Ever since they opened in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art has been photographically documenting their exhibitions. After the displays were all set up, staff photographers would capture the scene. Well, this month the MoMA announced that they've spent years digitizing all of that stuff, and they're now posting it all online for free!

"Bauhaus: 1919–1928" - December 7, 1938–January 30, 1939

The shots are not close-ups of the work—and heck, you've already seen those images in your Art History or History of Design classes—but instead convey what the overall exhibitions looked like.

"Bauhaus: 1919–1928" - December 7, 1938–January 30, 1939

"Modern Architecture: International Exhibition" - February 9–March 23, 1932

Even better, they've scanned the exhibition guides that were printed up for their members. Some of these things are hundreds of pages long, providing a sort of freely-downloadable textbook on that particular subject.

"Machine Art" - March 5–April 29, 1934

"Machine Art" - March 5–April 29, 1934

At this point there's a whopping 3,537 exhibitions on their website, and they're still updating it.

"Architecture and Design: Inaugural Installation" - November 20, 2004–November 7, 2005

It's a lot to go through, but we're going to do some digging to find the best of the best in the coming weeks. If you yourself dive in and find one you think would be of interest to the Core77 reader, be sure to let us know in the comments!

"8 automobiles: an exhibition concerned with the esthetics of motorcar design," autumn 1951

Check it out here.

"20th Century Design from the Museum Collection" - December 17, 1958–February 23, 1959