Fewer Brits are visiting our top galleries – should we be worried?

As both the National Gallery and Tate disclose falling attendances from domestic visitors, could Britain be facing a new age of philistinism?The news that both the National Gallery and Tate have lost part of their British audience is proof that, as a nation, we do not love art anything like as much as we pretend. Historically, ever since Thomas Cromwell led the dissolution of the monasteries, Britain has distrusted art. The word was valued much more than the image. Then in the late 20th century