One of the largest art museums on the east coast of the United States, Worcester Art Museum has an internationally-renowned collection of paintings, sculpture, decorative arts and photography. The story of Worcester Art Museum has been one of innovation, right from its opening in 1898 under the guidance of its founder and exceptional benefactor, Stephen Salisbury III. This was the first American museum to purchase work by Monet and Gauguin, and today the collection spans fifty centuries of Western and Eastern art and culture.