Montreal Museum of Fine Arts facts for kids
 |
|
| Established | 23 April 1860 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1380 Sherbrooke West Montreal, Quebec H3G 1J5 |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 1.3 million (2017) |
| Public transit access |   at Peel at Guy-Concordia |
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, also known as the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (MBAM or MMFA), is a famous art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the biggest art museum in Canada when you look at how much space it has for showing art. You can find the museum on Sherbrooke Street West, in an old and important area called the Golden Square Mile.
The museum has five different buildings, called pavilions. Together, they cover a huge area, with lots of space just for art exhibitions. In 2016, a new building opened, making the museum one of the largest art museums in North America. By 2013, the museum's permanent collection had about 44,000 artworks. The museum also has Canada's oldest art library, which started as a "reading room" for an art group.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is part of a special group called the Bizot Group. This group helps big museums around the world share artworks and exhibitions with each other. The museum was started in 1860, making it the oldest art museum in Canada. In 2020, it was the most visited art museum in the country.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Museum Started
The Art Association of Montreal was created in April 1860 by Bishop Francis Fulford. Its goal was to help people in the city learn about and enjoy fine arts. At first, the Art Association did not have a permanent home. This meant they could not keep artworks they bought or ask collectors for donations. For about 20 years, they held their art shows and exhibitions in different places around Montreal.
In 1877, a Montreal businessman named Benaiah Gibb gave a wonderful gift to the Art Association. He donated 72 paintings and 4 bronze sculptures. He also gave them a piece of land on Phillips Square and $8,000. This money was for building a new museum on the land within three years. On May 26, 1879, the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, opened the Art Gallery of the Art Association of Montreal. This was the first building in Canada ever built just to hold an art collection.
The Art Gallery at Phillips Square had an exhibition room, a smaller room for drawings and prints, a lecture hall, and a small art school. The building was made bigger in 1893. The Art Association held yearly shows for its members and a Spring Salon for Canadian artists. Benaiah Gibb's generous gift made people very interested in the museum. Because of his gift, many more people started donating artworks.
Moving to Sherbrooke Street West
The museum soon became too small at Phillips Square. The Art Association decided to move to the Golden Square Mile, where many rich families lived. They chose the site of an old house on Sherbrooke Street West for the new museum. Senator Robert Mackay, who owned the land, agreed to sell it for a good price. A group was formed to plan the new museum's construction. Many members of this group, like James Ross, gave a lot of their own money for the building. The old Phillips Square location was torn down in 1912.
The museum committee held a contest to choose an architect. They picked the design from brothers Edward Maxwell and William Sutherland Maxwell. They designed a beautiful building in the Beaux-Arts style, which was popular at the time. Construction started in 1910 and finished in 1912. On December 9, 1912, the Governor General of Canada, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, opened the new museum on Sherbrooke Street West. About 3,000 people came for the special event.
The Museum in Modern Times
In 1949, the Art Association of Montreal changed its name to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. This new name better showed what the museum was all about. In 1972, the museum became a semi-public institution, meaning it received most of its money from the government.
The museum grew bigger in the 1970s. In 1976, the Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion opened. This building has a modern design with concrete structures. It houses nearly 900 objects of decorative art and design. Most of these objects were given by Liliane and David M. Stewart, which is why the building is named after them. The collection includes furniture, glass, silverware, textiles, ceramics, and industrial design items from many different countries and times.
In the mid-1980s, the museum planned another big expansion. This led to the building of the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion. In 1991, this third building opened on the south side of Sherbrooke Street. It was built with money from the government and from businesses, especially the Desmarais family. The design of this building included the front of an old apartment-hotel that used to be on the site.
Art Thefts at the Museum
The museum has experienced two art thefts. On September 4, 1972, a major theft happened. Thieves took jewelry, small statues, and 18 paintings. These artworks were worth a lot of money at the time. The stolen paintings included works by famous artists like Delacroix, Gainsborough, and a rare Rembrandt landscape. One painting was returned, but the rest of the stolen art has never been found. The people who committed the theft were never officially identified.
Later, the museum used insurance money from the theft to buy a large painting by Peter Paul Rubens. However, years later, experts found that the paint used in it was mixed after Rubens had died. This meant the painting was likely made by his students, not by Rubens himself.
Another theft occurred on September 3, 2011. A visitor took a small Roman marble head from its display. The thief got away before anyone noticed it was gone. About eight weeks later, a similar theft happened. A sandstone carving of a guard's head from ancient Persia was also stolen. These two artworks were valued at $1.3 million together. In 2014, the Persian carving was found in Edmonton, Canada. The Roman head is still missing.
Museum Buildings (Pavilions)
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is made up of five main buildings, or pavilions:
- The Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion (built in 1912): This is the original building, designed in the Beaux-Arts style. It now focuses on archaeology and ancient art.
- The Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion (built in 1991): Located across the street, this modern building houses the museum's collection of modern and contemporary art.
- The Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion (built in 1976): This building is dedicated to decorative arts and design.
- The Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion (opened in 2011): This pavilion used to be a church built in the 1890s. It was made into a museum space to show Quebec and Canadian art. It has beautiful Tiffany stained glass windows.
- The Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace (opened in 2017): This newest pavilion is home to the museum's international art collection.
With these five buildings, the museum has a total area of over 53,000 square meters, with 13,000 square meters just for showing art. This makes it one of the largest art museums in North America.
| Pavilion | Size (square meters) |
|---|---|
| Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion (1912) | 5,546 m2 (59,700 sq ft) |
| Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion (1976) | 9,610 m2 (103,400 sq ft) |
| Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion (1991) | 22,419 m2 (241,320 sq ft) |
| Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion (2011) | 5,460 m2 (58,800 sq ft) |
| Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace (2017) | 4,363 m2 (46,960 sq ft) |
| Sculpture Garden | 2,033 m2 (21,880 sq ft) |
| total: | 48,528 m2 (522,350 sq ft) |
Art Collection
The museum's art collection has grown over many years thanks to generous gifts. In 1892, John W. Tempest left 60 paintings and a special fund to buy more art. This fund was the main way the museum bought European paintings until the 1950s.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many important Montreal families had large art collections. Some family members later donated parts of these collections to the museum. In 1927, over 300 objects, including 150 paintings, were given by the family of Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.
In 1917, the Art Association of Montreal started a department just for decorative arts. Frederick Cleveland Morgan led this department for free until he passed away in 1962. He added more than 7,000 pieces to the collection through purchases, gifts, and donations. He also helped the museum become an "encyclopedic museum," meaning it shows all kinds of art, not just traditional fine arts.
Since 1955, the museum has received money from the Horsley and Annie Townsend legacy to buy Canadian and international artworks. Many other gifts have come from new donors. For example, in 1959, Joseph Arthur Simard gave a collection of 3,000 Japanese incense boxes that once belonged to a French leader, Georges Clemenceau.
In 1960, to celebrate 100 years since the Art Association of Montreal was founded, the museum published a catalog of its artworks and a guide. Important contributions have also been made by Renata and Michal Hornstein since the 1970s. They have given works by Old Masters and a large collection of drawings by the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler.
These gifts have made the museum's collections much wider. A big moment was in 2000, when the modern design collection from Liliane M. Stewart and David M. Stewart became part of the museum. Liliane M. Stewart donated over 5,000 objects to the museum's collection.
Museum Connections
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is connected with other important groups. These include the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Bellas Artes de Montreal para niños
- Culture of Montreal
- List of art museums
- List of largest art museums
- List of museums in Montreal
