About the Museum
With over a million visitors annually, the MMFA is one of Canada and North America’s most visited museums.
Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
1,174,680
visitors annually
346,952
participants in educational ans cultural activities
107,035 Members
58,246 memberships
The Museum’s original temporary exhibitions combine various artistic disciplines—fine arts, music, film, fashion and design—and are exported around the world, while its rich encyclopedic collection, spread across five pavilions, comprises international art, world cultures, contemporary works, decorative arts and design, and Quebec and Canadian art.
The Museum has seen exceptional growth in recent years with the addition of two new pavilions: the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion, in 2011, and the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace, in 2016. The MMFA complex also includes Bourgie Hall, a 462-seat concert hall, as well as an auditorium and a movie theatre.
The MMFA is also one of Canada’s leading publishers of art books in French and English, which are distributed internationally. Furthermore, the Museum houses the Michel de la Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy, the largest educational complex in a North American art museum, enabling it to offer innovative educational, wellness and art therapy programs.
Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace
Photo © Marc Cramer
A bold, innovative and inclusive Museum
Through its activities and initiatives, a vibrant, engaged and multidisciplinary MMFA strives to forge ties with the public, its members and its partners.
Humanae, a monumental human mosaic by Brazilian photographer Angélica Dass
Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
The MMFA ranks first among Canadian art museums in its number of visitors and memberships.
1,174,680
visitors in 2019
1st
among Quebec’s most visited museums
2nd
in Canada
11th
in North America
60th
in the world
Canada’s oldest
art museum
18th largest
museum in North America in terms of size
5 pavilions
with a total area of over 53,095 m2
1st
in terms of membership with over 108,618 Members
346,952
participants annually in educational, cultural and wellness activities
The story of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1860-2016, 156 years of history
Founding
(1860-1910)
James L. Weston, about 1815–1896, active in Canada, View of the Art Association Building, Phillips Square, Montreal, Coloured photolithograph (cover page of Canadian Illustrated News, May 31, 1879), 30.4 x 28.2 cm (sheet), 24.4 x 24 cm (image). Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bronfman Fund for Master Graphics.
1860
Establishment of the Art Association of Montreal (the first art museum in Canada) to “encourage an appreciation of the fine arts amongst the people of the city.”
1879
Opening of the first Art Gallery in Montreal’s Phillips Square.
Notman & Sandham, The 1879 Art Gallery, Phillips Square, main gallery, detail of the hanging arrangement, 1879, albumenized paper. McCord Museum, Montreal. Purchase from Associated Screen News Ltd. Inv. VIEW-1051.1. Photo McCord Museum, Montreal
Mission
(1910-1950)
Wm. Notman & Son
Edward Maxwell, architect (detail), 1913, black and white photograph. Archives, MMFA.
Wm. Notman & Son
Edward Maxwell, architect (detail), 1913, black and white photograph. Archives, MMFA.
1912
Relocation of the Art Gallery to a new building on Sherbrooke Street (today’s Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion).
Wm. Notman & Son, The Art Association’s new Art Gallery, Sherbrooke Street, the Sherbrooke Street facade (detail), 1913, Gelatin dry plate. McCord Museum, Montreal. Purchase from Associated Screen News Ltd. Inv. VIEW-13052. Photo McCord Museum, Montreal.
1916
Creation of the department of decorative arts and traditional arts, establishing its mission as an encyclopedic museum.
Identity
(1950-1970)
1950
The Art Association is renamed the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Picasso, exhibition poster, 1964. Archives, MMFA.
1960
Celebration of the Museum’s centennial and the democratization of art, including, for the first time, support from benefactors in the French-speaking community.
1961
Creation of an education department.
Democratization
(1970-1990)
1972
The Museum’s status changes from a private institution to a mixed non-profit corporation.
Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion, exterior view. Photo: MMFA, Denis Farley.
1976
Opening of a second pavilion (today’s Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion).
1980
A turning point in the Museum’s history, with unconventional exhibitions such as Tintin (1980) and Leonardo da Vinci (1987) attracting new audiences.
Opening up to the World and a multidisciplinary approach
(1990-2010)
Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
1991
Opening of the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, the Museum’s third.
1994
Création de la Fondation du MBAM pour recueillir des fonds privés et assurer un financement à long terme par des dons capitalisés.
Liliane and David M. Stewart (detail), 1981–82, colour photograph. Archives, Macdonald Stewart Foundation.
1997
The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, founded by Liliane and David M. Stewart in 1979, takes up residence at the Museum; it will merge with the MMFA in 2000.
Tiffany Studios, New York, Angel of the Resurrection, leaded-glass window, about 1931, 190 x 63 cm, after a 1904 design by Frederick Wilson. Erskine and American Church, Montreal.
2008
The Arte Musica Foundation is created and takes up residence at the Museum.
Exponential expansion
(2010-2016)
Photo: Bernard Fougère
2011
Opening of the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion, the Museum’s fourth, as well as the inauguration of the Bourgie Concert Hall; major reinstallation of 4,000 works in the Museum’s four pavilions.
Michel de la Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy
Photo © Marc Cramer
2012
Creation of the Michel de La Chenelière Art & Education StudiO, doubling the facilities for educational activities.
Michel de la Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy
2016
Over 1 million visitors, 107,000 members and 300,000 participants in educational, cultural and community activities.
An engaged, humanist Museum
(2016-2020)
Inauguration of the Pavilion for Peace, the Museum’s fifth, which houses 700 works of international art, from Old Masters to modern pieces, including those of the Hornstein donation.
Expanded spaces for family, educational and community activities; addition of art therapy programs.
Reinstallation of 2,500 works from the World Cultures, Decorative Arts and Design collections in the other pavilions.
The museum team
The contributions of our multidisciplinary team are key to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ growth and expanding influence. We work together as a group to ensure you a bold, innovative and inclusive museum.
Staff Directory
Agendrix, gracious supplier of the Museum’s personnel management software.
Board of Trustees
Michel de la Chenelière
Alix d’Anglejan-Chatillon
Roger Fournelle, B.A.A., LL.B.
Michaela Sheaf
Joe Battat
Clare A Chiu
Jonathan Deitcher
Sylvie Demers
Marcel Elefant
Sari Hornstein
Jean Houde
L’honorable Serge Joyal, c.p., O.C.
G. Pierre Lapointe
René Malo, C.Q., dr.h.c.
Stéphanie Marchand
Lillian Mauer
Alanis Obomsawin
Jessica Pathy, CPA auditeur, CA
Jacques Parisien
Rémi Quirion
Julia Reitman
2018-2019
Annual report
