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Opening and Closing in July

A very eclectic mix of shows this month, and we're starting with an exhibition that's not art at all, but of vital interest to everyone. The Science Museum is investigating the Future of Food , looking at new advances in growing, making, cooking and eating it. On from July 24 to January 4, it's free, though you need to book. Oh, and you get to see this 3,500-year-old sourdough loaf..... At the Lowry in Salford, they're offering a double bill of Quentin Blake and Me & Modern Life: The LS Lowry Collection . The show about Blake, who's written or illustrated more than 500 books, looks aimed at a family audience, while the Lowry exhibition includes borrowed works, marking the Salford arts centre's 25th anniversary. On from July 19 to January 4, and entry is again free, though you need to book a timeslot.  Another anniversary this year is the 250th of the birth of Jane Austen; among the exhibitions around the country is one in Winchester, the city where she died ...
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Leonardo Draws the Crowds Across the UK

The exhibitions of Leonardo da Vinci drawings from the Royal Collection at 12 galleries around the UK are drawing such crowds that they are set to break attendance records.

The show marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield has produced a "fantastic response", Museums Sheffield said this week. "In the first 19 days since we opened we’ve welcomed over 25,000 visitors through the doors, which sets it on track to become the Millennium Gallery’s most popular exhibition ever."

Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery reported the highest daily attendance figures of the eight museums that responded to our inquiries. It saw 18,408 visitors in the first 12 days after the displays opened simultaneously around the country on February 1.
Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery also reported more than 1,150 visitors a day, with a cumulative total of 19,603 by February 17. The Ulster Museum in Belfast reported 16,576 visitors by February 18, with 3,347 last weekend. Almost half of those going to the museum are visiting the Leonardo show.

The numbers may not be quite as high at some of the other venues, but Derby Museum & Art Gallery said it hasn't "ever experienced anything like the numbers of visitors coming through our doors." It counted almost 10,500 people by February 19, putting visitor numbers up 132% on the same period of 2018.

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery said its Leonardo was so far the busiest ticketed show it's had going by daily or weekly average visitor numbers, with 6,800 visitors by February 18. Bristol is charging for entry to its display, in contrast to most of the other venues, though students and under-25s go free on Wednesdays. 
Meanwhile, Southampton City Art Gallery said it had seen attendance at more than 20% of its normal yearly visitor numbers in the past three weeks. The National Museum in Cardiff said its display, for which there's also an admission charge, had drawn 7,187 visitors up to 17 February, an average of 479 a day, on a par with another Leonardo exhibition it hosted in 2007.

Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing is also on at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery and Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens. Each display, running until May 6, features 12 drawings from the Royal Collection. All the drawings and more go on show at the Queen's Gallery in London starting in late May, with a selection at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from November.

Images

Leonardo da Vinci, A star-of-Bethlehem and other plants, c. 1506-12, on display at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. Royal Collection Trust. © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018
Leonardo da Vinci, Cats, lions and a dragon, c. 1517-18, on display at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Royal Collection Trust. © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

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