Through an unprecedented collection of over 70 masterworks, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston traces British watercolor's evolution from topographical record to artistic vision. Opening January 12 through July 6 at the Beck Building, "Picturing Nature: The Stuart Collection of 18th- and 19th-Century British Landscapes and Beyond" spans over two centuries of artistic innovation.
The exhibition charts how British artists elevated watercolor from documentary tool to expressive medium. Through over 50 masters including John Constable, Paul Sandby, Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Wilson, John Robert Cozens, Samuel Palmer, and J.M.W. Turner, visitors witness how atmospheric studies and luminous watercolors revolutionized landscape art. The subject of landscape first arrived in England through traveling Netherlandish artists in the late 1500s, merging with Britain's cartographic traditions. As young aristocrats embarked on Grand Tours, exposure to Continental art shaped British approaches to landscape.
The works shaped an emerging national expression. These transformative acquisitions came to MFAH through Houstonian Francita Stuart Koelsch Ulmer, who established the Stuart Collection in 2015 honoring her parents. "Francita's family represents 200 years of Texas legacy," notes Gary Tinterow, MFAH director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair. "Her great-grandmother helped found MFAH in the 1920s, and her own connection to British landscapes began with an inherited Constable oil sketch."
Under Dena M. Woodall, curator of prints and drawings, the Stuart Collection reveals the period's artistic evolution. "It has been a privilege to collaboratively work with Francita in building this collection over the past ten years," Woodall explains. "The Museum had only a handful of British drawings before this initiative began and the Stuart Collection has now become a hallmark at our institution. A couple of aims of the collection have been acquiring pairs of works by a given artist, including Thomas Girtin and J.M.W. Turner, to provide further insight into their working process and artistic growth, and acquiring pairs of watercolors by a teacher and his student, such as Francis Towne and John White Abbott."
The works reflect Britain's rapid industrialization, as artists like John Sell Cotman captured a vanishing pastoral landscape. His "The Anglers (in Avon Gorge)" depicts the emerging middle class seeking refuge in nature, while Constable's "A View on the Banks of the River Stour" (1809-16) demonstrates the era's revolutionary approach to outdoor observation.
"Picturing Nature" marks a pivotal expansion for MFAH, transforming its modest holdings into one of America's significant collections of British landscape art. The exhibition not only honors a deep Texas-British connection but signals Houston's growing prominence in international art scholarship.
Visitor Information: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM-7 PM, Thursday 10 AM-9 PM. mfah.org
