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The Denman Waldo Ross Society was established in 2003 to honor individuals, corporations, and foundations who assist the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the critical goal of continuing to grow and enhance its world-renowned collections.
Gifts to the Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection support the acquisition of works by American artists of color.
Provenance Research
The study of provenance is a traditional part of art historical research, as an object’s chain of ownership can inform a scholarly understanding of the work of art itself: its function, condition, and its place in the history of taste and collecting.
The MFA’s procedures and policies relating to acquisitions and provenance
Conservation and Collections Management
Conservation and Collections Management is an integral part of the Museum's stated purpose to hold its collections in trust for future generations.
Conservation Project: Greek Vases
Conservation Strategy A condition survey in 2004 showed that close to half of the ceramics in the Museum's Late Archaic and Early Classical Greek gallery were physically unstable. Many of the ceramics, assembled from fragments, were heavily restored before they came to the Museum in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After more than a century, they were in dire need of conservation. All of the vessels required cleaning and many were plagued with failed adhesives, soluble salts, and discolored restoration paints.
Asian Conservation Studio
The Asian Conservation Studio is one of only five such studios in the United States and the oldest outside of Asia. The studio was established in 1907 within the department of Asiatic Art during Okakura Kakuzo’s curatorship. Headed by a Japanese mounter named Motokichi Tamura, its initial mission was to preserve Japanese paintings.