MFAH for the Holidays
Looking for inspiration over the holidays? The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has activities, programs, and exhibitions for all ages and is open additional days to enjoy them. In addition to regular hours, the MFAH is open every day from December 26 through January 9, including on Mondays and Tuesdays when the Museum is usually closed. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the MFAH closes an hour early, at 4 p.m. All locations are closed on Christmas Day. More information is available at www.mfah.org/winterbreak.
Bayou Bend Family Day Celebrate the Season
Sunday, December 19, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Visit Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens for an afternoon of free, family-friendly fun. Watch puppeteer Julian Franklin perform magic, listen to storyteller David Allen read from the picture book Winter Candle, make your own candle-inspired art to take home, meet costumed interpreters, and learn about decorating for the holidays in 1800s America. Admission is free. More information is available at www.mfah.org/calendar.
Winter Break Art-Making Activities for Families
December 22 – 24, 29 – 31
This Winter Break, visit the Museum for family fun! In the studio, create your own art with inspiration from Calder-Picasso. The modern masterpieces in the exhibition provide the backdrop for experimenting with new materials, tools, and processes. On December 23 and 30, the fun includes a free Thursday movie screening of Kid Flicks at 11:30 a.m. Get free film tickets in advance here. More information about tickets is available at www.mfah.org/calendar.
Kid Flicks
Thursday, December 23 & 31, 11:30- 12:45
Free admission with tickets. Jump-start your little ones’ love of cinema with Kid Flicks, presented annually by the New York International Children’s Film Festival. These short films are curated to charm all ages and especially to introduce young viewers to the big-screen experience. MFAH general admission is free on Thursday, and the Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Boxing Day at Rienzi
Sunday, December 26, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Visit Rienzi for the annual Boxing Day celebration! The tradition of Boxing Day, which takes place on December 26, dates back to the early 1800s. Before England began to celebrate Christmas as we know it, employers would “box up” gifts for their employees on the day after. Today it’s more of a shopping day, but Rienzi brings some of the English holiday spirit to Houston. Enjoy an afternoon of seasonal music, an art-making activity for all ages, and self-guided tours with docents on hand to answer questions. General Admission: $12 adults; $10 seniors (65+); $8 youth (13–18); free for ages 12 & younger Admission for MFAH Members: $10 adults; free for ages 18 & younger. 1406 Kirby Drive. More information is available at www.mfah.org/calendar.
Virtual Winter Camp – Learn, Play, Celebrate
December 28 & 29, 2021 4 p.m.-5 p.m.
Join the Bayou Bend education team online for a look at the ways children and families injected brightness and joy into the midwinter holidays in early America. This two-day interactive workshop explores celebrations during the 1600s, 1700s, and early 1800s. Advance registration is recommended—register once for both days. Free / Live via Zoom, 1406 Kirby Drive. More information is available at www.mfah.org/calendar.
Drop-in Tour | American Painting and Sculpture
Saturday, December 18, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
The newly re-imagined galleries of American art span centuries of U.S. life and culture. The installations bring together the multifaceted expressions of the nation’s art through a diverse range of paintings, sculpture, photography, books, prints, furniture, ceramics, metals, textiles, and costume. In addition to the work of artists such as Frederic Edwin Church and John Singer Sargent, the galleries include the art of Native Americans, Mexico, and the British and Spanish North American colonies. This tour is included with general admission. Meet the docent on the first floor of the Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main Street, in the sculpture court. All tour participants and docents are required to wear masks. More information is available at www.mfah.org/calendar.
Exhibitions on View:
Incomparable Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
on view November 14, 2021 – March 27, 2022
For the first time, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is lending some 100 of the most significant paintings and works on paper from its renowned Impressionist collection for an exhibition that opens at the MFAH, its only U.S. venue. Incomparable Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has been curated exclusively for this presentation. More information is available at www.mfah.org/incomparableimpressionism
Calder-Picasso
on view October 31, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso—two of the foremost figures in 20th-century art—come together for a fascinating encounter in this presentation. The internationally traveling exhibition features paintings, sculptures, mobiles, and works on paper spanning the artists’ careers. More information is available at www.mfah.org/calderpicasso
Afro-Atlantic Histories
on view October 24, 2021 – January 17, 2022
The MFAH presents the U.S. tour of Afro-Atlantic Histories, an unprecedented exhibition that explores the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The exhibition comprises more than 130 works of art and documents made in Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe across 500 years, from the 17th century to the 21st century. More information about the exhibition is available at www.mfah.org/afroatlantic
Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer
on view through January 17, 2022
Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer is the first exhibition devoted to O’Keeffe’s work as a photographer. Nearly 100 photographs from a newly examined archive reveal the American icon’s Modernist approach to the medium. Complementing the photographs are paintings and drawings to represent the full scope of her career. More information about the exhibition is available at www.mfah.org/georgiaokeeffe
New Light on Old Masters: European Art from Houston Collections, 1300–1700
on view through January 23, 2022
The term “Old Masters” denotes the artists working in Europe from the 13th through 18th century. The works of art they produced, including paintings, sculpture, textiles, metalwork, stained glass, and works on paper, express the broad range of artistic treasures desired by wealthy patrons, royal courts, and the Roman Catholic Church. The works in this exhibition are drawn from the MFAH collections and from generous loans by private collectors in Houston. These masterpieces present a diversity of objects, encompassing the richness of European art and shedding new light on Old Masters. Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main Street. Find more information at www.mfah.org/exhibitions
Hidden Hands: Invisible Workers in Industrial England
on view September 1 through January 2, 2022 at Rienzi
Behind famous names such as Worcester Porcelain and Josiah Wedgwood was a diverse workforce comprising mostly women and children. Hidden Hands: Invisible Workers in Industrial England focuses on the artisans who actually created these luxury wares, challenging established ideas about craftsmanship. Rienzi, 1406 Kirby Drive, mfah.org/exhibitions
Eye on Houston: High School Documentary Photographyon view through February 17, 2022
The annual exhibition Eye on Houston: High School Documentary Photography documents and celebrates Houston’s diverse neighborhoods through a collaboration between the MFAH and Houston Independent School District. This year, the 26th edition of Eye on Houston presents works by students who documented daily life in their respective communities, capturing moments that reflect the unprecedented year as well as the students’ sense of self, their future, and their imminent transition into adulthood. Located in the MFAH Visitors Center, 5600 Fannin St, mfah.org/exhibitions
Connecting Currents: Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
on view through December 31, 2021 in The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, 5500 Main Street
Dedicated to the Museum’s international collections of modern and contemporary art. The third-floor galleries are devoted to thematic exhibitions, and the Kinder Building opens with Connecting Currents—five inaugural installations of art from the 1960s onward. mfah.org/exhibitions
Spanish Colonial Paintings from the Thoma Collection
on view through August 13, 2023
The Museum presents a selection of Spanish colonial paintings from the celebrated collection of Carl and Marilynn Thoma. In the 16th century, European artists traveled to Latin America to meet the huge demand for artistic creations in newly established religious institutions. Sometimes, family workshops were founded that lasted generations. By the 17th century, artists born in Latin America began to dominate, and new styles and idioms emerged that had less and less to do with European origins. Find more information at www.mfah.org/exhibitions
Films
Rear Window
Saturday, December 18 & Sunday, December 19, 2 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
In this Hitchcock classic, a photographer (Jimmy Stewart) in a wheelchair spies on neighbors from his apartment window. Despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend (Grace Kelly), he becomes convinced he has witnessed a murder. On Saturday, December 18, the film is introduced by Meredyth Hayes, daughter of “Rear Window” screenwriter John Michael Hayes.