Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, privately funded museum of fine art, located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1870 by the Massachusetts Legislature, the museum opened to the public in 1876. Originally housed in Copley Square, the museum moved in 1909 to its current location in the Fenway district. The building was designed by American architect Guy Lowell and features a grand rotunda with ceiling paintings by American impressionist painter John Singer Sargent . The most recent addition to the building is its west wing, designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei and completed in 1981.

The museum is divided into nine departments: classical; Asiatic; ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern; European decorative arts and sculpture; American decorative arts and sculpture; paintings; contemporary; prints, drawings, and photographs; and textiles and costumes. The collections range from ancient history to the present and include such pieces as the silver Liberty Bowl created by Paul Revere, portraits of George Washington and Martha Washington painted by Gilbert Charles Stuart (the former is used on the United States one-dollar bill, and both are national treasures that are shared with the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., on a rotating basis), ancient Egyptian sculpture, work by the Italian sculptor Donatello, and a number of works by French impressionist Claude Monet. The gallery's exhibition space is 19,137 sq m (205,994 sq ft).

About 800,000 people visit the museum each year. In addition to its galleries, collections, and traveling exhibitions, the museum provides programs that include classes, lectures, concerts, and films for adults, children, and families.