Australia's Picasso show draws record vistors

Picasso's masterpieces have attracted more visitors to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (NSW) in Sydney than ever, smashing an attendance record set in 1988, the Gallery said on Tuesday. Anne Flanagan, Acting Director for the Art Gallery of NSW, said more than 339,000 tickets had been sold for the exhibition. The most extensive exhibition of Picasso's art seen in Australia features 150 masterpieces by the most influential artist of the 20th century. The Gallery's record showed the 1988 exhibition Gold of the Pharaohs attracted 323,300 people. "With an average daily attendance of 2700 people, it means Picasso is now well and truly the highest attended exhibition in our history," Flanagan said in a statement on Tuesday. The exhibition, Picasso: masterpieces from the Muse National Picasso, Paris, closes on Sunday March 25. The Gallery said it would open late on Saturday March 24, offering more opportunity for people to see the exhibition before its closure.