When the Art of the Americas Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston opened last November, that was only the beginning of the museum’s transformation. Now the west wing, or Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, in the museum’s I.M. Pei-designed building, is being renovated. And one potential casualty of the project is the museum’s bookstore, which has long served a dual purpose as both an art bookstore and a general bookstore for the Huntington Avenue neighborhood. The store is slated to close in a week for a general updating.
Although the store will reopen at the end of August—in advance of the west wing’s grand opening in mid-September—it is not certain just how much space will be devoted to books. That’s despite the endorsement of authors like Patti Smith, who told a standing room-only audience that it is one of the best bookstores that she has ever been in. Like many museum shops and general bookstores, the MFA bookstore supplements book sales with a broad array of gift items, including $5,000 glass pieces by Chihuly that museum goers can pick up as a memento from his show, which opened last month.
Until the renovation is completed a newly opened retail shop next to the museum’s Huntington Avenue entrance will have a large display table of new titles.
