The Gilded Dish: A Rienzi Blog
Rienzi is the house museum and collection of European paintings and decorative arts at the MFAH. Our articles highlight elements of the collection, discuss additions and changes to the house or gardens, and review events held at Rienzi for those of you not able to be here in person. Feel free to e-mail rienziblog@mfah.org with questions, comments, and suggestions. Welcome!
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07 JulThu / 2011
If you step into the Breakfast Room at Rienzi you might come across two guests of the house – Sir Francis and Lady Dashwood have been residing along the far wall for the past few months. Sir Francis and Lady Dashwood at West Wycomb Park, by Nathaniel Dance from 1776, is part of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Collection managed by the MFAH, and is on temporary loan to Rienzi.
We are lucky to host such a prominent...
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01 JulFri / 2011
One of the challenges in designing the interior of Rienzi’s foyer has been that the room is asymmetrical, with sharp bend midway down the hall. In order to preserve the look of an eighteenth century room, we sought to create a balanced the hallway featuring furniture and paintings from the Neoclassical era.
The foyer has traditionally featured a pair of gilded pier tables, one of the best examples of Neoclassical design in Rienzi’s collection. Just as...
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27 JunMon / 2011
Rienzi’s foyer has been a subject on the minds of the curatorial department for much of this year, with several renovations underway since January.
Filled with natural sunlight from the motor court, the room creates a lovely entryway for Rienzi’s guests -- but up until recently it has been quite unwelcoming to its artwork. Balancing the two has been something of a challenge for us.
The passageway we refer to as the foyer, was part of the 1972...
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27 JunMon / 2011
We were abuzz here at Rienzi on Saturday morning as about 20 applicants to the Rienzi docent program enjoyed a brief tour of Rienzi with some of our current docents; heard from Erika Arslan, our docent program manager; and had an opportunity to ask questions during the Docent Program Open House Coffee.
We have a thriving docent program at Rienzi (23 of our original 38 docents are still active!), and we’re looking to add more voices and...
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16 JunThu / 2011
This morning, Rienzi was bustling with children during one of our Summer Storytime Tours. Today we had 14 children enjoying stories read by docents Joan Bynum and Isabelle Chain, and by staff member Leah Arlen. They read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss, This is London by M. Sasek, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, How Loud is a Lion? by Clare Beaton, The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and many other books.
If you’re interested...
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