Museums are institutions established for social service and public development. Museums are opened to the public for their study and research purposes. Art museums or galleries are used for exhibiting art works, mainly visual arts, illustrations, paintings, sculptures and prints.
History of Fine Art Museums:
The world's first public fine art museum was in Florence. It was called the Uffizi Gallery. Initially it was meant as a palace for Florentian magistrates; later it was converted into a display gallery for the paintings and sculptures belonging to the Medici family or those commissioned by them. The gallery was opened to public viewers on request. From 1765, the Uffizi Gallery was formally opened for public viewing. The first museum to allow public visitors was the British Museum, which made it available to the public from 1759. The Louvre Museum in Paris is the world's largest Fine Art Museum. The origin of museums is in the private collections of wealthy socialites or art institutes. The artifacts or rare objects owned by the families or institutes were displayed in a special room called wonder room or “cabinets of curiosities”. Public access to these rooms was restricted among friends or acquaintances. Most of the early public museum tours could be afforded only by the middle class or upper class people. Nowadays art museum tours can be afforded by everybody. Most museums have free entry. In the present time, art museums are responsible for contributing knowledge and help in research.
Working of a Fine Art Museum:
The museum is generally managed by a director who has a staff of curators working under him. The curators are responsible for taking care of the objects and display arrangements. Large museums often have a research division that is involved in study of artifacts and art works. Education departments within a museum provide visitors with materials necessary for interpretation of the displayed objects. The director answers to a governmental department or a board of trustees. Objects in a museum are obtained by various means. The museum either organizes expeditions to acquire items or they trade with other museums or individual collectors for a particular object. Many objects of the museum are bought at auctions.
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