The Philadelphia Museum of Art, located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, was founded in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year and is now among the largest and most important art museums in the United States. Originally the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, its inspiration was the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) in London, which grew out of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The museum opened its doors to the public on May 10, 1877. Its current building, on which construction began in 1919, saw its first section completed in 1928.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is particularly known for its important collections of Pennsylvania German art, 18th century and 19th century furniture and silver by early Philadelphia and Pennsylvania craftsmen, and works by prominent Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins. The museum houses the most important Eakins collection in the world.

Besides its architecture and collection, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is well known for the role it played in a famous montage in the film Rocky. Visitors to the museum can often be seen mimicking Rocky's famous run up the front steps.

External links

Philadelphia Museum of Art Web Site (http://www.philamuseum.org)