Museum of Fine Arts

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Museum of Fine Arts

Museum of Fine Arts Boston, chartered and incorporated (1870) after a decision by the Boston Athenæum, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pool their collections of art objects and house them in adequate public galleries. The first building was opened in 1876; the present one, designed by Guy Lowell, in 1909. The museum's West Wing, designed by I. M. Pei , opened in 1981. The museum is supported entirely by private contributions and endowments.

Its collection of art from India is considered to be the finest in the United States. The museum's collections of Chinese and Japanese art are also outstanding. The Egyptian wing, housing the Way Collection, includes Old Kingdom sculpture unrivaled except in Cairo. The painting galleries are notable for many examples of Spanish art and are particularly strong in works by American artists; 18th-century portraitists, especially Copley and Stuart, are magnificently represented. The museum owns many canvases by John Singer Sargent as well as his mural decorations in the rotunda. The silverwork of Paul Revere is shown in quantities unequaled elsewhere. There is also a rich collection of graphic art.

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"Museum of Fine Arts." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Museum of Fine Arts." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 25, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MuseumFi.html

"Museum of Fine Arts." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MuseumFi.html

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BMFA

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations | 1998 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

BMFA Boston Museum of Fine Arts

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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "BMFA." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. Oxford University Press. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "BMFA." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. Oxford University Press. 1998. Retrieved December 25, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-BMFA.html

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Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Boston Museum of Fine Arts see Museum of Fine Arts , at Boston, Mass.

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