History

In 1900, a women’s volunteer organization shared a love of art with school children in Houston by taking art reproductions into classrooms. The idea of collecting original works of art took hold, as did the aspiration of opening an art museum in Houston. Land was acquired at Main Street and Montrose Boulevard, and the first iteration of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, opened in 1924. Over the door, the public could read this inscription: “ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE USE OF THE PEOPLE.” The original Museum had a collection of 60 works of art.

 

Now, more than a century later, the MFAH is one of the top art museums in the country, and its collection holds nearly 80,000 works of art. What began as a focus on European and North American art has become an encyclopedic collection that also includes Asian and African art, Latin American art, Pre-Columbian and African gold, art of the Islamic worlds, Judaica, decorative arts and design, photography and video, works on paper, costumes, and textiles.

 

The 14-acre campus features three buildings for the display of art: the Caroline Wiess Law Building (renamed in 1998), the Audrey Jones Beck Building (opened in 2000), and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building (opened in 2020). In addition, the Museum campus includes the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, the Glassell School of Art, and the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza. Nearby are two house museums: Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, and Rienzi.

 

In the years since the original building opened, the MFAH has truly become a place for all people, and it reflects the international diversity and dynamism of the city of Houston.