Inside the MFAH Archive for March 2017
“Inside the MFAH” provides perspectives, conversations, and opinions from insiders at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
#5WomenArtists on View Now March 30, 2017
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we remind you to get out and enjoy works of art created by women! This list highlights just five women represented in the MFAH collections, but you’ll find many more as you stroll through the Museum, Bayou Bend, and Rienzi, or browse our online collection. We hope this spotlight helps you answer the question, “Can you name #5WomenArtists?” …
Handling “Ron Mueck”: An Interview with Chief Preparator Dale Benson March 24, 2017
The sculptures in the exhibition Ron Mueck may look like real people, but they didn’t walk into the Museum’s galleries off the street. Just ask Dale Benson, the Museum’s chief preparator—or art handler—whose job was to help orchestrate the placement of the 13 works of art in the galleries. We chatted about what it was like to install the show, which, as Benson put it, is “all about scale.” How …
Mary J. Greenfield Smith’s Window into American History March 22, 2017
In 1843, 14-year-old Mary J. Greenfield Smith stitched an elegant woolwork picture in school—surely not imagining that it would end up in a museum’s collection someday.
In-Gallery Extras for “Colors of the Oasis”: Getting Our Hands Dirty So You Don’t Have To! March 16, 2017
When I first began researching the ikat textiles of the exhibition Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, I had no idea it would lead to being up to my elbows (literally) in crushed insects. For the past few months, I’ve been trying out the techniques and processes that were used to create the exhibition’s textiles and vivid colors, including the wide range of flowers, roots, insects, and …
A Confessional Sculpture by Louise Bourgeois March 15, 2017
In March, the Museum celebrates Women’s History Month by highlighting works of art that help you answer the question “Can you name #5WomenArtists?” French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) put her emotional life at the center of her art by incorporating autobiographical imagery inspired by childhood trauma. Bourgeois was born in France, where her parents ran a tapestry-restoration …
Lois Weber & Anna Pavlova, Pioneering Women of Film & Dance March 11, 2017
Today’s audiences may be surprised to learn that more than a century ago, one of the most highly acclaimed powerhouses of the film industry—entrusted to head the largest production that Universal had ever attempted—was a woman filmmaker. Director Lois Weber was tapped to bring a well-known and loved opera to the big screen, which was as artistically ambitious as it was risky. In celebration of …
A New Online Exhibition Explores #5WomenArtists March 8, 2017
We’re celebrating Women’s History Month in March with a new online exhibition that spans the Museum’s collecting areas. Hosted on the Google Art Project, #5WomenArtistsactually features works by 10 female artists of varied generations, nationalities, and schools of art. The exhibition highlights the lasting impact and contributions these women have all made—and continue to make—to the history of …
Women’s History Month 2017: Celebrating #5WomenArtists—and More March 1, 2017
Can you name 5 women artists? It’s a provocative, seemingly simple question that has a not-so-simple answer.
