The Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 The Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 and is located in downtown Philadelphia at 26th Street Northwest and Franklin Parkway, known as the third largest art museum in the United States. It is an ancient Greek temple-style building. The museum houses more than 300,000 works of art, including the most famous French Impressionist works, and is the largest collection in the United States. The museum has 20 exhibition rooms where various art crystals are displayed. Many Chinese artifacts are collected, such as the algal well of the Ten Thousand Buddha Pavilion in the Zhihua Temple in Beijing, which was purchased by the Americans in the 1930s and collected here. It also has a collection of many Chinese artifacts, such as the algal well of the Wanfo Pavilion in the Zhihua Temple in Beijing, which was purchased by the Americans in the 1930s and is housed here.