MOMA'S JACKSON POLLOCK EXHIBITION EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS

Attendance, Merchandise Sales, and New Memberships Soar During Pollock Show


The numbers are now in for the Jackson Pollock retrospective, held at The Museum of Modern Art from November 1, 1998, through February 2, 1999, and they confirm the show's resounding success. Figures in all significant categories--including attendance, Pollock-related merchandise, and Museum memberships--exceeded MoMA's projections for the hugely popular 81-day exhibition.

Key Statistics for Jackson Pollock

• Total attendance for the exhibition: 329,330 (Projected attendance: 280,000)
  
• Average daily attendance: 4,070 (Projected daily attendance: 3,650)
  
• Peak daily attendance for exhibition (Friday, January 29, 1999): 7,873
  
• Peak daily attendance for Museum during exhibition (Friday, January 29, 1999): 11,257
  
• Total retail sales for Pollock-related merchandise: $2,000,000 ($1 million at MoMA stores and through Museum catalogue sales, and $1 million at 3rd floor kiosk)
  
• Number of Jackson Pollock catalogues sold: 22,000
  
• Number of Jackson Pollock Jazz CDs sold: 20,000
  
• Number of Jackson Pollock scarves sold: 1,200
  
• Best-selling Pollock poster, Lucifer (1947): 4,700 units sold (grossing $70,000)
  
• Sales of highest-grossing Pollock poster, Blue Poles (1952): $72,000 (1,800 units)
  
• Number of new MoMA Members enrolled during exhibition: 9,200 (This represents a 25% jump in membership, which stood at roughly 40,000 in October 1998. Museum membership post-Pollock is now roughly 50,000.)
  
• Percentage of visitors to the Museum who entered the Pollock exhibition: 63%
  
• Percentage of visitors who rented Pollock Acoustiguide audio tours: 19%, or roughly 1 in 5 (Projected percentage: 10-12% or roughly 1 in 10)
  
• Attendance at Gala Opening Night (Wednesday, October 28, 1998): approx. 7,000
  
• Number of newspaper and magazine articles and reviews written worldwide on Pollock exhibition: approximately 300 (as of February 2, 1999)
  

Jackson Pollock was popular with members of the public from all across the country. According to a survey by George Wachtel of Audience Research and Analysis, some 45% of the show's visitors were from out of town (and 56% of these tourists cited MoMA as their reason for visiting New York). The average age of visitors to the exhibition was 45 years, and 65% of visitors were female. Fifteen percent were full-time students. During the day, lines to buy Pollock tickets, which required a separate admission ticket, usually extended from the Museum entrance on 53rd Street, all the way to Fifth Avenue. On busy days, these lines extended still further, wrapping up Fifth Avenue and down West 54th Street.

Jackson Pollock was also popular with luminaries from the fine arts, film, music, theater, and political worlds. A short list of some of the Museum's VIP visitors includes Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, Madonna, Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison, Rachel Griffiths, Stanley Tucci, Catherine Deneuve, Debra Winger, Kevin Kline, Alan Cumming from Broadway's Cabaret, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Francesco Clemente, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Lars Ulrich (drummer from Metallica), Sir Peter Hall, Frank Gehry, Chuck Close, Salman Rushdie, Philip Johnson, Pierre Rosenberg (Director of the Louvre), Susan Rothenberg, Kiki Smith, Wynton Marsalis, Steve Martin, Gina Gershon, Art Spiegelman, Richard Serra, Patti Smith, Bruce Springstein, William F. Buckley, Patrick Stewart, Brad Race (Chief of Staff for Governor George Pataki), Senator Roy M. Goodman, assemblymen Richard N. Gottfried and Alexander B. Grannis, and New York State Council on the Arts executive director Nicolette Clarke.

No. 12