NEW GALLERIES FOR ART

Of The Islamic Worlds

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Endowed by Collector Hossein Afshar, Galleries will Feature Iranian Art from the Afshar Collection and Selections from the Museum’s Holdings to Reflect the Breadth and Depth of Historic Islamic Lands

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, opens new galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds. Building upon a historic, decade-long collaboration with the renowned al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, which has brought hundreds of objects of Islamic art on extended loan to the MFAH the Museum will mark the 10th anniversary of that initiative by opening new, permanent galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds on March 5, 2023. These new galleries have been endowed by collector Hossein Afshar, and will present for the first time the full extent of MFAH holdings in Islamic art in the context of an extensive selection of Iranian masterworks on long-term loan from the Afshar Collection. Carefully assembled over the past 50years, the distinguished Afshar Collection conveys the rich artistic traditions of Iranian civilization from the 7th to 19th century, in several hundred exquisite paintings, significant ceramics, precious inlaid metalware, and finely woven silk fabrics and carpets. The MFAH has devoted permanent gallery space to Islamic art for more than a decade, and the new Afshar galleries nearly double previous display space for Islamic art. Hundreds of objects—exquisite paintings, manuscripts, ceramics, carpets, and metalwork spanning more than 1,000 years—will reflect the breadth of historic Islamic lands, including present-day Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

The opening of the galleries culminates a major, longtime initiative at the MFAH to develop special exhibitions, new scholarship, signature acquisitions, and dynamic public programs in Islamic art. Gary Tinterow, Director, the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair of the MFAH, said, “These new, permanent galleries enable us to significantly expand a cultural home in Houston for art from historic Islamic lands. We remain enormously grateful to Sheikha Hussa Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah and the late Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who placed their distinguished holdings with the Museum on long-term loan in 2012. And we are immensely grateful to Hossein Afshar, creator of perhaps the most extensive collection of Iranian art in private hands, for placing his collection on long-term loan so that we may enhance our effort to reflect the city whose many communities we serve.” “The new galleries are a culmination of the strong partnership between the Museum, our dynamic Houston communities, and an extraordinary historical collection,” said Aimée Froom, curator, Art of the Islamic Worlds at the MFAH. “Encompassing diverse cultures, ethnicities, languages, and regional traditions, this new presentation, with the Museum’s own growing collection paired for the first time with the Hossein Afshar Collection, will convey the extraordinarily vibrant contributions and legacies of Islamic civilizations.”

Teen Artist Exhibition

Contemporary Arts Museum

Contemporary Arts Museum

Houston’s (CAMH) Teen Council presents their 13th biennial exhibition featuring work from Houston-area teen artists.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This exhibition’s title was posed as a question to over 100 teen artists from across Houston. The resulting artworks—ranging from painted collage to abstract sculpture—disrupt societal norms and boldly confront challenging topics through the lens of change. From recent socio-political upheaval to personal rebirth, these teen artists have a great deal to express about the contemporary world. On view until July 2, 2023

Madonna

The Celebration Tour

Madonna, the best-selling female solo touring artist of all time, will be performing in Houston her “Celebration Tour” which will be highlighting her unmatched catalog of music from the past 40 plus years.

The “Celebration Tour” will take us on Madonna’s artistic journey through four decades and pays respect to the city of New York where her career in music began. “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” states Madonna. Sept. 13 – Toyota Center

Andy Warhol

Christie’s New York

Most expensive artwork sold in 2022

Andy Warhol gained the title of American artist with the most expensive lot at auction with this staggering $195 million price tag, achieved at a Christie’s New York sale last year. The 1964 silkscreen painting Shot Sage Blue Marilyn , the most expensive ever sold at auction by an American artist, was sold as part of famed late Swiss art dealer Thomas Ammann and his sister Doris’ collection.

FOUR MILLION DOLLARS ART COMMISSIONS City of Houston

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) announced an investment of over four million dollars in the selection of 12 new site-specific art commissions for the new Mickey Leland International Terminal (MLIT) and the new International Central Processer (ICP) at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The commissioned artworks will be new additions to the City of Houston’s Civic Art Collection and are expected to be installed and on view by the Spring of 2024. In line with the equity guidelines and ethos of the City’s Civic Art Program and considering the goals of the HAS, this effort sought concepts for art meant to enhance passengers’ experiences by highlighting ideas that are reflective of the international character of Houston.

“The magnitude of commission efforts at IAH leads in the pace and funding for increased activity in Civic Art across the City and we’re very proud of the artworks residents and visitors to Houston will soon encounter,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “And, how fitting, that artworks from Houston’s own artists will welcome every single international passenger landing at IAH.”

For each of the six gates for MLIT, the City requested the submission of proposals from Houston-based artists to design, fabricate, and install a three-part installation addressing the upper and lower landings of six new international gates at the forthcoming airport facility. For all commissions, preference was given to artists not currently represented in the City of Houston Civic Art Collection.

“We are proud of our strong collaboration with the Houston Airport System,” says MOCA Director, Necole S. Irvin. “Together, we are creating a presence at the airport through art that strongly conveys the character of our city, known to be a gateway to Latin America, and our warm welcome to visitors to our city.”

Here are five most expensive paintings ever sold:

Salvator Mundi, Leonardo da Vinci

- $450 million

Interchange , Willem de Kooning

- $300 million

The Card Players , Paul Cézanne

- $250 million

Nafea Faa Ipoipo , Paul Gauguin

- $210 million

Number 17A , Jackson Pollock

- $200 million

Christopher Myers

Blaffer Art Museum

American artist and writer Christopher Myers’ exhibition will look back at the past five years of Myers’ inter-disciplinary work – bringing together epic appliqué tapestries with stained glass lightboxes and a new installation that highlights Myers’ ongoing work in performance. May 19—August 20

All the artworks reflect the welcoming nature of Houston as a city with a distinct culture, celebrating the rich and diverse local fabric that makes Houston inspiring for residents and visitors alike.

Gray Foy

The Menil Drawing Institute

Between the 1940s and 1970s, American artist Gray Foy (1922–2012) created a body of extraordinarily meticulous drawings, most often rendered in graphite on paper.

Hyperreal: Gray Foy exhibition spans the entirety of Foy’s career.

On view April 21 – September 3