VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Rienzi Center for European Decorative Arts, MFAH, presents Rienzi Presents: Upside Down/Inside Out, Jan 24, 2010 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM. 

It´s "drawers open and bottoms up" at Rienzi. The Upside Down/Inside Out event highlights select pieces of furniture and other treasured objects from the Rienzi Collection that will be opened up or turned over, giving guests a rare chance to see the inner workings.

Rienzi is the former home of Houston philanthropists Carroll Sterling Masterson and her husband Harris Masterson III. In 1952, the Mastersons engaged esteemed local architect John Staub to design Rienzi. At the time he called it their "palladian contemporary" home. Later the Mastersons asked Hugo Neuhaus to design Rienzi's lavish ballroom built in 1971. Rienzi is a unique Houston home, a combination of English 18th-century architectural ornament and progressive mid-20th-century design, such as its large plate glass windows overlooking the reflecting pool and gardens beyond.

For over forty years the Mastersons collected fine 18th- and early 19th-century European decorative arts and paintings, especially English portraits, Spanish paintings, ceramics, and furniture. Their collections and residence were used and enjoyed by the owners, their children, grandchildren, and friends until 1997, when Rienzi and its contents were given to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as a center for European decorative arts.

Rienzi is located approximately three miles from downtown Houston in River Oaks, one of Houston's finest residential neighborhoods, and is set in approximately four acres of wooded gardens. Rienzi and its gardens have been open to the public since 1999.

Tickets ($10) include refreshments. Call 713-639-7800.

Pictured:  Corner Cabinet, One of a Pair, Mayhew & Ince, active 1759-180, English, c. 1773, Tulipwood, satinwood, amaranth, ormolu, 96.1214.2.