Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ( Museum of Fine Arts) in Massachusetts is one of the largest museums in the United States.
History
Already in 1807 arose with the Boston Athenæum a first device with use of museum in Boston. Founded by merchants, writers and politicians institution housed next to a library and gallery spaces for a fast-growing art collection. In 1870 came the founding of the Museum of Fine Arts, which was able to open his first museum building to mark the centenary of the United States on July 4, 1876. The basis of the collection was acquired from collection holdings of the Athenæum. In 1949 the director of the Museum of Fine Arts GH Edgell authorize the 1938 emigrated Frankfurt art historian Georg Swarzenski build as curator the medieval section of the museum. Swarzenski, a friend of Max Beckmann, until 1938 was director of the Städel Art Institute in Frankfurt am Main. His exhibition " Arts of the Middle Ages 1000-1400 " in 1940 attracted great attention and brought the Middle Ages the focus of attention of a large public. The medieval collection in Boston is the third largest of its kind in the U.S.. 1956 Georg Swarzenski retired, his successor at the Museum was his son Hanns Swarzenski, also a respected art historian. Through his close acquaintance with Max Beckmann, Alexander Calder and Henry Moore, he could give the department for contemporary sculpture some important works.
Building
The first museum building was designed by architects John Sturgis and Charles Brigham in the Gothic Revival style at the Boston Copley Square. The building opened in 1876, needed to be extended to 1879 and 1890 for the fast-growing collections of the Museum. In 1899, the museum's management decided to build a new museum at the Huntington Avenue, as at the previous location, no further expansion options were available. Is now the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel at the site of the old museum building.
In 1907, the architect Guy Lowell the contract to build the new museum building, which represents the core of today's museum complex. Designed in the style of classicism building was inaugurated in 1909 with a first phase of construction. It was financed by donations from the Boston population. Just two years later donated Maria Antoinette Hunt ( Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans ) over a million dollars for the construction of another museum wing. This also designed by Lowell building was inaugurated in 1915 and contains among other showrooms also an auditorium. Between 1982 and 1986, this area of the museum by IM Pei has been redesigned.
The painter John Singer Sargent was awarded in 1916 the contract for the design of the rotunda of the museum. Between 1921 and 1925, was a work of art from painting, sculpture and architecture ornaments. The museum belongs to art school ( School of the Museum of Fine Arts) in 1927 could move into a well -designed Lowell cultivation. In addition to a large lecture hall, a library, classrooms, studios and exhibition spaces here also a café is housed. The following year, the opening of the wing of decorative arts took place. In addition to over 50 exhibition rooms on three floors here was also a large courtyard and sculpture garden.
The Forsyth Wickes cultivation (1968 ) and the George Robert White Wing (1970 ) added the architect Hugh Stubbins the museum added more buildings. In 1981, the west wing of the architect IM Pei to be opened, which is mainly used for temporary exhibitions. In 1999, the architectural firm Norman Foster the mandate for the development of a master plan for the future museum design. The ambitious project for renovation and expansion of the museum has a volume of $ 500 million and is funded solely through donations.
The new West Wing ( Art of the Americas Wing ) was opened to the public on 20 November 2010 and attracted more than 13,500 visitors on this festive day, the Mayor Thomas Menino the "Day of the Museum of Fine Arts" explained.
Collections
Art from Africa, Asia and Oceania
The Africa collection shows masks, sculptures, utensils and jewelery mainly from West and Central Africa. Among the outstanding examples include wood carvings from the Congo and Nigeria.
The collection of art of Oceania includes works of art from the late 19th to the mid-twentieth century. The focus here is on the islands of Melanesia, including Papua New Guinea. In addition, works from Polynesia, the Marquesas and the Māori of New Zealand are shown.
The range of art from Southeast Asia exhibits art objects from the first millennium BC to the 19th century. These impressive sculptures from Java and Vietnamese ceramics.
The Art of Korea is in the museum represented by jewelry and ceramics from the period of the Three Kingdoms (approx. Nativity - 668 ), green glazed ceramics, gold plated silver vessels and other Buddhist objects, which for the court and the nobility during the Goryeo era ( 918-1392) have emerged as well as other works from the Joseon Dynasty ( 1392-1910 ).
Particularly extensive are the collections of Chinese art. From the Neolithic period to the present period spanning the exhibited objects. You can see many examples of Chinese ceramics, bronzes, paintings, calligraphy, textiles, stone sculptures and paint and jades.
Another focus of this department is the art of Japan. With more than 100,000 works of art by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has the largest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan. These include Buddhist art from the period before the eighth century, medieval scrolls, masks of the Noh theater, samurai swords, screens, textiles, woodcuts and prints, and paintings from the 15th to the 19th century.
The museum also has one of the most extensive collections of the U.S. with Indian art. In addition to numerous sculptures, paintings and decorative arts here are artifacts from the Hindustal, early Buddhist sculptures and miniature paintings mentioned.
Some bronze sculptures and paintings represent art from Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia, while Persian book illustrations and Turkish ceramics and metalwork represent Islamic art examples.
Antiques
In this section are works of art from 7,000 years of cultural history from Nubia, Egypt, the Middle East, the territory of modern Turkey, shown from Greece and Italy. In addition to architectural fragments, sculptures, paintings, vases and decorative art, the collection includes more than 8,000 ancient coins.
The museum displays numerous archaeological finds from Mesopotamia and Persia, a bust of Gudea of Lagash, a silver bowl of a Hittite king in the form of a clenched fist, a group of reliefs from the Assyrian palaces of Nineveh and made of glazed brick border lions from the Processional Way of Babylon.
The 45,000 objects comprehensive collection of Egyptian art has at its core the art of the ancient empire. Here, the museum has one of the largest collections outside Egypt, and led to the beginning of the 20th century over 30 years excavations in the necropolis of Giza by. But from the time of the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom and from Greek -Roman period has extensive holdings of the museum. On display are sculptures, sarcophagi, architectural fragments and papyri and objects of the minor arts.
In addition, many objects from the Nubian kingdom of Kush are shown, derived from its own excavations of the museum in southern Egypt and Sudan. These include colossal statues of kings and Aspelta Anlamani and shabtis from the grave of Pharaoh Taharqa.
Among the highlights of the collection of Etruscan art includes numerous ceramics, gold jewelry, bronze mirrors, colored terracotta brick and two stone sarcophagi.
Greek art is also represented with many objects in the museum. These include vases, sculptures, coins and jewelry from the Greek mainland, from Crete and from Cyprus.
Marble sculptures, coins, gems and cabaret are among the holdings of the collection of Roman art.
European Art
The extent of this division includes 24,000 objects of decorative arts and sculpture, as well as more than 1,600 paintings from the Renaissance to the present.
From the extensive collection of decorative arts especially the Department of English silver work is emphasized, which is represented by artists such as Robert Adam and William Kent. In addition, the museum displays a variety of European porcelain and French decorative arts of the 18th century.
Among the masterpieces of European sculpture from the 11th century to the present with such artists as Donatello, Jean -Antoine Houdon, Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin and Henry Moore.
Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable and William Turner are just some of the biggest names in the collection represented with British painting artists, while Francisco de Zurbarán, Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez and Pablo Picasso are available for Spanish painting.
The collection of Italian paintings is also well represented by works by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Fra Angelico, Sandro Botticelli, Titian, Rosso Fiorentino, Jacopo Tintoretto, Canaletto, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in the museum.
Among the most important artists of the Dutch and Flemish schools in the museum include the artist Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Jacob van Ruisdael Izaaksoon.
Of exceptional scale and high quality is the collection of French paintings of the 19th century. Both the Barbizon school as well as the Impressionist painters and late Impressionism, including some excellent works. The museum has the world's largest collection of works by the painter Jean -François Millet and the largest collection of works by Claude Monet outside of France. There are also images of Jean -Baptiste Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh.
American Art
The collection area of this section begins with gold work from pre-Columbian ceramics and Mayan. Particularly rich is the art of the United States. Already from colonial times, there are furniture, paintings and silver works. In so-called period rooms exemplary individual spaces of the respective American epoch are set up. In the field of arts and crafts objects from the workshop of Tiffany are emphasized. In addition to the painters of the Hudson River School, the artist John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer to see large groups of works in the museum. In particular, the collection of 19th century art is derived to a large extent by the art collector Maxim Karolik.
The museum houses an extensive collection of graphic art. Among the artists in this section there are Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francisco de Goya, Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Pablo Picasso. Particularly rich is the collection of watercolors by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maurice Prendergast, Edward Hopper. In 1924 the collection was created for photography. Here are especially works by Alfred Stieglitz, Josef Sudek, Yousuf Karsh and Herb Ritts to call.
Contemporary Art
Among the represented in the museum artists of the late 20th century include Chuck Close, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Anselm Kiefer, Cindy Sherman, Georg Baselitz, Francesco Clemente, Sigmar Polke, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol, Jonathan Borofsky, Mona Hatoum, George Segal, Rineke Dijkstra, Robert Mapplethorpe, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth.
Musical Instruments
In 1917 the Department of Musical Instruments was founded. The museum has over 1,100 musical instruments from antiquity to the present. In addition to European instruments, there are also objects from China, Japan, Africa, the Middle East and by the Native Americans. Besides a large collection of pre-Columbian flutes and ocarinas there is to see also a full -created in 1840 Javanese gamelan orchestra. Also large numbers of musical instruments from Thailand and Burma and American made are seen.
Textiles and fashion
Among the more than 27,000 objects of this Division include African textiles, tapestries, carpets from the Middle East, European and American fashion haute couture, Persian silks and Indonesian batiks. In addition, there are textile works from pre-Columbian and from Japan, as well as numerous accessories such as fans, hats and shoes.
Gallery
Rembrandt van Rijn: The Artist in his studio
Gilbert Stuart: George Washington
Édouard Manet: street singer
Edgar Degas: Racehorses at Longchamp
Claude Monet: Monet's Woman in Japanese costume
John Singer Sargent: The Daughters Boit
Vincent van Gogh: Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin