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An art museum in Paris, France, drew a record-breaking number of visitors in 2018.
The Louvre [LOO-vruh], which is the biggest and one of the most iconic museums in the world, attracted a total of 10.2 million visitors last year. It is the only museum in the world to achieve this number of guests. As a result of this achievement, the museum broke its previous record of 9.7 million visitors in 2012.
Majority of the Louvre’s visitors came from the United States, China, and other European countries.
One reason for the Louvre’s record-breaking number of visitors was the exhibit featuring the works of French painter Eugène Delacroix [duh-la-KRWAH]. The artist was one of the trailblazers of Impressionism, an artistic technique that focuses on color and light effects on objects. Roughly 540,000 people came to see the exhibit, and it is considered as the museum’s most successful exhibit to date.
In addition, a music video of celebrity couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z shot inside the Louvre helped bolster the museum’s popularity. The couple performed in front of famous artworks that the museum houses. These works include the Mona Lisa painting and the Venus de Milo sculpture.
Visitors can look forward to some of the Louvre’s upcoming events this 2019. Last January, the museum started an event called “Saturday Night Openings,” which offers free admission from 6:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. every first Saturday of the month. The initiative seeks to heighten the museum’s accessibility to the public.
Additionally, the Louvre will celebrate the 500th death anniversary of famous artist Leonardo da Vinci. A number of da Vinci’s drawings, in addition to his other artworks that are already displayed, will be featured at the museum starting October.