Where are the numbers? Counting museum visitors in France

ABSTRACT

In the early twenty-first century, the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world. Yet little is known about how visit numbers to French museums developed. Compared to the Anglo-Saxon world, the collection and publication of visit data began late and was initially far from systematic. Some figures were collected in the late nineteenth century, but correspondence from the early twentieth century indicates that not even the Ministry of Fine Arts, overseeing the National Museums, was always aware of them. More complete numbers appeared from 1922 when entrance fees were introduced. However, visitors entering on free days were not yet counted. In the 1930s, data collection for the National Museums was systematized by the Directorate of National Museums, but figures were rarely published. The aim of this article is, therefore, to establish the sources that might be used for a quantitative approach to museum visiting in France and to reflect on the reasons for the initial indifference towards the counting of visitors and the standardisation with international practices over time. The article argues that the triggers for changes in the culture of counting in France were both internal and external. A prolonged debate about the introduction of entrance fees took place from the start of the Third Republic to the interwar years and let to the search for existing numbers in France and abroad. The Fine Arts Administration compiled data about practices in other countries and a number of monographs on the subject were published. The press also frequently referenced foreign examples. These documents provide a fascinating insight into comparisons and emulation of foreign practices at the time, allowing us to rethink the modern obsession with counting as the result of a transnational process.

KEYWORDS:

• Museums
• France
• transnational models
• visit numbers
• longitudinal data

Notes on contributor

Astrid Swenson is Professor of History at Bath Spa University. Her research focuses on heritage, museums and material culture since the late eighteenth century. Her publications include The Rise of Heritage: Preserving the Past in France, Germany and England, 1789–1914 (Cambridge University Press 2013) and edited with Peter Mandler From Plunder to Preservation: Britain and the Heritage of Empire, c. 1800–1940 (Oxford University Press 2013).

Notes

1 The old signatures that were consulted in the Louvre have been cited; these are maintained in the catalogue at the AN. Citation of new signatures indicates consultation after the transfer to AN.

2 To the idea of the “museum for the many” discussed for Britain by Selwood (2018b) corresponds in France the slogan of the “museum for all”, derived from the campaign for “Le Louvre pour tous” coined when Sunday fees were dropped at the end of the twentieth century.

3 Conversion from Ancient Franc (1921) to Euro (2017) via INSEE, https://www.insee.fr/fr/information/2417794. Conversion Euro to Sterling via Oanda.

4 1 Lira corresponded in 1867 to £1.20 Sterling and £1.15 in 1899 (Federico & Tena Junguito, 2018) According to the inflation calculator of the Bank of England (n.d.) this would amount to £127.83 and £140.12 in 2017 respectively. However, if the purpose of the analysis is to compare absolute worth over time rather than relative worth than a comparison of what the same amount could buy in terms of consumer goods and services is more adequate. Here no direct comparison between nineteenth century Lira and current value in Sterling could be found in the literature, but Edvinsson (2016) can provide an indication: 1 Italian lira in 1899 could buy the same amount of consumer goods and services as 4.31 Euro could buy in Sweden in 2015 (when it exchanged at roughly 0.77 to Sterling as compared to the current 0.89). In terms of labour power 1 lira would correspond to 52.596 Euro in 2015. Alternatively 1 Italian lira could have bought 0.274 gram gold, which amount to 9.22 Euros in 2015. In contrast, the gram silver the 9.423 gram silver it would have bought were worth 4.282 Euros in 2015.