throughout the run of the Credit Suisse – Lucian Freud: New Perspectives exhibition, visitors could pay as much or as little as they wanted.
Pay What You Wish: the result obtained
60% of After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art's Pay What You Wish visitors said they chose to pay an amount based on what they could afford, while 39% also attributed the impact of the cost of living crisis to their decision. In the last two paid exhibitions organized by the program, 23% of Pay What You Wish visitors went to “After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art” and 22% went to “The Credit Suisse Exhibition ‒ Lucian Freud: New Perspectives” (1 October 2022 ‒ January 22, 2023) came to a paid exhibition for the first time. 6% of Pay What You Wish visitors to the exhibition “The Credit Suisse Exhibition – Lucian Freud: New Perspectives” and 5% of those to “After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art” came to the exhibition for the first time. National Gallery and its collection. About 21% of Pay What You Wish visitors to “After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art” were between the ages of 35 and 44. This sample marks an increase of 11 percentage points compared to the overall Gallery average during the 2022/23 financial year. On the Pay What You Wish scheme, time slots between 17pm and 30pm on Fridays can be booked in advance online (nationalgallery.org.uk), over the phone or in person for a minimum payment of £21. Visitors can also attend Gallery Friday Late talks and events and enjoy later opening hours in the Gallery's shops, bars and restaurants.
