Canadian Company Behind Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition Files for Bankruptcy

The Canadian company behind popular immersive art exhibitions featuring the work of Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Gustav Klimt, and Claude Monet, has recently filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the US.

The Toronto-based Lighthouse Immersive Inc. submitted the legal filing in Delaware on July 28 along with its affiliates. The filing protects the company’s assets in the United States while insolvency proceedings take place in Ontario.

Lighthouse’s website says it operates in 21 cities in North America and has sold more than 7 million tickets to its exhibitions.

The company’s Corey Ross attributed the popularity of its experiences to novelty. “I have been experiencing art in art galleries since childhood and the presentation has more or less stayed the same—paintings on the walls with labels,” he told Artnet News last year. “The public is extremely curious to experience a new genre, and one they have seen it done well they love it.”

While the van Gogh exhibition is the most well-known immersive experience produced by Lighthouse Immersive, the company has recently launched displays featuring animation from the Walt Disney Company (12 cities, including Tokyo), the music of Mozart, and the art and architecture of the Vatican City in Rome.

Prices for individual tickets at for Lighthouse Immersive exhibitions in the US ranged from $22 to $37.

The filing was first reported by Bloomberg News.