Inside the MFAH Archive for 2016


“Inside the MFAH” provides perspectives, conversations, and opinions from insiders at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.


  • Thanks for a great year! December 29, 2016
    We hope you had a great year. We did, thanks to you. Press play, and enjoy!
  • Bayou Bend Christmas Village 2016 - parents in Spiegeltent
    Making Holiday Magic, One Track at a Time December 15, 2016
    For the past three months, Steve Pine, senior conservator of decorative arts, has been hard at work constructing a model train set from scratch. He spoke with me about the process behind this magical work, which made its debut at the center of the Spiegeltent for this year’s Christmas Village at Bayou Bend. How did you create the model train set?I built the support and wired up the electrical …
  • FOR BLOG POST ONLY - Degas self-portrait in library
    Curator Malcolm Daniel Provides a Snapshot of Degas December 12, 2016
    Few people know that late in life, when his paintings and pastels were already famous, Edgar Degas briefly took up photography. Some 20 of his surviving photographs are featured in the exhibition Degas: A New Vision. Malcolm Daniel, the Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, spoke with me about Degas’s photography. What was the psychological connection between events in Degas’s life …
  • Lonely Are the Brave
    Celebrate Kirk Douglas’s Centennial with MFAH Films! December 7, 2016
    Happy birthday to legendary actor Kirk Douglas, who turns 100 on December 9! To celebrate his centennial, we’re screening Lonely Are the Brave, a 1962 Western he cites as one of his personal favorites. Here’s a nice bit of trivia: This movie had its world premiere at a theater in Houston! With a screenplay adapted by legendary writer Dalton Trumbo—a friend Douglas had just collaborated with …
  • Bosch blog post - Marian Luntz & Jim Clifton
    Behind the Scenes with Bosch: Curators in Conversation November 28, 2016
    Five hundred years after his death, Hieronymous Bosch (c. 1450­–1516) still inspires viewers with fantastical paintings that were the subject of a recent exhibition in his hometown of 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. A new documentary on the exhibition, “Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil”—which screens at the MFAH on December 3 & 4—relates to a painting on view in the MFAH galleries: “ …
  • artisans french restaurant interior - for degas
    Who Needs Leftovers? Go French for “Degas: A New Vision” November 26, 2016
    We all love pumpkin pie and stuffing, but Degas: A New Vision has us in a French mood—and what’s more French than a good meal and wine? The MFAH has partnered with local eateries to enhance your experience of the exhibition; Jacques Fox, chef/owner of Artisans Restaurant in Midtown, created a “Tribute to Edgar Degas” menu, and Jaime Salazar, chef at Brasserie 19 in River Oaks, chose to serve up …
  • Ballet Academy blog - dancer with 14 year old dancer sculpture
    Dancing with Degas November 18, 2016
    Edgar Degas was the first artist to specialize in depictions of the ballet, and he returned to the subject of dancers throughout his career. He portrayed the reality of backstage in vibrant pastel studies, complex paintings, bronze sculptures, and sketches of split-second moments of a dancer’s motion. The many ballerinas on view in Degas: A New Visiongot some like company recently, as Houston …
  • CS Blues
    Happy Birthday! MFAH Films Celebrates Robert Frank November 1, 2016
    Happy birthday to Robert Frank! He turns 92 on November 9 and is still one of the coolest guys I know. Our Museum has had the privilege of working with this venerable photographer and filmmaker for years. He is well represented in our permanent collection, and we’ve distributed his films since the 1980s. His birthday has inspired us to screen two films you won’t see anywhere else in town: a new …
  • FOR HALLOWEEN 2016 BLOG ONLY - Moche
    Happy Halloween! Spooky Art Lurks in the Galleries October 28, 2016
    The Halloween spirit lurks in the MFAH galleries at every turn. Keep an eye out for dancing witches, scary skeletons, and creepy symbols—if you dare. Helen Levitt, New York, 1939 Location: Beck Building, 1st floor
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    Photographer Helen Levitt roamed the streets of New York, capturing unguarded moments of children at play—including this Halloween-ready masked trio, on loan for the special …
  • Ima Hogg with author David Warren
    The Curator and the Collector: David B. Warren Shares His Unique Perspective October 26, 2016
    March 5, 2016, marked the 50th anniversary of Bayou Bend’s opening to the public. We’re celebrating throughout the year with blog posts offering behind-the-scenes perspectives on this cultural and historical Houston treasure. David B. Warren’s connection to Bayou Bend began in 1965, when Ima Hogg(1882–1975) hired him as curator just months before the new house museum was to open to the public. …