Inside the MFAH Posts tagged #the
“Inside the MFAH” provides perspectives, conversations, and opinions from insiders at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
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 …
Diving into “Watson and the Shark” November 14, 2013
One of the centerpieces of American Adversaries: West and Copley in a Transatlantic World is Watson and the Shark, the sensational painting that earned artist John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) election to the Royal Academy of Art in London.Just a few insights into this monumental work:Watson led quite a life, including a stint as the “peg-legged mayor of London.”This painting depicts a …
Telling Tales out of School October 4, 2013
Artist and Glassell Junior School instructor Seth Mittag created this reel of stop-motion videos made by his classes over the years. I sat down with Seth to get some background on these sometimes-dark, often-funny videos and his students, who range in age from 8 to 18. “The main goals I have are to teach the kids how to make animation; to have a lot of fun; and for about an hour and 15 …
An Incident in Bell Park August 29, 2013
On his way to work, MFAH photographer Will Michels noticed that a bronze sculpture depicting Christopher Columbus had been tagged in several places with silver paint. The sculpture, which stands in Bell Park in the Museum District, was paid for by Houston’s Italian-American community. Columbus points to the Italian Cultural and Community Center on Milford Street. The graffiti appeared in …
Assembling “The Light Inside” August 9, 2013
I interviewed the Museum’s own Russ Lane, who served as lead preparator for James Turrell: The Light Inside. We talked about the unique requirements of this special exhibition and Russ’s father’s interest in flying, a shared experience that has created an even deeper appreciation of Turrell’s work. SS: Hello, Russ! Can you introduce yourself?RL: My name is Russ Lane, and I am a preparator (or …
