Founded in 1998, Rudolph Blume Fine Art / ArtScan Gallery specializes in contemporary art by artists of different generations.

Rudolph Blume Fine Art / Artscan Gallery champions and exhibits work in a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practice, from conceptual works to large-scale installation and time-based performances. The program’s emphasis lies with emerging and mid-career artists. The gallery is home to innovative, singular, and pioneering exhibitions across a variety of media and genres, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, drawing and printmaking.

The gallery has also been recognized by the Houston Press as “The Best Houston Art Gallery.” In addition to our visual artistic program, the gallery regularly hosts concerts, book receptions, poetry readings, as well as art exhibitions and special events to benefit various community organizations.

Our Story

Since the gallery started in 1998 as ArtScan Gallery at Vine Street Studios under the direction of Volker Eisele, the gallery's exhibition program had a reputation as an adventurous and in many ways innovative presentation of segments of the Houston art scene. Especially the almost exclusive presentation of the arts in thematic type exhibitions distinguished it from purely commercial galleries. The underlying idea of this kind of program has been the presentation of local art as an exploration of relevant art reflecting philosophical and formative issues. When Sean Rudolph joined the gallery about 2 years later, he and Volker were in full agreement on this core philosophy.

The gallery became Rudolph Projects / ArtScan Gallery when Sean jumped on board and the gallery existed at Vine Street Studios for 5 years. They came over to the Richmond Ave location around 2004 and somewhere between all of their adventurous shows, the gallery was renamed Rudolph Blume Fine Art / ArtScan Gallery, under direction and ownership by Volker and Sean. Fast forward to 2015 and Antarctica Black joined the team as the Gallery Manager. Together, they were able to imagine, design and execute a new citywide event in 2016: Sculpture Month Houston.

And there's more to come!

We are very sad to have one of the greatest minds put to rest, November 2016. Sean Rudolph will always be remembered through our gallery. He was a kind and loving soul who cared for the arts so deeply. His spouse, Brad Blume, has stepped in to take Sean's place at the gallery, keeping his memory alive and the gallery thriving.