Fall 2016 Exhibition Highlights at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Degas: A New Vision October 16, 2016–January 8, 2017 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will be the only U.S. venue for Degas: A New Vision, the most significant international survey in three decades of the work of Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834–1917). While Degas’s reputation has often been confined to his ballet imagery, the artist’s oeuvre is rich, complex, and abundant, spanning the entire second half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th. Opening October 16, Degas: A New Vision will assemble some 200 works from public and private collections around the world, and showcase Degas’s abiding interests across painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

Emperors’ Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace October 23, 2016–January 22, 2017 A major exhibition on Chinese art from the renowned collections of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Emperors’ Treasures highlights the roles that eight rulers of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties—from the early 12th century to the early 20th century—played in the establishment and development of new artistic directions at their courts and throughout the empire. Some 100 works rarely seen outside of Taipei will be featured, including portraits, calligraphy, bronzes, and decorative arts such as porcelain, lacquer, textiles, enamels, and jade. Co- organized by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Opens at the MFAH following its presentation at the Asian Art Museum in Summer 2016. Catalogue.

Julian Onderdonk and Texas Silver from the William J. Hill Collection October 2, 2016–January 22, 2017 These two exhibitions bring early Texas history to light. Julian Onderdonk presents a select group of landscapes by this San Antonio native who studied in New York under American Impressionist artist William Merritt Chase. More than 25 of Onderdonk’s signature paintings will be on display, from luminous views of the Long Island landscape to sweeping impressions of the iconic Texas bluebonnet. The exhibition coincides with the publication of the first catalogue raisonné of the artist, in September 2016. The related exhibition of two dozen objects, Texas Silver from the William J. Hill Collection, tells the story of Texas metalwork from the mid-19th century, when artisans established a local sensibility in tableware and other household silver, to later in the century, when consumer preference shifted to mass- produced work out of Northeastern manufacturers.

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Ancient Luxury and the Roman Silver Treasure from Berthouville November 6, 2016–February 5, 2017 This exhibition celebrates the conservation of an opulent cache of ancient Roman treasure, known as the Berthouville Treasure, first discovered by a French farmer in 1830. Conserved by the J. Paul Getty Museum and presented there in 2014, the gilt-silver statuettes and vessels offer new insights about ancient art, technology, religion, and cultural interaction. They are presented alongside objects from the royal collections of the Cabinet des Médailles at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris, the exhibition comes to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as part of a U.S. tour.

Upcoming and Ongoing Exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Kusama: At the End of the Universe June 12–September 18, 2016 This summer, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will present two dazzling, immersive environments by contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, who was recently named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” On view from June 12 to September 18, 2016, the exhibition Kusama: At the End of the Universe brings two of the artist’s signature infinity rooms—Aftermath of the Obliteration of Eternity (2009) and Love Is Calling (2013)—to Texas for the first time.

Infinite Pause: Photography and Time June 18–September 11, 2016 Infinite Pause: Photography and Time explores photography’s ability to both stop time in an instant and to capture its extended duration, immortalizing people and moments that have already passed. Featuring nearly 50 photographs from the Museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition highlights works by photographers including Eadweard Muybridge, Etrinne- Jules Marey, Harold Edgerton, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Harry Callahan, Nicholas Nixon, Dawoud Bey, and Duane Michals.

Deco Nights: Evenings in the Jazz Age Through June 5, 2016 The glamour and luxury of the Art Deco period are captured through objects from the Museum’s collections, along with select works on loan. Photographs, prints, drawings, books, cameras, glassware, couture costumes, and evening accessories explore nighttime pursuits in the U.S. and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.

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High Society: The Portraits of Franz X. Winterhalter Through August 14, 2016 High Society displays some 45 paintings by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805– 1873), the most renowned portraitist of European aristocracy of his day. Drawn from public, private, and royal collections around the world, the canvases will be complemented by a selection of garments designed by couturier Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) and his contemporaries, similar to those featured in some of the portraits. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Augustinermuseum, Freiburg, Germany; and Musée du Château de Compiègne, France. Opens at the MFAH following its debut at the Augustinermuseum in November 2015. Catalogue.

Statements: African American Art from the Museum’s Collection Through September 25, 2016 Statements: African American Art from the Museum’s Collection is the latest in a series of tightly focused installations highlighting unique areas of strength in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Featuring 37 artists with 47 works spanning eight decades, this installation draws together outstanding works from several departments, including photography, works on paper, and decorative arts, as well as painting and sculpture. Works on view range from Richmond Barthe’s iconic Feral Benga of 1935 to the Museum’s most recent acquisition, Mark Bradford’s Circa 1992 (2015).

About the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Founded in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is among the 10 largest art museums in the United States. Located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, the MFAH comprises two gallery buildings, a sculpture garden, theater, two art schools, and two libraries, with two house museums, for American and European decorative arts, nearby. The encyclopedic collection of the MFAH numbers more than 65,000 works and spans the art of antiquity to the present.

1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005 | www.mfah.org | 713.639.7300

Media Contact Laine Lieberman, publicist 713.639.7516 / [email protected]

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