Picasso was very, very good for the Seattle Art Museum and King County.
The museum says a study it commissioned has concluded the Picasso show, which ran from Oct. 8, 2010, to Jan. 17, had an economic impact of $66 million, including $58 million in King County.
The show, Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, was the most successful in the history of the museum. It drew 405,000 visitors and pushed SAM membership to a record of more than 48,000 households.
The show came at a critical time for the museum, whose finances were in fragile shape and hoped that Picasso would change that.
The study, by William Beyers, a geography professor at the University of Washington, estimated that people who saw the Picasso show spent $22.7 million in King County on lodging, food, transportation and other items.