The Louvre announced on Thursday (January 3) that in 2018 it saw 10.2 million visitors: not only a record number for the French museum, but for any museum worldwide, ever. The figure is up 25% from 2017 and easily smashes the Louvre’s previous record of 9.7 million, in 2012.
In a press release, the Louvre partly credits the boost in visitors to “the recovery of tourism in France” and its flagship exhibition, Delacroix (1798–1863). However, it also mentions The Carters’ “Apeshit” video, in which Beyoncé and Jay-Z pose in front of some of the gallery’s notable artworks, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (ofc).
In fact, the music video – from the musicians’ first album as a duo, Everything Is Love – was so notable that the Louvre decided to offer a tour based on it. It’s safe to say that there’s a pretty good chance that it helped the gallery’s attendance figures.
Read the Dazed summary of the video’s artworks and looks.