Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in Houston, Texas, houses one of the world’s great collections of American decorative arts and paintings. The collection is displayed in the historic residence of the Texas philanthropist Ima Hogg (1882-1975). In 1957 Miss Hogg gave Bayou Bend to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH), Houston, and it was converted into a house museum and opened to the public in 1966. In celebration of Bayou Bend’s 50th anniversary, Scala Publishers and the MFAH have issued a 157-page book showcasing 100 masterpieces from the Bayou Bend Collection - America’s Treasures at Bayou Bend: Celebrating Fifty Years. The selections include 50 from Miss Hogg’s original collection and 50 that have since been added to the collection.
The Bayou Bend Collection is installed in twenty-eight room settings that reflect the artistic achievements and taste of Americans from the early Colonial period to the Civil War. The collection has a particular strength in furniture, and it also features a remarkable survey of early American painting and silver. The book presents highlights of the magnificent collection.
America’s Treasures at Bayou Bend: Celebrating Fifty Years includes an illustrated essay by Michael K. Brown, curator of the Bayou Bend Collection, detailing the history of how the collection was formed. Following the essay, one hundred masterpieces in the collection - representing fifty examples from Miss Hogg’s collection and fifty from other generous donors - are showcased in brief, engaging catalogue entries and dramatic color photographs.
America’s Treasures at Bayou Bend: Celebrating Fifty Years is intended as a companion to Bayou Bend Gardens: A Southern Oasis, written by David B. Warren, founding director emeritus of Bayou Bend, published in 2006 by the MFAH and Scala Publishers.
For more information about both books, contact MFAH by phone at 713-639-7750; or visit their Web site: www.mfah.org.