The Lopez Memorial Museum was founded on 13 February 1960 by Don Eugenio Lopez, Sr. in honor of his parents, Benito Lopez and Presentacion Hofileña. Don Eugenio built the museum in order to provide scholars and students access to his personal collection of rare Filipiniana books, manuscripts, maps, archaeological artifacts, and fine art.

The Museum's art galleries house paintings by 19th century Filipino masters, Juan Luna y Novicio and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. Luna and Hidalgo both garnered honors for their country when the paintings they submitted to the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid won the Filipino some international recognition in the field of fine arts.

The galleries also house selected works by 20th century National Artist, Fernando Amorsolo, who gained prominence during the early Thirties and Forties as the painter who popularized the era's rustic Philippine landscape and the lovely dalagang Filipina. Throughout the years, the museum has acquired paintings by many of the country's National Artists including Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Vicente Manansala, H.R. Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, and Arturo Luz. Important artists such as Fernando Zobel, Nena Saguil, Juvenal Sanso, Macario Vitalis, Jose Joya And Romeo Tabuena are also represented in the museum's ever expanding collection. The museum is equally proud of its largely under-rated pieces from Juan Arellano and Dominador Castañeda.

Among the museum's other treasures is an initial collection of 14th and 15th century artifacts recovered in the Calatagan burial sites. The Calatagan excavations opened new areas of study on the culture and civilization of the early Filipinos. The Museum's share in the diggings which Don Eugenio financed consists chiefly of porcelain of Chinese origin, Filipino earthenware, beads and a few Annamese and Siamese pieces.