Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

MFAH

Located in the heart of Texas’s largest city, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is a dynamic cultural complex consisting of two museum buildings, two art schools, two decorative arts centers, and a sculpture garden.

With its encyclopedic collection and an exciting schedule of international loan exhibitions and award-winning programs, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is one of the premier destinations in the United States for art lovers.

The MFAH Collections

The MFAH, with nearly 60,000 works of art, is an exceptional resource for learning about the visual arts from a worldwide perspective.

Each year, the MFAH is privileged to acquire outstanding works of art that reflect a wide variety of geographic regions and historic periods.

We invite you to experience the best of all worlds at the MFAH, symbolically traveling the globe through an amazing collection of art.

Gallery Talks and Tours

The MFAH offers a variety of gallery talks and tours to enhance our visitors’ experience in the museum.

Whether you visit alone, with family and friends, or in an organized group, you can explore the permanent collection and exhibitions; discover particular works of art in greater depth; and share ideas and connections.

Cell Phone Audio Tours

During your visit, access the museum’s audio tour program using your cell phone. Simply locate the works of art that feature the Guide by Cell logo, enter the guide number, and learn more about the art from artists, curators, and other experts.

Guide by Cell is free; the only cost is the minutes used on your phone.

The Audrey Jones Beck Building

Designed by architect Rafael Moneo, the Audrey Jones Beck Building opened to acclaim in March 2000. It represents the first major museum commission in the United States for Moneo, the 1996 recipient of architecture's highest honor, the Pritzker Prize.

The Beck Building lobby leads into a soaring, light-filled atrium, from which you can access the galleries on the other floors. Antiquities and European art are presented in 28 classically designed galleries on the second floor.

The Caroline Wiess Law Building

The museum's original building was designed in 1924 by William Ward Watkin in the popular Neoclassical style. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building — Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, the Caroline Wiess Law Building is one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.

The grand, open galleries of the Law Building provide an ideal space to exhibit the museum's collection of 20th- and 21st-century artworks. The Law Building is also a multicultural showcase, housing dazzling installations of Oceanic art, Asian art, Indonesian gold artifacts, and Pre-Columbian and sub-Saharan African artworks. Of special interest is the Glassell Collection of African Gold, the greatest assemblage of gold objects in the world.

The Light Inside

During the construction of the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the MFAH had the unique opportunity to commission site-specific art for the new space. Interested in transforming the walk between the Beck Building and the Law Building into an art experience, the museum invited the artist James Turrell to create an installation for that passageway.

Turrell is known for his inventive light sculptures that inspire a sense of wonder at how light affects both visual perception and emotional responses to the environment. For the museum´s new tunnel, Turrell created a light installation. The work turns the walls of the tunnel into vessels for conducting light. The walk between the Beck and Law buildings becomes an exploration of color and space.

James Turrell, The Light Inside, 1999, 2000.1. Museum commission, gift of Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson. © James Turrell

Lillie and hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden

Praised as the most beautiful acre in Houston, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden houses more than 20 masterworks from the MFAH and other major collections.

The peaceful garden, an extraordinary place for contemplating sculptures, was created in 1986 by renowned sculptor Isamu Noguchi. You can wander among works by some of the most acclaimed artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Just as Noguchi envisioned, the works engage in a dialogue with the garden, much as visitors to the garden interact with the sculptures.

An oasis tucked inside a teeming metropolis, the Cullen Sculpture Garden is widely appreciated as a haven for self-renewal. The sculpture garden also unites the pathways between the Caroline Wiess Law Building and the Glassell School of Art, establishing an environment dedicated to art.

An American Season

Feb. 14-August 29, 2010 – Included with CityPASS

Encounter five exhibitions by four intriguing artists during "An American Season" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The work of Maurice Prendergast, John Singer Sargent, Alice Neel, and Charles M. Russell comes together in a uniquely American gathering of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more.

(at left) John Singer Sargent, Madame Ramón Subercaseaux, c. 1880-81. Fayez Sarofim Collection; (at right) Alice Neel, Sam, 1958, oil on canvas. Estate of Alice Neel. Photo: Malcolm Varon.

Café Express

Spend a day at the MFAH and enjoy a break at Cafe Express, conveniently located on the lower level of the Audrey Jones Beck Building.

Whether it's a power breakfast, a leisurely lunch, a pick-me-up afternoon snack, or a light dinner, Cafe Express offers the best in freshly prepared food with an artistic twist.