The Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are second and third place in a ranking of 18 of the world’s top cultural institutions compiled by researchers at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University. The Louvre in Paris topped the list.

The study, led by professor Cees van Riel, surveyed 12,000 people from 10 different countries and compared the opinions of people who had visited the museums with those who knew about them by reputation.

Van Riel has been examining the reputations of Dutch museums for several years but this is the first large-scale comparison of international art institutions.

The study study identified seven drivers of reputation: products and services, innovative capacity, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and financial performance.

Reputation

The top eight of the top 10 museums with the best reputations are European. The list also includes the Vatican museums, Madrid’s Prado, and the British Museum.

‘Reputation is vitally important for an organisation, because, simply said, it provides a licence to operate,’ Van Riel said.

The ranking itself is unimportant, Van Riel said. ‘People love art museums, they love their collections, they love what distinguishes them from others.’

The researchers also found there was a link between the reputation of the institution and the city is is located in. ‘If you have a sky high reputation as a country, it is easier for your museum to be appreciated,’ he said.

Museums, he added, are also appreciated for the contribution to society, in maintaining heritage and providing education.