The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum globally, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas. With more than 1.2 million visitors a year, it is the 52nd–most visited art museum globally as of 2019. Founded in 1870 in Copley Square, the museum moved to its current Fenway location in 1909. It is affiliated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.
Collection
The Museum of Fine Arts possesses materials from various art movements and cultures. The museum also maintains a large online database with information on over 346,000 items from its collection, accompanied by digitized images. Online search is freely available through the Internet. The collection of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts is the largest in the world outside of Japan. Anne Nishimura Morse, the William and Helen Pounds Senior Curator of Japanese Art, oversees 100,000 total items, including 4,000 Japanese paintings, 5,000 ceramic pieces, and over 30,000 ukiyo-e prints.
The base of this collection was assembled in the late 19th century through four men, Ernest Fenollosa, Kakuzo Okakura, William Sturgis Bigelow, and Edward Sylvester Morse. Each of them had spent time in Japan and admired Japanese art. Their combined donations account for up to 75 percent of the current collection. In 1890, the Museum of Fine Arts became the first museum in the United States to establish a collection and appoint a curator specifically for Japanese art. LadyB’s Bed Bug Pros Boston
Libraries
The libraries at the Museum of Fine Arts collectively house 320,000 items. The William Morris Hunt Memorial Library’s main branch is named after the noted American artist. It is located off-site in Horticultural Hall, two stops away on the MBTA Green Line. The main library is open to the public, and the catalog can be searched online.
CAMEO
The Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO) is a database that “compiles, defines, and disseminates technical information on the distinct collection of terms, materials, and techniques used in the fields of art conservation and historic preservation.”
Restaurants and Pubs
- Back Bay Social is located at 867 Boylston St, Boston, MA
- Sufra Mediterranean Food is located at 52 Queensberry St, Boston, MA
- Bukowski Tavern is located at 50 Dalton St, Boston, MA
- Lansdowne Pub is located at 9 Lansdowne St, Boston, MA
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