MFA asks early birds to pay $200 to see ‘Clock’

The museum explains that the fee helps pay for the overnight party marking the event, and that ticket holders will get a chance to see other works in the new wing and enjoy food and drinks. But critics say the cost makes the opening night of “The Clock’’ too expensive for many art lovers to experience.

“Revolting,’’ said Ilona Anderson, an artist and the director of the Kingston Gallery and an assistant professor at The New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University. “If they want to cultivate an audience for contemporary art, they need to make it available. It shouldn’t be exclusive.’’

On opening night, visitors paying $200 will be allowed in the museum at 7 p.m., for the start of the 24-hour “Clock’’ cycle. As the night runs on, the MFA’s admission fee shrinks: It costs $100 to get in at 11 p.m., $50 at 3 a.m., and at 7 a.m., visitors enter for free as part of a community day. In addition, the MFA says that “The Clock’’ will be screening for a month afterward, available to those who pay the museum’s standard, $22 admission fee - though, of course, visitors will only see a portion of the full 24-hour experience.

The MFA says that it will organize another 24-hour screening before the end of the year - this one without the $200 price tag - but hasn’t set a date yet.

The issue, for critics of the unveiling plan, is that people eager to see “The Clock’’ have to pay or wait. The museum has had other big, opening parties, and it has even stayed open all night for a popular show. But never before has the unveiling of such a high-profile artwork been linked to a big ticket event such as the Linde Family Wing opening.

“To me, this demonstrates a larger institutional conflict between what a lot of contemporary art is and what a major institution like the MFA is,’’ said Kristina Wilson, an art history professor at Clark University.

If she had her way, “The Clock’’ would go on display for free or for the MFA’s standard admission fee. “Those would seem the best ways to celebrate the contemporary art wing,’’ she said. “This is not the wisest choice for the museum.’’