The Heinz and Ruth Eisenstadt Collection
at the
Dishman Art Museum

History of the Collection

The Heinz and Ruth Eisenstadt Collection was bequeathed to the Department of Art at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, in 1991.

Heinz Eisenstadt was born in Berlin, Germany in 1905 and earned a degree in medicine from the University of Berlin in 1930. In 1936, he met Ruth Haase, whom he married that year. Of Jewish descent, the couple escaped Nazi Germany in 1937, leaving their homeland forever. In Germany, they had already begun collecting art and managed to take some of their collection with them when they moved to Temple, Texas. They later settled in Port Arthur, Texas, which would be their home for forty years. Soon after, Dr. Eisenstadt opened a clinic, practicing internal medicine with administrative help from Ruth.

When Dr. Eisenstadt entered semi-retirement in 1979, the couple moved to Houston. He continued practicing medicine at Houston Veterans Administration Hospital and taught at the Baylor College of Medicine. Both Heinz and Ruth were avid and dedicated art collectors throughout their entire lives, and he was actively collecting until his death in 1988. Shortly before Ruth passed away in 1991, she gave their collection to the Department of Art. The Dishman Foundation provided funds for a new wing to the existing gallery, which permanently houses the entire collection.

Introduction to the Collection

The collection consists of paintings, porcelains, objets d’art, sculptures, furniture and carpets.

• Paintings: 147 paintings by European and American artists ranging from the seventeenth through the twentieth century.
• Porcelains: 200 19th- and 20th-century porcelains from Sevres, France, and Meissen and Dresden, Germany.
• Objets d’art: enamel, cloisonne, silver and ivory objects.
• Sculptures: six bronze and one marble 19th-century figurative pieces.
• Furniture: a 15-piece dining room suite and eight curio cabinets.
• Carpets: four modern oriental style carpets.