The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston was founded on February 4, 1870. On July 3, 1876, the MFA opened the doors of its first building on Copley Square. The museum reopened in its present Guy Lowell–designed, neoclassical structure on Huntington Avenue on November 2, 1909. In May 1999, the MFA commissioned renowned architectural firm, Foster and Partners, based in London, U.K., to design a new Master Site Plan, which was unveiled in February 2002.
The development of the MFA’s Ancient American collection, which numbers some 1,100 pieces, was largely the work of Trustee Landon T. Clay and Lavinia Clay. Their gifts of works of pre-Columbian art—in particular their gifts of gold works in 1971 and 1975, and a donation in 1988 of a superb group of Maya polychrome ceramics—have created a collection of outstanding beauty and depth.
The collection of Native American works from North America was assembled through museum purchases and gifts. These include gifts from museum founder Charles G. Loring, artists Laura F. Andreson and Margaret Craver Withers, the Seminarians; and other friends of the MFA’s Art of the Americas Department. Though not large, this collection began in 1877 and has been especially active since the mid-1980s. It is very strong in Pueblo objects, ancient Southwestern ceramics, and Pacific Northwest works.
The museum also has an important collection of tribal musical instruments, including examples from Africa, Oceania, Native North America, and pre-Columbian and Native South American cultures. The core of the collection was formed in 1917 with the gift of the Francis W. Galpin Collection of musical instruments. The Oceanic collection is small but of generally good quality and contains some material from the Hooper Collection. The African collection is largely the result of the efforts of William and Bertha Teel, who have donated part and loaned the rest of their substantial collection to the MFA.