Lectures Year of Tuesday, July 16, 2024-Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Navigating the Waves: Contemporary Cuban Photography Through August 3, 2025
Showcasing 100 examples of contemporary Cuban photography, this exhibition traces the evolution of the medium’s role in Cuba over nearly five decades.
12 Feb Wed / 2025
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Julia Bryan-Wilson
Core Program Lecture | Julia Bryan-Wilson
6 p.m.—7 p.m.POSTPONED | This event has been postponed. We will update the new date and time as soon as possible.
22 Feb Sat / 2025
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John Robert Cozens, View of Vietri and Raito, Italy, c. 1783, watercolor over graphite on cream laid paper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Stuart Collection, museum purchase funded by Francita Stuart Koelsch Ulmer in honor of Dena M. Woodall.
ArtSmart Lecture for Supporting-Plus Members | Featuring Curator Dena M. Woodall
11 a.m.—12:30 p.m.MFAH members at the Supporting level and above are invited to this lecture by Dena M. Woodall, curator of prints and drawings.
27 Feb Thu / 2025
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Woman’s Robe (Chyrpy), Central Asia or Iran, 19th century, embroidered silk, collection of Bruce P. and Olive W. Baganz.
Collector Conversation | Turkmen Textiles and Jewelry
6 p.m.—7:30 p.m.Learn about the artistic and historical significance of the stunning Turkmen Textiles and Jewelry, lauded as a landmark installation and on view in the galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds.
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Henri Matisse, Woman in a Purple Coat, 1937, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, John A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, gift of Audrey Jones Beck. © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Lecture | A Deeper Look at the Beck Collection
6:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.Curator Helga Aurisch shares the insights into the Beck Collection that she gained preparing a new version of the catalogue for these notable works of art.
01 Mar Sat / 2025
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Toshiko Takaezu, Purple Moon, c. 1998, stoneware, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection, gift of Leatrice and Melvin Eagle. © Family of Toshiko Takaezu
Patron-Plus Members Lecture | “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within”
5 p.m.—6 p.m.Patron-Plus members are invited to an exclusive curatorial lecture about the exhibition “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within.”
02 Mar Sun / 2025
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Designed by Bernard van Orley, woven by Willem and Jan Dermoyen, Surrender of King François I, c. 1528–31, wool, silk, gold, and silver thread, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples. Image © Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte.
Opening Day Lecture | “Knights in Shining Armor: The Pavia Tapestries”
1 p.m.—2 p.m.An inside look at the exhibition which features monumental tapestries served as immersive and elaborate tools for dynamic storytelling, political propaganda, and the depiction of history.
05 Mar Wed / 2025
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Kinder Institute Forum | “Houston’s Northside Neighborhoods”
7 p.m.—8:15 p.m.A discussion about the book A Good Reputation: How Residents Fight for an American Barrio delves into the development and transformation of Houston’s Northside neighborhood.
08 Mar Sat / 2025
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Furio Rinaldi
Members Lecture | “Tamara de Lempicka”
4 p.m.—5 p.m.MFAH members are invited to an exclusive lecture about the exhibition Tamara de Lempicka.
17 Apr Thu / 2025
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Laura Camerlengo
Lecture | Tamara de Lempicka in Fashion
6:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.Curator Laura Camerlengo discusses Tamara de Lempicka’s sense of composition and fashion, in relation to the larger Art Deco design trends of the era.
09 May Fri / 2025
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Julia Margaret Cameron, Mrs. Cameron’s Photographs from the Life, 1864–69, assembled 1869, album of albumen silver prints from glass negatives, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase.
Lecture | Malcolm Daniel on Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron
6:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.Curator Malcolm Daniel speaks about 19th-century British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.