Art Review: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

At the end of December, I visited Houston to see the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts. I love it. It’s a Texas-size step toward putting Houston atop the Olympus of the nation’s culture world along with places like the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In fact, I think it’s there. This fast, high climb happened in my lifetime, so it’s been heartening to see. The MFA’s story is a world-class lesson in the power of positive thinking, civic pride, ambition, philanthropy, and good taste.

The new wing cost $450 million and provides more than 100,000 square feet of new gallery space. Steven Holl Architects designed it. Holl became famous, in art circles at least, about ten years ago via his new wing for the Nelson-Atkins Museum. It’s great, and it meets the herculean challenge of building a modern addition to a neoclassical building with a spartan exterior and an interior of Roman exuberance. At the MFA, Holl, happily for him, needed to harmonize with buildings done by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Rafael Moneo, modern at least, since its original neoclassical home has long ago been sidelined.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

At the end of December, I visited Houston to see the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts. I love it. It’s a Texas-size step toward putting Houston atop the Olympus of the nation’s culture world along with places like the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In fact, I think it’s there. This fast, high climb happened in my lifetime, so it’s been heartening to see. The MFA’s story is a world-class lesson in the power of positive thinking, civic pride, ambition, philanthropy, and good taste.

The new wing cost $450 million and provides more than 100,000 square feet of new gallery space. Steven Holl Architects designed it. Holl became famous, in art circles at least, about ten years ago via his new wing for the Nelson-Atkins Museum. It’s great, and it meets the herculean challenge of building a modern addition to a neoclassical building with a spartan exterior and an interior of Roman exuberance. At the MFA, Holl, happily for him, needed to harmonize with buildings done by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Rafael Moneo, modern at least, since its original neoclassical home has long ago been sidelined.