Museum of fine arts boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston was founded in 1870 but opened in 1876. A large portion of its initial collection came from the Boston Athenaeum Gallery. The museum is among the best in USA and houses an impressive collection of 350,000 art objects. These cover a wide cultural and artistic range such as the Egyptian artifacts, 18th and 19th century American art, Japanese pottery, French Impressionist works, Asian art since 4000 B.C, European art, and an eclectic textile collection. The Museum of Fine Arts is popular for its library and for one of the largest online art catalogs in the world.
A Brief History of the Museum
The Museum began operating in 1876 from a building smaller than the present structure. The Copley Square Building was designed as a Gothic revival style building of red brick and terracotta. By 1890, the museum required more space to accommodate its growing collection. In 1909, Guy Lowells neo-classical structure came up on Huntington Avenue with scope for future expansions. Since then, the museum has steadily expanded and added several sections.
1915: The Robert Dawson Evans Wing houses the paintings galleries and an auditorium
1921: The Rotunda and Colonnades murals were designed exclusively by the contemporary reputed artist John Singer Sargent
1927: The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, designed by Guy Lowell provided an upgraded classroom, library, and studio facilities for aspiring students and visitors. The building was renovated and expanded in 1987 to accommodate an auditorium, bigger library, studios, and classrooms, and increased area for a gallery and exhibitions.
1928: The Decorative Arts Wing took shape and displayed the European and American decorative arts in 50 galleries and period rooms covering three floors!
1970: The George Robert White Wing was built on the museums western side to house the research laboratory, dining area, administrative area, library, and educational facilities.
1981: Designed by I.M. Pei, this wing surrounds the spacious White Wing and provides gallery space for special exhibitions.
1997-1999: These years saw other additions that sought to make the museum more visitor friendly. The structures of this time include the Norma Jean Calderwood Courtyard, the Fraser Garden Court, and the Terrace Restaurant.
Commissioned in 1999, the new MFA will have improved sections for Art of the Americas, Art of Europe, Contemporary Art, a gallery for special exhibitions, and savvy conservation facilities.
Art collection
1. The Museums Art of the Ancient World section has a breathtaking collection of mummies, ceramics, and sculpture from the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Of special mention are the mummies and the collection of coins. The ancient Egyptian collection has items excavated largely from Egypt and Sudan. The Asian collection, ranging from 4000 B.C. covers Japanese, Chinese, Indian art and sculpture, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean ceramics, Japanese prints and metalwork, and Oceanic and African art.
2. The European painting and sculpture collection covers the period from the 7th to late 20th century and includes paintings done on panel, ivory, copper, canvas, as well as frescoes. This section can be split into five regional categories: British, French, Italian, Spanish, and Northern European painting styles.
• The British style includes names such as Turner, Reynolds, Constable, and Gainsborough.
• The French section covers 16th to 20th century works by Millet, Degas, Czanne, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, and Matisse. The French Impressionist section contains one of the largest collections of Monet outside Paris. One of the most popular paintings in this section is Renoirs Where Do We Come From What Are We Where Are We Going
• The Spanish art collection ranges from the 15th to 20th centuries with works by Goya, Velzquez, and Picasso.
• Paintings in the Italian section cover the period between late 13th to mid 20th century with names such as Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Titian, Tintoretto, Morandi, and Rosso.
• The Northern European paintings present an exciting and enlightening blend of Dutch, Flemish, German, Netherlandish, and Belgian paintings. The major painters represented in this section are Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Vincent van Gogh, and Hans Memling.
The importance and attraction of this section is set off by the huge banners of Renaissance and Baroque paintings that hang on the 40-foot walls of the William I. Koch gallery. The painters exhibited here include Claude Lorraine, El Greco, Rubens, Titian, Tintoretto, Van Dyck, Velzquez, and other artists of he period.
3. Barring a couple of other museums in the country, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has one of the best American Art sections in America. Works include those by John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, and John Singleton Copley. It also covers New England art, native to the area, American expressionist art from New York, pre civil war decorative art from New England, and period furniture. Some of the attractive objects on display are those representing Bostons favorite son Paul Revere in the form of silver teapots, sauceboats, and other kinds of exquisite tableware.
4. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Ancient Americas is displayed across three galleries and draws attention to non-western traditions in art and culture. Among other fascinating objects from these civilizations, one could take a close look at Mayan painted ceramics.
5. John Singer Sargents murals deserve special mention in this array of art and sculpture. His murals in the Rotunda and Colonnade combine three distinct art formspainting, sculpture, and architecture. The murals and relief in this area refer to various art forms and themes including contemporary social ethos and culture. The visitor entering the premises from the Huntington side is left gaping at the enormity of the enterprise that Sargent undertook before his death. No artist could have hoped for a more beautiful swan song.
6. The Museums Textile collection is an appropriate reflection of Bostons glorious days as a textile center of the country. The museums collection today stands at more than 27,000 objects from America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, as well latest haute couture of many continents and countries. The collection spurred the museum to become the countrys first museum to devote a department to artifacts related to textile. The huge collection includes Andean textiles, Japanese robes and other textile, European embroideries, Indonesian batik, Indian, Persian, and Turkish silk weavings, and the famed Elizabeth Day McCormick collection of needlework, prints, costume books, and other accessories.
7. The Musical instrument gallery contains another eclectic mix of instruments from across the world including those of the ancient civilizations.
While the collection grows and continues to enthrall people, the museum has archived its collection with more than 1,000 cubic feet of records form the administrative and curatorial departments. Along with the library, the archives provide valuable research material and knowledge of art and architecture, sculpture and textile of the ancient worlds and its modern counterparts. Though the fees seem to be steep, a walk along the galleries and their treasures is sure to make any bodys day.
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