Museum of Fine Arts director: Paintings to tour Houston museum 'shown together outside Los Angeles for the very first time in this century'

Gary Tinterow, the director at the Museum of Fine Arts, said that 46 works of art from the Hammer Museum at UCLA will tour the MFA in Houston.

The museum announced that selections from the Hammer collection will visit Houston from October through January of 2024.

According to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston's website, from Oct. 15 through Jan. 21, 2024, the museum will host “Rembrandt to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the Armand Hammer Collection.” The exhibition will feature 46 paintings, as well as works on paper from the famous Hammer Museum at UCLA.

The display showcases the artistic preferences of the Los Angeles museum's creator, Armand Hammer, by presenting exceptional instances of European artwork spanning from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. It also includes significant pieces by American artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“Armand Hammer had a fascinating career as a businessman and art collector that spanned most of the 20th century,” Tinterow said, according to the MFAH website. “The museum he founded in Los Angeles boasts some of the most important European and American paintings among all the museums in the country. We are pleased to present to our audiences the highlights of that collection, shown together outside Los Angeles for the very first time in this century.” 

The exhibition will include Titian’s Portrait of a Man in Armor (c. 1530), Rembrandt van Rijn’s Juno (c. 1662–65), 19th-Century French Barbizon School, Symbolist and Realist Paintings, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings featuring Cezanne, Manet and Monet, and 18th- and 19th-Century American Paintings, featuring Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Eakins.

The Hammer Museum tweeted on June 23 that they are excited for the trip to Houston in the fall. They said that this exhibition was “a rare opportunity for audiences outside of Los Angeles to see these masterpieces by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet and others.”

The Hammer Museum website says that Armand Hammer's keen artistic sensibility allowed him to engage in art collecting for the majority of his life. Despite his involvement in various business endeavors over the years, collecting art remained a consistent passion alongside these pursuits. Hammer continuously built up his collection by acquiring and selling artworks.

From 1965 until his death in 1990, he amassed the artworks that serve as the foundation of the Hammer Museum's collections. The installation of the Armand Hammer Collection showcases exceptional instances of European art spanning from the Renaissance to the early 20th century, complemented by significant works from American artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.