McMullen Museum of Art facts for kids
The McMullen Museum of Art is the art museum for Boston College. It is located in Brighton, Massachusetts, close to the main college campus.
Museum History and Home
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The museum first opened its doors in 1993. In 1996, it was officially named The Charles S. and Isabella V. McMullen Museum of Art. This was done to honor the parents of John J. McMullen, who was a generous supporter of Boston College and an art collector.
In September 2016, the museum moved to a new building at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue. This new home is much bigger! It has almost twice as much space for showing art. It also has modern lighting, walls that can be moved, and special controls for temperature and humidity. These features help protect the art and make it easier to display. The new building also has lots of storage for the museum's growing collection.
Even though it's a college art museum, the McMullen Museum creates amazing shows that are known all over the world. A writer from New York Times newspaper, Stephen Kinzer, said that the museum is a leader. It creates shows that "reach far beyond traditional art history." This means their shows help you understand art by also looking at history, politics, and culture.
Amazing Art Collections
The museum has a very large collection of art. This art comes from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. You can see beautiful old tapestries from the Gothic and Baroque periods. There are also Italian paintings from the 1500s and 1600s, and American paintings from the 1800s and early 1900s.
Some famous artists whose work you can find here include Amedeo Modigliani, Frank Stella, Françoise Gilot, Alexander Ney, and John La Farge.
In 2021, a kind investor named Peter Lynch gave 27 paintings and drawings to the museum. These included works by famous artists like Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and even Pablo Picasso. Mr. Lynch also gave $5 million to help take care of these artworks. This special group of art is now called the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection.
Exciting Art Exhibitions
The McMullen Museum has put on more than sixty art shows over the past twenty years. These shows are put together by experts from Boston College and other countries. Since it's a college museum, the goal of these shows is to help us learn new things about art history.
Here are some important shows the museum has hosted:
- "Carrie Mae Weems: Strategies of Engagement" (2018)
- "Cao Jun: Hymns to Nature" (2018): This was the first time Cao Jun's art was shown in the United States.
- "Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections" (2016)
- "Portugal, Jesuits, and Japan: Spiritual Beliefs and Earthly Goods" (2013): This show looked at how the Japanese people and the Portuguese, including traders and missionaries, interacted for almost 100 years starting in 1543.
- "Paul Klee: Philosophical Vision; From Nature to Art" (2012)
- "Pollock Matters" (2007): This show got a lot of attention. It had over 150 artworks, including paintings, drawings, and sculptures. It explored the connection between the famous American painter Jackson Pollock and the photographer Herbert Matter.
- A show about the Surrealist artist Roberto Matta (2004): This show was put together by professors from the college's language, art history, and theology departments.
- "Edvard Munch: Psyche, Symbol, and Expression" (2001): This was the biggest show of Munch's art in America since 1978.
- "Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and the Baroque Image" (1999): This show was a huge hit! Its main attraction was a famous painting by the Italian artist Caravaggio called The Taking of Christ. This painting was shown in North America for the first time after being found again. This exhibition made the McMullen Museum very famous around the world and brought in many visitors.
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See also
