Houstonmetropolis of the south

The biggest—and widely considered the best—museum in Texas, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is the grand dame of the city’s Museum District. Making up the complex: the original neoclassical structure, two Mies van der Rohe additions (one from the 1950s, the other from the ’70s), and a newer Rafael Moneo-designed building that connects to the rest via tunnel. The Moneo structure—called the Audrey Jones Beck Building—doubled the museum’s exhibit space, and viewing art here is special thanks to its grand scale, rich materials and “roof lanterns” that flood the interiors with light. The MFAH’s 40,000-plus pieces represent virtually every category, but strengths lie in Impressionist and post-Impressionist works, Baroque and Renaissance art, American art from the 19th and 20th centuries and African tribal art.