On Thursday, the 6th day of my vacation I went to a place that had truly a hell of a lot to see.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, made up of several buildings in the Museum District, and elsewhere in Houston, is one of the largest art museums in America.
Established in 1900, the MFAH is the largest cultural institution in the southwest.
It took me several hours to explore just the 2 connected buildings in the Museum District and if I had actually read all the informational displays explaining this or that item I might still be there today. :-D
General admission is free on Thursday and you won't regret spending the money to get in. I didn't.
There were several exhibitions to see and enjoy, spanning literature, photography, painting, sculpture and more and deciding what to photograph for sharing would have been difficult if I hadn't decided to focus on subjects related to my own personal interests and creative pursuits.
I focused my cell phone camera on literature, writing, photography, bicycles and felines...especially felines.
The exhibitions spanned the centuries, from several hundred years before Christ to the early 20th century, and every continent.
The intent of this post and one on my cat blog is to share 19 photos that give a representative example of all that I saw and was amazed at on my exploring the museum.
There were 4 Shakespeare volumes on display, from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
This one was something called "Bell's ed."
"Boydell's" from 1804.
A Mid-19th century volume.
The 2nd Folio, from 1632.
Beautiful, 19th century, pen cases from Iran.
Tools of the ancient creative writer's trade called Calligraphy.
This Arabic collection contains examples of pens, inks, inkwells, knives, sandshakers, burnishng tools and pen cases and more.
A patriotic portrait from 1917-18.
It is unknown if this was meant as a celebration of a young man marching off to war, or returning from it alive and well, or something made in memory of someone lost to the fighting.
These bicycles are actually for sale in the museum gift shop.
The replica of an 1888-era "Standard Hi-Wheel 48" w/stand, made by Rideable Bicycle Replicas, sells for $1275.00
As their amazing and fascinating website explains...
"Since 1973, Rideable Bicycle Replicas has been turning out our spoked behemoths, using materials and techniques largely unchanged from those employed in the late nineteenth century. To ride one of our antique-style bicycles is like taking a trip back to another era—to a time when things were slower, but a lot more pleasant."
I loved watching the videos of someone riding a High Wheeler/Boneshaker/Penny Farthing!
A 17th century German case.
For the feline related things I saw check out Miss Elvira's blog post, over at The Opinionated Pussycat...
Purrfectly Delightful Examples of Felines and Fine Arts
This looks like a great place to visit more than once. I am impressed with the Shakespeare books.
Posted by: Ellen Pilch | October 23, 2016 at 09:27 PM