Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents.

In 1917, the museum site was dedicated by the Houston Public School Art League (later the Houston Art League) with the intention of becoming a public art museum. The first museum building was opened to the public in 1924. The original building, designed by Houston architect William Ward Watkin in the Greek Neoclassical style, is the oldest art museum in Texas. Today, the main campus encompasses the Caroline Wiess Law Building for pre-Columbian art, Asian art, and temporary exhibits, the Audrey Jones Beck Building for European and Egyptian art, the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building for contemporary and modern art, and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation for Renaissance and Baroque art. In addition, it also includes the Glassell School of Art, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, and the Central Administration Building. Off campus, it also owns and operates two house museums, Bayou Bend and Rienzi, as well as a facility for conservation, storage and archives.