Matisse exhibition breaks attendance record at Tate in London

A recent exhibition devoted to Henri Matisse’s cut-outs broke attendance records at the Tate Modern in London, the museum announced Monday.

“Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs” drew 562,622 visitors during its five-month run, making it the most popular exhibition ever held at Tate and the first to see over half a million people, the museum said. The average daily attendance was 3,907 visitors.

“Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” which ran from April 17 to Sept. 7, focused on the French artist’s late-period pieces from 1937 to 1954, during which he worked primarily on cutouts, which involved cut paper. The show is scheduled to open at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Oct. 14.

The Tate said that the previous record holder was the 2002 exhibition “Matisse Picasso,” with 467,166 visitors. That show ran for only three months.

A Damien Hirst exhibition in 2012 drew 463,087 visitors to the Tate. That show ran for about five months.

“It is testament to the power and accessibility of Matisse’s work that the exhibition has captured imaginations of visitors of all ages throughout the spring and summer this year,” said Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, in a news release Monday.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT