Harvard has a long history of excellence, but not just in the classroom. The school is also home to some the finest art collections in the world. Many of these amazing paintings are housed inside the Fogg Museum, the oldest of the three Harvard Art Museums. Opened in 1896, the Fogg Museum is renowned for its holdings of Western paintings, sculpture, decorative arts and prints from the Middle Ages to the present. Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals will discover a particularly large collection of Italian Renaissance, British Pre-Raphaelite, and 19th century French art as well. If you're a creative soul you'll love browsing the many exhibits at the Fogg Museum.

Renovating a work of art

In 2008, the building housing the Fogg Museum at 32 Quincy Street was closed for renovations. Since then, pieces from the Fogg collection have been on display inside the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at 485 Broadway. Construction continues at Quincy Street as a brand new museum complex is built to house the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum collections. The new facility will be designed by Renzo Piano and travelers in Massachusetts car rentals should expect it to open in 2011.

An amazing collection

Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals will discover six distinct areas of art within the Harvard Fogg Museum – American Art, Drawings, Modern Contemporary Art, Photographs, and finally, Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Each of these sub collections include a seemingly unlimited number of artworks; in fact, if travelers in Massachusetts car rentals were to view the entire Fogg Museum collection, they'd encounter some 25,000 original pieces! Here is just a quick synopsis of what you'll discover in each of the Fogg collections:

American Art: More than 3,000 unique objects, including miniatures, furniture and stained glass are included in this portion of the Fogg Museum.This collection also includes some 1,200 Harvard University Portraits, many of which are displayed throughout the campus. Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals may recognize works by influential artists such as Albert Bierstadt and Sanford R. Gifford. Works by Stuart Davis and Charles Wilson Peale are also included in the collection.

Drawings: Many of the drawings that are held by the Harvard Fog Museum are furniture designs from Renaissance artists. One superb example is Michelangelo's Goldsmith's Designs which is a permanent part of the collection. Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals may be surprised to learn that the Harvard Fogg Museum holds one of the nation's most impressive collection of drawings, including works in chalk, graphite, watercolor, and pastel.

Modern and Contemporary: Works in the Modern and Contemporary collection at the Fogg Museum span the last century and includes a great many pieces of European modernism. Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals will discover that the museum has strong holds in American modernism, including works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, and Marsden Hartley. Visitors will also have the pleasure of viewing works by Cezanne, Picasso, and Braque.

Photographs: Photography played a vital role in the rise of the modern university. This may be why the Harvard Fogg Museum now holds more than 7.5 million photographic images! This collection includes sub collections of Fine Art Photography, American Professional Photography, the Social Museum Collection, and a Collection by Ben Shahn.

Prints: The print collection at the Fogg Museum spans more than 600 years. There are nearly 60,000 different examples of prints within the collection, including works from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Works by Rembrandt are prominently featured in the collection, including The Three Trees.

Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts: This portion of the collection includes European works through the 1900s. Master artists in the collection include Vincent can Gogh, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Claude Monet.

Travelers in Massachusetts car rentals can learn more about the Harvard Art Museums online at www.harvardartmuseum.org. You can also contact the museums' head offices by phone at 617-495-9400.