The museum is the largest university art museum in the United States. The Blanton was established in 1963 as the University Art Museum. In 1980, it was renamed the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery.
On April 30, 2006, the museum opened a new 155,000 square foot (14,000 m²) facility on the University's campus, renamed the Blanton Museum of Art, after receiving a $12 million donation from Houston Endowment Inc. in honor of its former chairman, Jack S. Blanton.
The museum houses some 17,000 works from Europe, the United States and Latin America.