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State Hermitage, Russia

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The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second-largest art museum in the world, it was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. Stretching over 700,000 square feet, The State Hermitage museum, located in St. Petersburg, is one of the largest museums in the world, second only to the Louvre in sheer size. Boasting around 4.1 million visitors, it is not only the main tourist attraction in St. Petersburg, but also the 8th most visited museum in the world. Established in 1764, the museum houses over three million pieces making it the largest display of paintings in the world. The museum exhibits pieces from world famous artists such as Picasso, Da Vinci and Rembrandt. The State Hermitage Museum, places highly in the global reputation rankings, with a score of 81.4%. It also ranks 2nd for the quality of its collection. However, The
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Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

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Founded in The Hague in 1800, The Rijksmuseum then moved to Amsterdam in 1808. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. In 2013 the museum was reopened after a ten-year renovation project which cost €375 million. It displays 8,000 artefacts of art and history, and houses a collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000. Amongst this collection are masterpieces from world famous artists such as Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. The Rijksmuseum is only the 17th most popular art museum globally, attracting around 2.5 million visitors each year. The high global rankings of the two prominent Dutch museums (Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum) can partly be explained by the positive image of The Netherlands and of the city of Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum scores high on the three reputation drivers that evaluate the attractiveness of the collection. It also scores well on two other key drivers of reputation: societal relevance a
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Van Gogh Museum, Netherlands

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Dedicated solely to the work of Vincent Van Gogh, the Amsterdam based museum attracts over 2 million visitors annually. Established in 1976, it has the largest collection of Van Gogh artwork worldwide, possessing 1,300 pieces, including his iconic paintings  Sunflowers ,  Self-Portrait  and  The Potato Eaters . Although it is only ranked 31 st  in the most visited art museums globally, the Van Gogh Museum takes second place for its global reputation ranking, with a score of 81.9%. The Van Gogh museum is most highly appreciated in Europe, topping the continent’s ranking with a marginally higher reputation than the Louvre. However, its ranking was less consistent in other regions, with Asia, for example, scoring it 15 th . The museum ranks well within four reputation drivers, placing 1 st  for its governance, 2 nd  for contribution to society and 3 rd for both its collection and its qualities as a workplace. Despite being one of the younger museums in the rankings, it is the 5 th  m
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The Louvre, France

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Located in Central Paris, and originally built as a fortress in the 12 th   Century, the Louvre is one of the oldest art museums in the rankings, opening its doors in 1793. Not only is the Louvre the largest museum in the world, but it is also the world’s most popular too, boasting over 7.3 million visitors in 2016 alone. Ranking highest in all five key reputation drivers regarding its collection, the Louvre has over 38,000 artefacts in eight specific departments, with its most iconic being Leonardo Da Vinci’s   Mona Lisa. The Louvre tops the rankings for global reputation, with a score of 84.3%, despite placing second within Europe, behind the Dutch Van Gogh Museum. It is highly regarded for the quality of its collection, contribution to society and its leadership in the museum world, ranking top for all three of those specific areas. The Louvre is proof that there is a correlation between the familiarity of a museum and its reputation, with 63% of participants being aware of it,
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Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them

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The world’s biggest companies invest huge sums of time and money in reputation management. And yet, when measured, art museums have demonstrably better reputations than even the most well-regarded businesses in the world. A recent research project conducted by myself and Patricia Heijndijk from the University of the Netherlands to rank the world’s leading museums by reputation demonstrates that, despite their best efforts, organisations the world over have a lot learn from how museums cultivate a positive public image.   By adapting “RepTrak”, an established tool used to measure the reputations of the world’s best known companies, we conducted interviews with over 12,000 individuals – both museum visitors and non-museum visitors. We asked about the galleries themselves, the collections, their role in the local community, and what they did to educate and inform society, amongst much else – and the results were stark. While the fact that France’s Louvre topped our list might
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The History of ‘The Great Wave’: Hokusai’s Most Famous Woodblock Print

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H okusai’s  The Great Wave off Kanagawa  is one of the world’s most celebrated works of art. A prime example of the  ukiyo-e practice , this Japanese print has inspired artists and viewers for nearly 200 years. While  The Great Wave  is instantly recognizable, many may not know of its history, including its surprising evolution, role within a series, and even its lasting legacy.  The Great Wave off Kanagawa  is a  yoko-e  (landscape-oriented) woodblock print created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai during the Edo period. It is the first piece in  Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji ,  a series of ukiyo-e prints showing Japan’s tallest peak from different perspectives. In this piece, Mount Fuji is seen from the sea and framed by a large, cresting wave. This swell dominates the canvas, dwarfing both the mountain and a trio of boats and inspiring the title of  The Great Wave .   Hokusai’s Precursors While this print is Hokusai’s most famous depiction of a wave, it is not the onl
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