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CHAPTER 03 · 1870 → 2026

A century and a half of collecting & conservation.

Founded in 1870 and opened to the public on July 4, 1876 — the nation's centennial. From Copley Square to today's Beaux-Arts complex on Huntington Avenue, the MFA has continually reshaped what an American art museum can be.

FIG. 007 · COPLEY SQUARE BUILDING · 1876 STURGIS & BRIGHAM

Five thousand objects in a Copley Square gallery.

The original Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1870 by an act of the Massachusetts legislature. Six years later, on July 4, 1876, it opened its doors at Copley Square in a Sturgis-and-Brigham-designed building that would become an icon of the Back Bay. The collection at opening totaled some 5,600 works.

Over the next three decades the holdings and the public outgrew the building. In November 1909, the museum reopened on the historic homelands of the Massachusett people — its current site on Huntington Avenue — in a Beaux-Arts building designed by Boston architect Guy Lowell.

SECTION II · TIMELINE

A timeline of building.

Renovations, wings, and reinstallations — the buildings have grown around the collection as fast as the collection itself.

1870

Museum founded

An act of the Massachusetts legislature establishes the Museum of Fine Arts.

1876

First doors open at Copley Square

On July 4, 1876 — the United States centennial — the MFA opens to the public in its Sturgis-and-Brigham-designed building. The collection contains roughly 5,600 works.

1909

Move to Huntington Avenue

May 1909, the Copley Square building closes. In November the MFA reopens in a new Beaux-Arts building on Huntington Avenue, designed by Boston architect Guy Lowell. The site stands on the historic homelands of the Massachusett people.

1915

Evans Wing for Paintings

February 1915 — the Evans Wing opens, completing the second section of Guy Lowell's 1907 master plan.

1921—25

John Singer Sargent murals

Sargent completes his ambitious mural program — incorporating sculpture and architectural ornamentation — for the museum's Rotunda (1921) and Colonnade (1925), now known as the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Rotunda and Colonnade. The murals are restored and conserved in 1999.

1927

School of the Museum of Fine Arts

September 1927 — a new building for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (today the SMFA at Tufts University) opens on the Fenway, designed by Guy Lowell.

1928

Decorative Arts Wing

November 1928 — the Decorative Arts Wing opens on the east side of the museum to house an extensive collection of European and American decorative arts.

1970

George Robert White Wing

Designed by Hugh Stubbins, the wing opens on the west side, providing new space for the conservation laboratory, library, restaurants, education, and administration.

1981

I.M. Pei's West Wing

July 1981 — Pei's West Wing opens, incorporating a major gallery for special exhibitions, an auditorium, restaurants, and shops.

1999—2002

Foster + Partners master plan

May 1999 — Foster + Partners (London) is commissioned to develop a master site plan, unveiled in February 2002. The plan reorients the museum, restores its original entrances, and adds a new wing for the Art of the Americas.

2008

Building the New MFA

June 2008 — the Fenway Entrance reopens for the first time since the early 1980s, alongside a new Sharf Visitor Center. September 2008 — the campaign concludes, raising $504 million; the final steel beam is "topped off."

2010

Wing for the Art of the Americas

November 20, 2010 — the Wing for the Art of the Americas and the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard open with a free Community Day. Four levels and 53 galleries trace the art of the hemisphere from pre-Columbian to contemporary.

2011

Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art

September 2011 — Pei's 1981 West Wing reopens as the Linde Family Wing, with seven new contemporary galleries plus the existing Foster Gallery. The same year, RIBA names the MFA among 13 buildings worldwide to receive a 2011 RIBA International Award.

2021

Center for Netherlandish Art & Behrakis renovation

November 2021 — the Center for Netherlandish Art and six new galleries of Dutch and Netherlandish art open. December 2021 — major renovation of the Behrakis Wing reopens with five new galleries for ancient Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire.

2022—23

Conservation Center, Buddhist Temple Room

November 2022 — public opening of the Conservation Center: 22,000 square feet of renovated space and six laboratories in the Linde Wing. Early 2023 — the Buddhist Temple Room and the broader Asian art renovation are complete.

SECTION III · MISSION · ADOPTED 2024

"Where many worldviews meet, new ways of seeing, thinking, and understanding emerge."

— from the museum's mission statement

A museum for all of Boston.

The MFA today is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world, with a collection encompassing nearly 500,000 works across 13 curatorial areas — from Africa and Oceania to ancient Egypt, the Americas, Asia, and contemporary practice. More than 100 galleries are open to the public.

Beyond exhibitions, the museum sustains a Conservation Center, a school in partnership with Tufts University, and dozens of community programs each season — gallery talks, lectures, studio art classes, film, music, and free admission days for Boston students.

Explore the collections