This June, the MFAH will showcase treasures from the Kenwood House, London; exhibit some 85 stunning works from the Powers Collection of Japanese Art; and display a retrospective of America’s most famous cabinetmaker, Duncan Phyfe.

On June 3, 2012, the MFAH will debut the exhibition Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London, whose four-venue national tour was announced by the American Federation of Arts in New York. An exhibition of 48 masterpieces, this will be the first tour of this important group of works from the Iveagh Bequest and will provide a unique opportunity to see these superb paintings outside the United Kingdom. Most of these paintings have never traveled to the States before, and many of them have rarely been seen outside Kenwood.  News Release

On June 10, the MFAH will present Unrivaled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art, showcasing 85 works  from Powers Collection. The Powers’ began buying Japanese artwork in the 1960s and over the next four decades they amassed 300 objects, building one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Japanese art outside of Japan. The last exceptional collection of Japanese art in private hands, the Powers Collection is renowned for its extraordinary scale and quality, and the exhibition provides a rare chance to see these remarkable examples in the Houston region. News Release

Opening June 24 at the MFAH, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York—the first retrospective on Phyfe in 90 years—will serve to re-introduce this artistic and influential master craftsman to a contemporary audience. Renowned in his lifetime for his elegant designs and superior craftsmanship, Duncan Phyfe (1770–1854) remains to this day America’s most famous cabinetmaker. On view will be furniture produced in Phyfe’s Fulton Street workshops which once stood on the site of the former World Trade Center. The full chronological sweep of his long and distinguished career will be featured, including examples of his best-known furniture from the period 1805–20, which was influenced heavily by early English Regency design; his more opulent, monumental and archaeologically correct Grecian style of the late 1810s and 1820s, sometimes referred to as American Empire; and his sleek, minimalist late work of the 1830s and 1840s, known as the Grecian Plain style, based largely on French Restauration furniture design.  News Release