BRISBANE.- Seventy-one striking paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art are on their way back to New York after the Queensland Art Gallery’s ‘American Impressionism and Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from The Met’ exhibition closed on Sunday September 20.

Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said the exclusive exhibition had attracted more than 104,000 visitors since opening on May 29, making it the sixth highest attendance for a ticketed exhibition at the Gallery.

‘This is a fantastic result for a display of American impressionist and realist paintings that were previously unfamiliar to most Australian audiences,’ Mr. Ellwood said.

‘In addition, another 25,000 children visited the free Met for Kids lounge and over 7000 people attended the eight-week Friday night Met Up Late series, which featured some of Australia’s leading musicians in exclusive intimate performances on the Gallery’s Watermall.

‘This world exclusive for Brisbane joins recent record-breaking exhibitions such as ‘Andy Warhol’ and ‘Picasso and his Collection’, among the most popular exhibitions ever shown at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.

‘To be one of the few galleries in the world to work with New York’s prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art will have enormous future benefits for the Queensland Art Gallery’s reputation in international visual art circles.

‘The Gallery is committed to bringing exclusive international exhibitions of this calibre to Queensland that in addition to the cultural and educational benefits, contribute to the economy and our profile as a cultural tourism destination.’

Mr. Ellwood said this exhibition had been received very positively by audiences and critics alike.

‘It has been a great privilege to introduce some of the most important American paintings of this era to Australian audiences,’ he said.

‘I am delighted that the exhibition has returned national and international attention back to the original Queensland Art Gallery, after the opening of our second site, the Gallery of Modern Art, three years ago.

‘The Australian collection will now return to display in the international-standard galleries that received a $2.58 million renovation in preparation for housing the Met exhibition,’ Mr. Ellwood said.

The Gallery now prepares for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, which opens at both the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery on December 5.

The APT series is the only recurring exhibition in the world to focus on the contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific including Australia.