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The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 35,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day, representing cultures from all over the world. The WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is the second largest art museum in New England. The WAM also has a café, museum shop, library, and a year-round roster of classes for children and adults. == History == In September 1896 Stephen Salisbury III and a group of his friends gathered together to created the Art Museum Corporation. Salisbury then gave a tract of land, on what was once the Salisbury farm (now fronting Salisbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts), as well as $100,000 USD to build an art museum. The museum was designed by Stephen C. Earle, a Worcester architect, and formally opened in 1898.〔(New Art Museum ). New York Times. July 6, 1902. Retrieved February 21, 2011〕 The museum's collection at this point consisted largely of plaster casts of "antique and Renaissance" sculptures as well as a selection of 5,000 Japanese prints, drawings, and books, willed to the museum from John Chandler Bancroft, son of John Bancroft.〔 In 1905, Stephen Salisbury died and left the "bulk" of his five million-dollar estate to the museum.〔(Salisbury's Bequests ). November 21, 1905. Retrieved February 21, 2011〕 The Worcester Art Museum continued to grow and slowly gathered a world-class art collection. The WAM became the first museum in the United States to purchase works by Claude Monet as well as Paul Gauguin. The museum was also the first institution to transport a medieval building, a chapter house, from Europe and install it in America.〔(Massachusetts Museums Offer Art, Science. ) Daily Gazette. June 13, 2003. Retrieved February 24, 2011〕 Between 1932 and 1939, the Worcester Art Museum joined a consortium of museums and institutions to sponsor expeditions to the archaeological sites where the city of Antioch once stood. This group of museums, including Princeton University, the musée du Louvre, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Harvard University's affiliate Dumbarton Oaks, discovered hundreds of intricate floor mosaics. the Antioch mosaics as they are now known, were split up among the institutions The WAM received many mosaics including the ''Worcester Hunt'', which now is installed in the Renaissance Court's floor.〔(Worcester Art Museum Restores Border Panels to Worcester Hunt, Largest Antioch Floor Mosaic in America ). Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved January 26, 2011〕 On May 17, 1972, The Art Museum suffered a major theft of artwork. Two men wearing masks entered the museum just before closing and shot a guard in the side.〔(Suspects in Art Theft Face Court on June 1 ). The Telegraph. May 23, 1972. Retrieved February 21, 2011.〕〔(Thieves Take Art Works. ) Victoria Advocate. May 18, 1972. Retrieved February 21, 2011〕 The two men stole ''The Brooding Woman'' and ''Head of a Woman'' by Paul Gauguin, ''Mother and Child'' by Pablo Picasso, and ''St. Bartholomew'' by Rembrandt, a collection of works worth over one million dollars.〔 Four individuals were charged with the theft as well as the theft of seven artworks stolen from the Boyden Library at Deerfield Academy.〔 Beginning in the 1990s, the WAM began renovating all of its galleries.〔(Worcester Art Museum unveils modern art exhibit ). Boston Herald. February 19, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2011.〕 Beginning with the European galleries and then the Chinese Decorative Arts Gallery,〔 the museum then moved onto its Early American Galleries, and Art Since the Mid-20th Century Galleries.〔Sheehan, Nancy. (20th century redux at Worcester Art Museum: ‘Art of our time’ back at WAM ). Worcester Telegram and Gazette. February 17, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2011.〕 The Art Since the Mid-20th Century galleries had been closed for about a decade before they were reopened as part of this program. The renovation of there two galleries cost 85,000 USD and included new flooring, lighting, wall refinishing, and some conservation work.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Worcester Art Museum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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