Fabulous Landscape Paintings in the Houston MFA ~ Van Gogh Art and Other Masterpieces

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Come along with us and take a look at some of the fabulous landscape paintings by renowned artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and others inside of Houston's MFA.

My husband and I recently enjoyed a visit to our MFAH to see some special exhibits which continually add variety to what is found inside of these buildings.

As if their large collections of Antiquities, European, American, African, Asian, Pre-Columbian, Oceanic, Korean, Indian, Native American, Photographic and other types of art would not be enough to keep people coming back again and again.....special exhibits entice even more sojourns to this magnificent institution.

(c) Peggy Woods - All Rights Reserved

Inside the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

One will find not only great art, but also other facilities like the Hirsch Library which functions as a place for art research, and it is also open to the public. For educators, the Kinder Foundation Education Center operates as a lending library which can help teachers immeasureably with resources for their classrooms.

Interested in seeing old films? No problem! The Brown Auditorium Theater provides the venue for not only films, but concerts, lectures, workshops and the like.

Hungry? Again, no problem! Cafe Express which offers everything from appetizers to desserts can be found in the Audrey Jones Beck Building. It is a great place to relax and have liquid and/or solid refreshments before continuing one's exploration of the many places inside the buildings of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Ready to view some of the MFAH landscapes? Let's get started!

Vincent Van Gogh

A masterful impressionist painter who was Dutch only lived from 1853 to 1890.

According to information that is available to read, he had a somewhat tortured life but certainly left behind a legacy of some great and well recognizable paintings such as this one which is titled The Rocks.

This oil on canvas was created towards the end of his life in 1888.

The subject matter is of a site just outside of the village of Arles in southern France.

Henri Rousseau

This self taught artist went on to influence artists such as Pablo Picasso and others because of his distinctive style of post-impressionistic style of painting.

Rousseau painted many imaginary scenes such as this one of The Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower, a marvel in its day (as well as now) existed...but not with this scenery as depicted around it.

Rousseau was French and lived from 1844 to 1910.

He painted this particular oil on canvas in 1898.

Notice the wonderful pink hues from the clouds in the sky reflected in the water.

Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was French and lived in the years from 1830 to 1903.

Two examples of his oil on canvas landscapes are included here for your perusal.

He was an important figure with the Impressionist style of painting and was esteemed by his colleagues such as Cézanne, Gauguin and others from that time.

The Goose Girl at Montfoucault was created in 1875, and Fir Trees at Louveciennes was painted in 1870.

These are both beautiful paintings in this author's opinion.

Are you able to detect a distinctive style to his painting?

Alfred Sisley

Sisley was a British artist ( 1839 - 1899 ) who was active in France.

He created this oil on canvas titled The Flood on the Road to Saint-Germain in 1876 documenting that scenery at the time.

Alfred Sisley was well known for his landscapes and Impressionist style of painting.

Making a flooded scene into a thing of beauty was accomplished with this fabulous landscape painting by Alfred Sisley.

Théodore Rousseau

A Frenchman ( 1812 - 1867 ) he painted The Great Oaks of Old Bas-Breau in 1864.

This is another oil on canvas.

Rousseau was the leader of the Barbizon Group of Painters who developed a very naturalistic style.

For years he and others lived in a small village outside of Paris when painting and further developing this particular manner of art execution.

Supposedly he had a hard time in deciding when a painting would be finished. As one who dabbles with an occasional painting, this is always a tough determination from personal perspective.

Joseph Wright of Derby

An Englishman who lived from 1734 to 1797 Joseph Wright of Derby was very interested in the effects of light and utilized that to great effect in his paintings. He painted many candlelit scenes and here you can look at two examples of his work.

Dovedale by Midnight was an oil on canvas painted in 1785. The darkness of the night with illumination from the moon shimmering on the water below is quite striking.

Italian Landscape with Mountains and a River is a day-time landscape but one can readily see how he used the effects of lighting to highlight features in this painting.

My husband was particularly drawn to admiring the darkness and light which presented such a contrast in this first painting.

Frederic Bazille

This is an unfinished oil on canvas painting titled The Little Gardner which was created in the years 1866-1867.

Frederic Bazille was a French Impressionist painter who had an extremely short life ( 1841-1870 ) due to his dying on the battlefield during the Franco-Prussian War.

His close friends were fellow artists such as Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Edouard Manet.

It is a shame that he could not have lived past his short lifespan of only 29 years. There would have undoubtedly been many more paintings to have graced this world with style and color.

According to the plaque in the MFAH, this landscape painting of The Little Gardner was the actual sunlit garden of his family home.

Bazille's typical style was to paint en plein air ( outside in natural light ) and to have a figure in the foreground of his landscapes as in this example.

Thomas Gainsborough

An Englishman who lived from 1727 to 1788, he painted this oil on canvas titled Coastal Scene with Shipping and Cattle in the years 1781 - 1782.

Gainsborough was a great portraitist but loved painting landscapes, especially in his latter years.

The cows in this painting seem to be very interested in what is transpiring below them from that great vantage point of the outcropping of rock upon which they are gathered.

Paul Cezanne

Considered to be "the father of modern art" Cezanne served to pave the way between Impressionism to Cubism and also Abstraction with many artists learning from what he had created and then expanding upon it in other directions.

He was not fully accepted or recognized as an influential artist until he was in his 50's.

A Frenchman, born in 1839, he died of pneumonia in 1906.

He painted this landscape titled Bottom of the Ravine of the hills behind his mother's house in L'Estaque located in southern France.

The colors, shapes and subject matter make this a stunningly beautiful painting in my opinion.

Hopefully you enjoyed these eleven fabulous landscape paintings found in Houston's stellar MFA ( Museum of Fine Arts ) Audrey Jones Beck Building. Did you take the time to vote on which landscape painting you enjoyed the most? If you ever visit Houston, Texas and can spare a few hours or more of your time, plan to spend some of it in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. You will be amazed at all that there is to entertain and hold one's interest!