One in six Britons has never been to an art gallery

One in six Britons has never set foot inside an art gallery, according to a study.

Researchers who polled 2,000 people also found that half haven’t visited a gallery in the past two years.

It also emerged that almost a quarter of Brits are unable to name Van Gogh as the artist who painted Sunflowers.

And only one third identified Roy Lichtenstein as the artist who created Whaam! – with six per cent mistakenly attributing the artwork to the band’s late front-man George Michael.

The survey also showed three in five Brits rate their understanding of art as ‘poor’ or worse, with 44 per cent believing the art world is ‘elitist’ and one in ten admitting they feel galleries are ‘intimidating’.

Generation Z appears to be scratching their heads the most, as one in seven are unable to identify Pablo Picasso as an artist.

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And one in 10 named TV personality Alistair McGowan, famous for his celebrity parodies, as an example of the art impressionist movement.

Scott Phillips, founder of Rise Art which commissioned the study, said: ‘The research shows that many Brits seem to feel a disengagement with art due to the long standing perception of the art world and the more elitist “establishment”.

‘This is such a shame as it has never been easier to access, experience and enjoy fantastic art online.

‘Our aim at Rise Art is to bring great art to everybody, and make the extraordinary world of art more accessible.’

In a big bid to help mend Britain’s disconnect with art, a troupe of naked ‘human canvases’ paraded through the streets of London.

Five living versions of some of the world’s most famous artworks including Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Edvard Munch’s Scream were spotted outside the capital’s art hot spots, before taking a ride on the Tube and making their way across the Millennium Bridge.

The human canvases, created by award-winning body paint artist Sarah Attwell, were commissioned by online art platform Rise Art in a bid to bridge Britain’s disconnect with the art world and bring art directly to members of the public.

Rise Art’s human canvases took a team of five body paint artists over 12 hours to create, with the original artworks cleverly interpreted to remain recognisable while complementing the natural curves of the human body.

The application followed weeks of design development to ensure an exact representation of some of the world’s most loved and famed artworks.

Ms Attwell said: ‘I’ve worked on a number of large scale projects but this has definitely been one of my biggest challenges.

‘We’ve worked hard to ensure we do these incredible artworks justice and are so pleased with the results.

‘I’ve always grown up around art, so have been thrilled to partner with Rise Art to create something bold yet accessible and show that great art really can be for everybody.’

(Main picture: Rex)