‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’: The Numbers
Photo: Getty Images
All hail McQueen: The Met's "Savage Beauty" exhibit drew 661,509 visitors.
By now, we’ve all heard about those dedicated museum goers who spent up to five hours in the rain to catch a glimpse of "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" at the Met—but the wait time isn’t the only outrageous stat of the record-breaking show.
The final attendance count for the show, which opened May 4, 2011, was 661,509—the eighth biggest show in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s history, according to the New York Times, and the biggest of its Costume Institute exhibitions. (Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, in 2008, drew 576,000 attendees.)
Those who didn’t want to brave the lines could purchase museum memberships—a tactic taken by over 23,000 people, while another 17,000 people bought special tickets that would enable them at see the exhibit on Mondays (when the museum is typically closed). Those tickets went for $50 a pop.
As for the catalog, a gorgeous tome showing McQueen’s clothes on real models digitally manipulated to look like mannequins—more than 100,000 copies were sold (the list price is $45, and the book is currently backordered on the Met’s Web site.)
And that’s without even factoring in that little armadillo shoe…
In related news, check out the star-studded opening night festivities of the exhibition.
