Houston: How to do it artfully

Dallas isn’t the lone star in the Texas art sky: Houston shines as brightly. Here, six musts for one artful weekend, one hour away by air

René Magritte's 'Le faux miroir' (The False Mirror), 1928, oil on canvas

by HOLLY CRAWFORD

THE PARK: Stroll Hermann Park, minutes from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Not only is April’s weather conducive, but the month marks the arrival of colossal contemporary art in Houston’s 445-acre green space in honor of its 100th anniversary. Catch a glimpse of Louise Bourgeois’ bronze spider sculpture, which floats in the Jones Reflection Pool, before it saunters off in August. Also taking up temporary residence: 16-foot-tall, enamel-coated aluminum olive trees by Swiss mixed-media artist Ugo Rondinone. The ongoing Art in the Park project also includes a permanent installation by Trenton Doyle Hancock and pieces from Orly Genger, Patrick Dougherty, Sharon Engelstein and Yvonne Domenge. (Rain contingency plan: Soak up John Singer Sargent at MFAH and celebrate his 100 watercolor works on loan from Brooklyn and Boston until May 26.) FYI: Hermann Park is near the Texas Medical Center and Rice University; a statue of General Sam Houston points you to the park. Hermann Park, 6201 Hermann Park Drive, 713-524-5876; hermannpark.org. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Beck Building, 5601 Main St., 713-639-7300; mfah.org

Yvonne Domenge's 'Wind Waves' in Hermann Park; photograph by Megan Badger

THE MUSEUM Houston’s Museum District is 20 world-class organizations strong, and The Menil Collection is the precious jewel in its crown. This is the place where several thousand paintings, prints, sculptures, drawings, photographs and antiquities from the private collection of the late John and Dominique de Menil are on public display five days a week, sans entry fee, in Italian architect Renzo Piano’s first American design. Take advantage of late Friday hours (11 a.m. to 9 p.m. until June 1) to see the unfolding of Belgian artist René Magritte’s surrealist years. The sprawling campus also encompasses not-to-be-missed sculpture gardens, the nearby Cy Twombly Gallery, Rothko Chapel and Richmond Hall, which showcases minimalist sculptor Dan Flavin’s work. Bonus: The museum recently unveiled plans for a first-of-its-kind $40 million, 30,000-plus-square-foot Menil Drawing Institute — plus, the fall debut of Bistro Menil with chef Greg Martin (of Café Annie fame) at the helm. FYI: The institute will be the first free-standing facility in America created for the exhibition, study, storage and conservation of modern and contemporary drawings. 1533 Sul Ross St., 713-525-9400; menil.org

The Menil Collection photographed by George Hixson

THE GALLERIES Take time for 4411 Montrose — a 12,000-square-foot gallery building designed by architect Peter Jay Zweig — and take in a diverse quintuplet of top-tier commercial galleries under one roof. A contemporary-art staple for 10 years, the steel-and-cement structure is home to the Barbara Davis Gallery, Anya Tish Gallery, Wade Wilson Art, Zoya Tommy Contemporary and the Mission, collectively representing dozens of artists who work in multiple mediums, from fabric to video. And with the citywide 15th FotoFest biennial continuing through April 27, each gallery is showcasing a photography exhibition. (Don’t miss Sueraya Shaheen’s documentary-style portraits of notable Middle Eastern artists at Davis’ digs.) FYI: The Mission, the most recent addition to 4411 Montrose, is companion to the edgy Chicago gallery of the same name. The gallery’s artists and showings were so well received at the Houston Fine Art Fair, the owners decided to open a permanent space in Houston. 4411 Montrose Blvd.; 4411montrose.com

Sueraya Shaheen's 'Ayman Baalbaki,' Beirut, 2013, archival pigment print, at the Barbara Davis Gallery

THE HOTEL With only five suites and nine villas in the middle of the Museum District, La Colombe d’Or — French for golden dove — might be one of the smallest luxury hotels in the world, but there is no shortage of art appreciation in the Texas historical landmark. Built in 1923 as a private residence known as the Fondren Mansion, its opulent rooms, named after French artists such as Cézanne and Renoir, showcase contemporary paintings offset by lavish 19th-century French antiques. The hotel also houses a gallery of sculpture and oil paintings by a dozen local and international artists, not to mention works on paper by the likes of Picasso, Dalí and Man Ray. The in-house Restaurant Cinq offers lunch, dinner and cocktails with European flair. FYI: The walls of its Le Grand Salon are carved wooden panels from an estate near Paris, where European royalty mingled with guests such as Czar Nicholas of Russia, Caruso, Pasteur, Curie, Wagner, Marconi and Proust. 3410 Montrose Blvd., 713-942-1073; lacolombedor.com

The Renoir Suite at La Colombe d'Or

THE SHOP River Oaks boutique Laboratoria has style down to an artistic science. Russia-born owner Tatiana Massey’s “treasure chest” is equal parts gallery and fashion house, thanks to seductive window displays, a repertoire of emerging international designers and installations throughout the shop. An art lover and former model, Massey mixes up her Laboratoria like a true chemist blending her passions. With dresses, separates and accessories from couturiers such as Hussein Chalayan, Holly Fulton and Simone Rocha surrounded by the work of Texas artists such as Angelbert Metoyer, Susan Plum and Luis Arsenio Gonzalez, it’s a visual, tactile feast that won’t disappoint. FYI: Massey was just named one of Houston’s best dressed by the Houston Chronicle. Her shop has been featured in Elle and Brazilian Vogue. 2803 Westheimer Road, 832-407-2832; laboratoria-shop.com

Laboratoria

THE RESTAURANT Punctuate your day of art-hopping with palate-pleasing newcomer Nara. Opened by Seoul-born chef Donald Chang in November, the 7,000-square-foot destination for modern Korean and Japanese cuisine is noted for its presentation of fresh fish flown in daily from both coasts and Japan. Dishes such as octopus usuzukuri, bibimbap, jellyfish salad and salmon truffle rolls are plated like fine art, with accouterments such as ginger-and-wasabi florettes. (No surprise that there is an Art Institute of Houston grad assisting head kitchen chef Esther Cho.) The Upper Kirby restaurant’s design by Issac Preminger is a standout, juxtaposing warm details such as oversize seats and the entry’s towering, petrified-wood-and-silk sakura tree with the cool restraint of smooth stone tabletops and the glass-encased wine room. FYI: The restaurant is divided into four areas, including the main dining room, a sushi bar, a private 16-seat room with tabletop hot-rock grills and a 10-seat chef’s table. The latter is $85 per person for a six-course tasting menu. The interior design, reminiscent of the famous Pool Room at The Four Seasons restaurant in New York, won a 2013 Eater Award. 2800 Kirby Drive, 281-249-5944; narahouston.com

Nara photographed by Julie Soefer

HOLLY CRAWFORD is a Houston-based editor and writer. She has covered travel, fashion, beauty and interiors for publications such as Allure, DuJour, the Houston Chronicle, lonnymag.com and Zagat.