Rienzi Notes

Continuing Studies Course
Rienzi: A Treasure House of
European Decorative Arts

Co-sponsored by the MFAH and the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University

Click here to get all the details and to register online.

Love Tokens: Portrait Miniatures from the Caroline A. Ross Collection
The exhibition will feature portraits by European and American miniaturists from the 18th and 19th centuries.

On view at Rienzi and the MFAH beginning November 2007

More info

Rienzi: A Family's Legacy

Opened to the public in 1999, Rienzi is the center for European decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Comprising a remarkable art collection, a house, and gardens, Rienzi was given to the museum by arts patrons Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III.

This handsome residence, named for Rienzi Johnston, Mr. Masterson's grandfather, is situated on 4.4 acres in Homewood Addition, surrounded by Houston's River Oaks neighborhood. The structure was designed in 1952 by John F. Staub, the same architect who designed Bayou Bend.

Rienzi served as both a family home and a center for Houston civic and philanthropic activity from its completion in 1954, through Mrs. Masterson's death in 1994, and until Mr. Masterson's death in 1997.