The
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States. The Museum was founded in 1870 and opened in 1876, with a large portion of its collection taken from the Boston Athenaeum Art Gallery. It moved to its current location on Huntington Avenue in 1909.
Admission to the museum is charged but members can visit the museum's general collection without any further charge.
The museum's present site was commenced in 1907 when museum trustees hired architect Guy Lowell to create a master plan for a museum that could be built in stages as funding was obtained for each phase. The first section of Lowell???‚¬?„?s neo-classical design was completed in 1909, and featured a 500-foot fa???§ade of cut granite along Huntington Avenue, the grand rotunda, and the associated exhibition galleries. Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans then funded the entire cost of building the next section of the museum???‚¬?„?s master plan. This wing along the Fenway, opened in 1915, houses paintings galleries. In 1916 through 1925,
John Singer Sargent created the art that lines the rotunda and the associated colonnade. Numerous additions enlarged the building throughout the years including the Decorative Arts Wing in 1968 and the Norman Jean Calderwood Garden Court and Terace in 1997. This wing now houses the museum's cafe, restaurant, and gift shop as well as exhibition space.
Recently, the museum embarked on a major renovations project. This includes the construction of a new wing for Art of the Americas, redesigned and expanded education facilities, and extensive renovations of its European galleries, visitor services, and conservation facilities. The new wing is being designed by the London architectural firm of Foster and Partners and groundbreaking is scheduled for late 2005 or early 2006. In the process, the present garden courtyard will be transformed into a climate-controlled year-round glass enclosure.
Collection and exhibits
The museum contains an extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts including sculptures, sarcophogi, and jewelry.
The museum also is home to a large collection of
French impressionist works including
Paul Gauguin's
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (D'o???? venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? O???? allons-nous?) as well as works by
Manet,
Renoir,
Degas,
Monet, and others. There is an extensive collection of 18th and 19th century American art, including many works by
John Singleton Copley and
John Singer Sargent.
The Gund Gallery hosts temporary exhibits while a Japanese garden provides a quiet, contemplative space outside the museum itself.
The Museum also frequently hosts special exhibits, its most popular one being the
Monet show in 1998, which attracted over 565,000 visitors.
As of 2005, the museum is currently building a new wing and a number of standing exhibits are still in storage.