Inside the MFAH Archive for 2014
“Inside the MFAH” provides perspectives, conversations, and opinions from insiders at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
A Holiday Look at “The Annunciation to the Shepherds” December 18, 2014
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the …
Lions, Tigers, and . . . Llamas? Exploring the Ancient American Cosmos December 5, 2014
The idea for the exhibition Fangs, Feathers, and Fins: Sacred Creatures in Ancient American Art began when I subscribed to International Wildlife as a teenager. Instead of boy-band posters on my bedroom wall, I had pages torn from this magazine. That’s what drew me to Pre-Columbian studies, to examine the cultures that existed in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. For …
Her Starfish Will Lure You In November 26, 2014
Artist María Fernanda Cardoso would like to remind us of something very important about starfish—they are animals, not objects. You may not see eyes when you look at them, but starfish are animals, just as humans are. “I realized that starfish have five limbs,” she says, “and we have five fingers, and I thought, oh my!” When we use our eyes to look at her installation Woven Water: Submarine …
Lightning Strikes: Installing “Albero folgorato” August 24, 2014
What does it take to install a 36-foot-tall, 2-ton sculpture in the heart of the Houston Museum District? Our newly acquired Albero folgorato tells the story.
Operating on Art: Treating Walker Evans’s “Banda Headdress” August 1, 2014
Like medical students completing their residencies in a hospital, graduate conservation students gain practical experience during their final year.
Looking Together July 25, 2014
A year ago, as I was interviewing for my position here at the MFAH, one of the biggest incentives for me was that I would get to oversee the Museum’s wonderful and growing programs for visitors with disabilities.The Museum offers two specialized tours: “Art Beyond Sight,” which serves the blind and visually impaired; and “Looking Together,” which serves adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease …
Endangered Animal? Assessing the Light Sensitivity of Walton Ford’s “Oso Dorado” July 2, 2014
Each year the Museum adds masterpieces to the collection through “One Great Night in November,” one of this institution’s largest fundraisers in support of art acquisitions. In 2013, the event acquired Oso Dorado, a monumental watercolor by American artist Walton Ford. Painted only a few months before “One Great Night in November,” the five-foot-wide work of art was in pristine condition, with all …
Please Touch the Art! A “Houston Penetrable” Primer April 23, 2014
This summer, the Museum’s Cullinan Hall is teeming with 24,000 hand-painted PVC strands, each two stories high, filling 2,600 square feet of gallery space. And you are invited to walk right into them. Not sure what to expect when you enter the Museum and see Soto: The Houston Penetrable, a monumental installation eight years in the making? Here’s a quick rundown. What is the Houston …
A Conservation Challenge: The Ceramic Robotics of Clayton Bailey February 19, 2014
California artist Clayton Bailey (born 1939) has devoted his career to comedy, science, and pseudoscience through the medium of ceramics. His 1977 work Monster (“Burping Bowl”), on view in Beyond Craft: Decorative Arts from the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection, is a cross between a pond-dwelling sci-fi monster and the childhood nightmare of someone living in the toilet bowl. A head …
