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Museums of Houston-Citywide Tour
Item 6 of 24
Since its opening in 1973, the museum has presented over 250 exhibitions focusing on art of the past 100 years and its artistic, cultural, and intellectual antecedents. The annual schedule may also include major traveling exhibitions that have a particular relevance to Houston audiences, mid-sized retrospectives of national and international artists, exhibitions of regional artists, thematic surveys which place artists' work into new contexts, and special projects by local artists.

The Blaffer Art Museum opened in 1973 and features art dating from ancient times to today.

The Blaffer Art Museum opened in 1973 and features art dating from ancient times to today.
The Collection
The Bayou Bend Collection is one of the nation's foremost assemblages of American decorative arts dating from 1620 through 1876 . Not only are the objects in the collection fine examples of American design and craftsmanship, but they also reflect the tastes, values, and aspirations of Colonial-era Americans. The collection reflects Miss Hogg's dream that "Bayou Bend may serve as a bridge to bring us closer to the heart of an American heritage which unites us."

The Murphy Room
The Murphy Room is a wonderful gallery of furnishings from the 17th and 18th centuries that evokes a sense of the colonial past.

The Pine Room
Most of the furnishings of the Pine Room are Early Baroque, but a few of the pieces reflect the Late Baroque style popular in America from 1730-1760. 

The Drawing Room
The Drawing Room displays furniture from several of the important urban areas of the Colonies, including Boston, Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.

The Dining Room
The development, after the American Revolution, of a separate room for dining also created the need for new kinds of furniture such as the sideboard and the stationary dining table.

The Chillman Suite
The furnishings, in the Grecian-style, illustrate the ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian designs that were popular in the early 1800s.

The Belter Parlor
The highly ornate Rococo Revival style presented in this room would have been considered the height of fashion in the 1850s.

The Gardens
Bayou Bend Gardens were originally, in Miss Hogg's words, "nothing but a dense thicket." Undaunted, she created several gracious and beautiful gardens. Miss Hogg also appreciated the beauty of the area's natural environment. She retained part of the surrounding woodlands and created a less formal garden environment on the south side of the property. 
"About Us." Blaffer Art Museum. Accessed June 11, 2014. http://blafferartmuseum.org/about-us.