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2015 The Menil Collection Annual Report

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2015

T H E M E N I L C O L L E C T I O N A N N UA L R E P O R T

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2015

THE MENIL COLLECTION ANNUAL REP ORT


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Fiscal Year 2015 July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

Director’s Review Mission Statement and Core Values

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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE MENIL and CAMPUS EXPANSION Progress Report Master Site Plan Gateway Bistro Menil Menil Drawing Institute and Energy House Groundbreaking South Campus Design and Construction Menil Drawing Institute Design

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EXHIBITIONS and COLLECTION Exhibitions Menil Traveling Exhibitions Loans of Art to Other Institutions Collection Acquisitions

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SCHOL ARSHIP Publishing Website Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings Conservation Research: Library and Archives

62 64 66 68

ENGAGEMENT Public Programs Education Menil Bookstore Membership

72 74

FACTS and FIGURES Financial By the Numbers

78 82

SUPPORT Donors Membership

52 54 55

90 91

Board of Trustees, Menil Council, and Founding Benefactors Staff

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DIRECTOR’S REVIEW Dear Friends of the Menil,

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efore concluding my tenure as director of the Menil Collection, I would like to take a moment to reflect on my years here and to articulate what I believe are the Menil’s unique contributions to museum practice, to Houston, and to our national and international audiences. From my first visit to the Menil in 1989 as a young curator in Switzerland to today, I remain passionate about what distinguishes the Menil from most institutions of its kind; it is definitely more than a great museum. Beyond our world-class art collection, the Menil has been the heart of and the catalyst for a neighborhood of art through architecture, green spaces, and residential living, envisioned and preserved first by our founders, John and Dominique de Menil, and now entrusted to all of us who care about the future of this delicate organism that has been called “an oasis of humanity.” Embodying the ethos and aesthetics championed by our founders, all of these structures and different functions exist in relaxed harmony and without hierarchy. There is a human scale and a down-to-earth serenity to the Menil and its campus that is becoming rare as Houston grows. Our beloved live oak trees unify the ten-block campus, shade the sidewalks and paths between our diverse buildings, and act as biological microcosms and perfect companions such as the magnificent oak tree at the entrance to the Cy Twombly Gallery. Museum visitors, neighborhood residents, park-goers, staff, parents and children, night herons, screeching owls, and pets all coexist to create a serene and animated ambiance in this urban precinct that is the Menil Collection.

Menil Board Chair and Life Trustee Louisa Stude Sarofim and Director Josef Helfenstein celebrate the groundbreaking for the Menil Drawing Institute.

Soon after my arrival in 2004, it became clear that the museum needed a plan for the future with a vision to enhance our campus that would still preserve the many facets of its unique character. Together the Board of Trustees, staff, and I created the Strategic Plan in 2006, developed the Master Site Plan with David Chipperfield Architects in 2009, and then in 2012 launched the $110 million Campaign for the Menil to fund campus expansion. As a result of our thoughtful and persistent work, the recent transformations on campus include a redesigned parking lot, the opening of Bistro Menil, repurposing the Byzantine Fresco Chapel into a space for long-term contemporary art installations, and, in progress at this very moment, construction of the Menil Drawing Institute and Energy House. Los Angeles Times architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne wrote, “bucking the prevailing trend

Rendering of the Menil Drawing Institute and new green space looking north across the extension of West Main Street. pp. 2–3: The Menil Collection east promenade and green space.

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toward art-world gigantism, ‘the Menil’ is expanding as thoughtfully and intelligently as any museum in the country.” Beyond nurturing and expanding our founders’ physical gift to Houston, I am happy about and grateful for many other achievements including the first comprehensive publication about the history of the Menil Foundation and Collection, Art and Activism: The Projects of John and Dominique de Menil. Published in 2010, this book is the culmination of a complex, sevenyear undertaking to document and provide a rich and nuanced picture of our founders’ widespread endeavors and accomplishments over a half-century in the fields of art, architecture, education, and social justice. Art and Activism gives a voice to many past and current collaborators including family members, staff, artists, former students, scholars, and activists. Alongside stewarding our founders’ broad legacy as “builders and humanists,” it has been a joy to organize many exhibitions drawing from and reaching beyond our rich collections. Working with all of my Menil colleagues, I achieved a career-long dream with the opening of the 2014 exhibition Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence. Conceived and realized in close partnership with our sister institution the Rothko Chapel, we asked big and deep questions about aesthetics and ethics, past and present. An overview of the exhibition and the many resulting collaborations with Houston arts and civic organizations is contained within these pages. It is impossible for me to capture each and every highlight of my twelve years in Houston. It has been an honor to serve as director of the Menil Collection, and I thank all of you and my beloved and talented Menil staff for your inspiring and generous support. I invite you to peruse the following summary, detailing the broad scope of our activities of fiscal year 2015.

Art and Activism, the first comprehensive history of John and Dominique de Menil’s patronage, was published in 2010 under Helfenstein’s leadership. .

Sincerely,

Josef Helfenstein Director

Essayists Deloyd Parker and Pamela G. Smart with co-editor Josef Helfenstein at the booksigning for Art and Activism.

1. Hawthorne, Christopher, “Review: Menil Design by L.A.’s Johnston Marklee is Deceptively Simple.” Los Angeles Times, February 19, 2014.

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DIRECTOR’S REVIEW Major Accomplishments of the Menil Board of Trustees, Administration, and Staff during Josef Helfenstein’s Tenure as Director, 2004–2015

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Created the Master Site Plan for the Menil campus expansion and revitalization in 2009 in collaboration with David Chipperfield Architects

In 2012 the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Foundation returned two Byzantine frescoes on long-term loan from the Archbishopric of Cyprus. The Menil Collection then adapted the existing building as a new venue for long-term art installations

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Opened the redesigned north Gateway and Bistro Menil in 2014

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Began construction of the Menil Drawing Institute, Energy House, and new green space along with the extension of West Main Street in March 2015

In 2012 launched The Campaign for the Menil, the first comprehensive capital campaign in the institution’s history, with the goal of raising $110 million

Added more than 1,000 works of art to the collection with major highlights including: n

Ellsworth Kelly’s 188-part drawing series Tablet

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Edmund Carpenter and Adelaide de Menil Carpenter’s collection of more than 300 Civil Rights-era photographs

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Thirty-three early works by Walter De Maria

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Important works by Max Ernst, René Magritte, Meret Oppenheim, and Wols

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Gifts from artists including Susan Frecon, Robert Gober, Claes Oldenburg, and Cy Twombly

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Significant bequests from David Whitney and William F. Stern

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Published forty-four books and exhibition catalogues

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Initiated in 2010 the project to publish the Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings, under the auspices of the Menil Drawing Institute

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ENGAGEMENT Dramatically increased the number and diversity of public programs offered from a dozen to more than fifty a year with the establishment of the position of Director of Public Programs

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Initiated ongoing educational partnerships with the University of Houston, Rice University, and the University of Texas, Austin

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Menil membership increased from 300 to over 2,000 members

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Annual attendance doubled to 218,000 visitors

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In 2013 began publishing an annual report to illustrate the breadth of the Menil activities and to provide increased transparency

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CAMPUS EXPANSION Installed two additional Michael Heizer negative earth sculptures on the front lawn

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INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING Developed a Strategic Plan in 2006 that articulated the Menil’s core values and goals for the future

EXHIBITIONS, COLLECTIONS, AND SCHOLARSHIP n Menil curators and exhibitions team developed 94 exhibitions under Helfenstein’s direction n

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PEOPLE Menil staff expanded with new positions in Admin­ i­­stration, Advancement, Collections Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, Public Programs, and Publishing departments, a total of 117 employees The Menil Foundation Board of Trustees increased from eleven to twenty-six members FINANCIAL The Menil endowment increased by approximately 54%


Director Josef Helfenstein welcomes Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi for his address at the Baker Institute of Public Policy, Rice University, one of the highlights of the community-wide celebration Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives.

Director Josef Helfenstein, Adelaide de Menil Carpenter, and Yo-Yo Ma at a special benefit performance in 2012.

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THE MENIL COLLECTION

Mission Statement

Core Values

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he Menil Collection is shaped by the vision of its founders, John and Dominique de Menil, and their belief that the arts are central to the human experience. There is a deep spirituality and humanism at the heart of the collection, and the intimate and contemplative environment in which art is displayed respects the primacy of the artwork and the viewer’s direct encounter with art. The Menil Collection is committed to sustaining the special spirit and core values that define this institution and to keeping them relevant for future generations.

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A commitment to taking extraordinary care for works of art and their display in an environment that respects the primacy of the art.

§ Having museum buildings devoted solely to art and its requirements.

§ Preserving the spirit and character of the campus environment and neighborhood setting.

§ An intellectual independence and a willingness to take risks and be out of the mainstream.

§ Valuing the artist’s intention and working with certain artists on a deeper and more sustained level.

§ The central role of research and scholarship. § An international character and presence. § A commitment to ethical integrity and social responsibility. Amar Kanwar, The Sovereign Forest, 2012/ ongoing, installation view, in Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence.

§ Accessibility and an institutional culture that is sensitive and responsive to issues of diversity.

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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE MENIL and CAMPUS EXPANSION

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The CAMPAIGN for the MENIL

Progress Report

Johnston Marklee, aerial view of the Menil campus upon completion of the Menil Drawing Institute (foreground, right) and Energy House (left).

pp. 10–11: Excavation for the Menil Drawing Institute site commenced in March 2015. 12

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DRAFT

Internal Use Only

A Message from The Campaign for the Menil Chair

$110 Million Campaign Goal

$86.8 Million or 79% of goal raised as of June 30, 2015

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early three decades after the Menil Collection opened its doors, people everywhere remain grateful for the unmatched gift that John and Dominique de Menil offered the world. These treasures are ours to enjoy. If we truly appreciate what we have been given, we can demon­strate that gratitude by extending and enriching the founders’ legacy through our own gifts, to keep the Menil vital far into the future. More art, more green space, more public enjoyment, and more financial strength: these will be the tangible benefits of The Campaign for the Menil, as it positions this uniquely important institution for the next phase of its life. Even more important are the intangible benefits that ensure the Menil remains relevant while increasing its ability to engage both local and global audiences. Our goal for the campaign is to raise $110 million by 2017. Approximately $60 million is needed to build the Menil Drawing Institute and Energy House; reconfigure and improve the campus green space; and fund the recently completed Bistro Menil and upgraded parking area. An additional $50 million is needed to add to the endow­ ment and provide the transitional operating costs to support the planned growth. At the end of fiscal year 2015, $86.8 million had been raised, or 79% of the goal. By structuring the campaign in this way, we hope to enable each of us to take a measure of personal responsibility for the future of this cherished institution. Collectively, we have the capability to help improve this campus and contribute toward a greater vision. I hope you will join us.

Leslie Elkins Sasser Chair, The Campaign for the Menil

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CAMPUS EXPANSION

Master Site Plan

WEST ALABAMA

YUPON

MANDELL

MULBERRY

SUL ROSS

BRANARD

WEST MAIN

The Master Site Plan integrates exceptional new buildings PHASE 1 A praised exhibition spaces, while with the existing widely expanding green space, clarifying pedestrian circulation, and emphasizing community integration.

Phase 2: South Campus Energy House, new green space, and Menil Drawing Institute PHASE 1

LORETTO

Phase 1: Gateway COLQUITT Menil Bookstore, new parking lot, and Bistro Menil

RICHMOND

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Gateway

PHASE 2

Transformation Completed

The north campus Gateway and Bistro Menil are the first two completed projects from the 2009 Menil Master Site Plan created with David Chipperfield Architects. The Gateway is a new entrance to the Menil campus that is both welcoming and richly textured with a variety of plants and materials. Landscape architecture firm PHASE 3 Van Valkenburgh Associates, PHASE 4 reinvigorated Michael Inc. the former asphalt parking lot with more than eighty new trees and 19,000 square feet of primarily native, drought-tolerant groundcover and perennials. Large oak trees, irises, native chalk maples, and other plants line the interior pathways that welcome visitors. The campus entrance is open, dissolving boundaries among bungalow yards, the parking lot, Bistro Menil, and the various museum buildings.


Gateway

The new entrance corridor leads visitors from the West Alabama parking lot, past the Menil Bookstore and the Bistro Menil, to the interior of the museum campus.

New Sustainable Design Parking The new parking lot is as noteworthy for its sustainable design as for its aesthetic qualities. Rain sheets off the concrete drive lanes and is filtered through the planters and ground foliage. Excess water is then collected in underdrains and carried to an 8,000-cubic-foot storage chamber that serves as an irrigation reserve. Energy-efficient LED lights illuminate the lot and dim slowly over the course of the night to minimize energy usage. A bike share station and generous bike parking provide a welcoming atmosphere for cyclists.

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CAMPUS EXPANSION

Bistro Menil

Bistro Menil exterior and interior.

Bistro Menil Opens, Fall 2014 Flanking the east side of the Gateway across from the Menil Bookstore, Bistro Menil began welcoming guests on October 1, 2014. Operated independently by Chef Greg Martin, the restaurant offers American fare with European influences. Designed by Stern and Bucek Architects and clad in stained cedar siding, the building’s domestic scale and gable roof reflect the traditional bungalow architecture of the surrounding neighborhood while its many windows and open interior dining rooms lend a modern character. Bistro Menil complies with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) tenets and utilizes ground source geothermal energy for heating and cooling, as well as refrigera­tion in the kitchen and wine room. The restaurant is a gracious and lively environment for visitors and staff to enjoy. 16

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Menil Drawing Institute and Energy House Groundbreaking

Mark Lee, Sharon Johnston, Janet Hobby, Louisa Stude Sarofim, Josef Helfenstein, Mayor Annise Parker, and David Breslin at the formal groundbreaking.

MDI Construction Is Launched On March 27, 2015, the Menil Collection welcomed friends, Menil family members, staff, community leaders, and donors along with architects, landscape designers, and consultants to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Menil Drawing Institute (MDI). The ceremony included remarks by Josef Helfenstein, Director, The Menil Collection; Janet

Hobby, President, The Menil Foundation; David Breslin, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator, Menil Drawing Institute; Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, principals, Johnston Marklee; and Annise Parker, Mayor, City of Houston. The Menil expects to complete construction in mid-2017, at which time the institution will host a community-wide celebration.

Director Josef Helfenstein addresses the crowd at the MDI groundbreaking.

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CAMPUS EXPANSION

South Campus Design and Construction

Rendering of Energy House, Cy Twombly Gallery, new green space, and Menil Drawing Institute, looking north across West Main Street.

More than 1,900 drawings will be housed and cared for in the Menil Drawing Institute, such as Sol LeWitt’s Horizontal Bands (More or Less), 2003. The Menil Collection, Houston, Bequest of William F. Stern.

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Menil Drawing Institute (MDI), Energy House, and New Green Space With the site cleared and concrete poured, the MDI is taking shape. Designed by the Los Angeles-based firm Johnston Marklee, the building will have spaces devoted to the exhibition, study, and conservation of modern and contemporary drawings. In addition to a gallery specifically suited to the needs of drawings, the MDI will offer offices for guest artists and scholars, a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory, and a public space—known as the Living Room—for presentations, readings, and performances. Rising adjacent to the Cy Twombly Gallery, the MDI will help expand the Menil campus to the south and complete a direct connection to the Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall.

The original Energy House was built at the same time as the museum in the mid 1980s and its equipment has become obsolete. The Menil is replacing the current power, cooling, and heating building with a more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable facility, designed by Johnston Marklee, that can accommodate future museum buildings. Functionally and formally, the new Energy House will play a vital role in the southern expansion of the Menil campus. The adjacent landscape zone is a pivotal space in the campus, as it will connect the existing museum developments to exhibition spaces and a new park.

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CAMPUS EXPANSION

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Menil Drawing Institute Design


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GROUND LEVEL PLAN

GROUND FLOOR PLAN Scale 1:20 1. West Courtyard 2. Living Room 3. Exhibition Gallery 4. East Courtyard 5. Offices 6. Cloister 7. Scholars’ Courtyard 8. Drawing Room 9. Salons 10. Library 11. Conservation Lab 12. Loading Area

Menil Drawing Institute

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opposite: Menil Drawing Institute Living Room. right: Menil Drawing Institute Drawing Room.

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EXHIBITIONS and COLLECTION

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EXHIBITIONS

Modern and Contemporary Galleries.

F pp. 22–23: Visitor in the Modern and Contemporary Galleries. 24

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iscal year 2015 began with a long-planned special exhibition exploring the manifestation of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s ethics of nonviolence in visual art, followed by an exhibition celebrating the museum’s significant holdings of work by Barnett Newman. In addition, the permanent collec­tion was the basis of an exhibition of works by the contempo­ rary Greek artist Takis and a presentation featuring late-nineteenth century French drawings, displayed alongside selections from the Morgan Library & Museum. Continuing its commitment to living artists, the Menil presented two commissioned projects. Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller created The Infinity Machine, a remarkable mobile and sound-based installation utilizing recordings from NASA’s audio archives for the Byzantine Fresco Chapel. Dario Robleto explored two scientific endeavors identified with Houston in his installation The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed.


Dario Robleto: The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed August 16, 2014–January 4, 2015

Presenting new site-specific sculpture alongside objects from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition wove together an assortment of sounds, ideas, personal narratives, and scientific research to link two remarkable undertakings that took place in the United States in the 1960s: the space race and the development of the artificial human heart. Robleto’s goal through this project was to challenge and augment how the scientific and medical worlds understand the emotional ramifications of their roles in perpetually extending the physical and theoretical boundaries of life.

The exhibition was curated by Michelle White, Curator. This exhibition was commissioned and developed in a joint residency between the Menil Collection and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, University of Houston.

The exhibition was generously supported by Eddie and Chinhui Allen; Robert J. Card, MD and Karol Kreymer; Jereann and Holland Chaney; Allison and David Ayers; The Brown Foundation; Brad and Leslie Bucher; Anne and Jack Moriniere; Bridget and Patrick Wade; and the City of Houston.

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EXHIBITIONS

Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence October 2, 2014–February 1, 2015

Bringing together approximately 130 works and filling fourteen galleries, this was the largest single exhibition in the Menil’s history. It was the culmination of almost twenty years of thinking and planning by its curator, Josef Helfenstein. This exploration of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence and its relation to art ranged widely within historical religious and ethical traditions and across modern and contemporary art. Images of great peacemakers and civil rights activists were counterpointed with sublime abstract paintings, meditative films and video installations, and master­works of religious art. A number of artists—whether named or anonymous— directly confronted injustice; others investigated the roots of peace and harmony. The Menil Collection’s own holdings were at the heart of the show, augmented by national and international loans of documents and rare artworks. These included two fantastic color drawings by Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross and a corecipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize (see p. 52). Henri Cartier-Bresson photographs were at the core of the representations of Gandhi, chief among the civil rights activists and philosophers included. Moving images—such as the unknown protester confronting tanks at Tiananmen Square in 1989—and video installations by Amar Kanwar, Kimsooja, and William Kentridge created a visual discourse anchoring the exhibition between past and present, art

Jina, possibly Mahavira; India, Karnataka or Tamil Nadu; second half of the 9th century. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase 26

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and everyday artifact, and document and sacred relic. Kanwar’s ongoing installation The Sovereign Forest explores struggles over the resource-rich lands of Odisha State, India. The panoply of related programs and the publi­ cation of a reader on the interrelated topics and individuals extended the dialogue among the Menil Collection’s audiences and leading thinkers, historians, and artists. Building on John and Dominique de Menil’s history of advocating for humanitarian causes, Experiments with Truth became a platform for conversation on worldwide issues surrounding human rights and nonviolence. The exhibition traveled to International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva.


Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence, installation view.

Dan Budnik, Selma to Montgomery March: John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. leading religious dignitaries at the end of the first day, Hall Farm Road, Dallas County, Alabama, March 21, 1965. The Menil Collection, Houston, Gift of Edmund Carpenter and Adelaide de Menil

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EXHIBITIONS

Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence

Visitors to Experiments with Truth.

The exhibition was curated by Menil Director Josef Helfenstein in collaboration with Amar Kanwar. This exhibition was generously supported by Clare Casademont and Michael Metz; Franci Neely; Anne and David Kirkland; Anne and Bill Stewart; Michael Zilkha; H-E-B; Skadden, Arps; Suzanne Deal Booth; Janet and Paul Hobby; Marilyn Oshman; Baker

Hughes Foundation; Diane and Mike Cannon; Molly Gochman in honor of Louisa Stude Sarofim; Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray; Bert Bertonaschi; Mahatma Gandhi Library; and the City of Houston. The book was supported by The Anchorage Foundation. United Airlines is the Preferred Airline of The Menil Collection.

Kimsooja, A Needle Woman, 2005. Six-channel video projection, color, 10 min. 40 sec. loop, installation view. Courtesy of Kimsooja Studio 28

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Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives Community Involvement In conjunction with Experiments with Truth, the Menil joined with twenty-nine arts, cultural, and community organizations to explore Gandhi’s legacy in our city. The museum produced and hosted the website Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives (gandhislegacyhouston.org) to create an online forum and allow the continuous addition of presenters and programs. Events were posted, articles by speakers or about their topics were published, and texts were contributed by community members. The Rothko Chapel presented a nine-month series of eleven programs addressing peacemaking, torture, and capital punishment, including the community workshop Love Your Enemies. The Menil copresented events at the museum with a number of organizations and programs on nonviolence or Gandhi appeared at such places as the Printing Museum, India House, and Riverside

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Workshops & Panels

Exhibitions

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Lectures

Meditations

Gandhi’s Legacy web site.

United Methodist Church—where the eminent nonviolent activist Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. held a large crowd spellbound. The website also published a suite of poems by Thomas Meloncon about artworks in the Organized Love: Ideas on Non-Violence exhibition at the African American Library at the Gregory School.

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Film Screenings

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Peace Walk

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Book Events

Broadcasts TV & FM

Participating Organizations The African American Library at the Gregory School

India Studies Program, University of Houston

Anjali Center for Performing Arts

InPrint

Asia Society Texas Center

KUHT, Houston Public Media

Aurora Picture Show

Live Oak Friends Meeting House

Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

Mahatma Gandhi Library, Houston

Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center

The Menil Collection

Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, Rice University

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Film Program

The Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning, Rice University

The Printing Museum, Houston

Cleveland-Ripley Neighborhood Center Contemporary Handweavers of Houston DiverseWorks Holocaust Museum Houston Houston NVC: Communication Fueled by the Power of Compassion India House, Houston

Project Row Houses Rice University Art Gallery, Houston Riverside United Methodist Church, Houston Rothko Chapel South Asia Institute at University of Texas at Austin Voices Breaking Boundaries Writers in the Schools

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EXHIBITIONS

Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives Selected Events at Community Venues

ß Love Your Enemies

Community Workshop

Love Your Enemies at the Rothko Chapel, copresented by Dawn Mountain, featured celebrated Buddhist scholars and teachers offering training and dialogue on the benefits of leading a mindful, lovefilled life. Left to right: Harvey Aronson, Sharon Salzburg, Tenzin Robert Thurman, and Anne C. Klein

Rajmohan Gandhi  Gandhi’s biographer and grandson Rajmohan Gandhi spoke at the Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He is shown here signing their “What does peace look like?” artwork.

Reverend James M. Lawson Jr. à Nonviolent activist the Reverend James M. Lawson Jr. answering audience questions at the Riverside United Methodist Church. 30

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DRAFT

Internal Use Only

Yusuke Asai’s yamatane  Yusuke Asai used samples of local soil to create his earth painting yamatane, 2014, Commission, Rice University Art Gallery, Houston.

Mahatma Gandhi Walk for Peace  The Mahatma Gandhi Library staged a Walk for Peace along Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston.

Organized Love: Ideas on Non-Violence à An exhibition presented by the African American Library at the Gregory School and curated by Danielle Burns. Anthony Suber, Freedom Ain’t Free for the “Freed,” 2014 (detail)

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EXHIBITIONS

Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives Selected Events at The Menil Collection

Riyaaz Qawwali 

The Red Handkerchief 

Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music that goes back many centuries. The Houston/Austin-based Riyaaz Qawwali singers and musicians hail from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and represent multiple religious and spiritual backgrounds. Their first performance at the Menil included some of Gandhi’s most beloved songs.

Dutch sisters Catharina and Maria Spronk were imprisoned for sabotage against the Nazi occupation of Holland. Their uniform included a red handkerchief, which is on loan to the Holocaust Museum Houston, and was included in Experiments with Truth. Yvonne M. Ward-Hughes (right), author of the book telling their story, joined Catharina Spronk (left).

The Influence of Gandhi & King on Hip-Hop Culture  Director Josef Helfenstein; Talib Kweli; Bun B; Anthony B. Pinn; and Monica Miller (left to right); participated in a panel discussion. Menil Curator of Collections Paul Davis (far right) served as moderator. 32

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Sand Mandala: The Sacred Tour 2014 à The Tibetan monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery spent six days carefully placing grains of sand to complete a mandala of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The closing ceremony attracted one of the largest audiences in the Menil’s history (see front cover). As a reminder of the impermanence of all things, the monks dismantled the mandala, dispersing some of it to attendees as blessings, and placing the remainder into a stream feeding Buffalo Bayou.

Theaster Gates and the Black Monks of Mississippi â Chicago’s Theaster Gates (seated, center)—sculptor, musician, urban planner, and performance artist—describes his mix of art and community activism as social practice. His musical ensemble draws on Black Church Gospel, Eastern devotional music, and American Blues.

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EXHIBITIONS

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller The Infinity Machine at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel January 31, 2015–February 28, 2016

Byzantine Fresco Chapel.

The Infinity Machine was commissioned by the Menil Collection, Houston. Courtesy of the artists and Luhring Augustine, New York. The installation was curated by Toby Kamps, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and generously supported by the City of Houston. 34

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Originally designed to house two thirteenth-century frescoes from Lysi, Cyprus, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel has now been repurposed as a dedicated artist’s space for various long-term installations. The inaugural installation is a site-specific new work by Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. Commissioned by the Menil Collection, The Infinity Machine is Cardiff and Miller’s first mobile sculpture. More than 150 antique mirrors hang from a rotating truss, creating a simple yet cosmically scaled device that, along with a computer-controlled lighting sequence and a soundtrack made from the interactions of solar winds with the magnetic fields of planets and moons in our solar system, transforms the former Byzantine Fresco Chapel into a site for reflection on space, time, and consciousness.


Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.

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EXHIBITIONS

Takis: The Fourth Dimension January 24–July 16, 2015 World-renowned for his explorations of the gap between art and physics, Greek artist Takis creates three-dimensional works of art that incorporate invisible energies as a fourth element. He is an expert in magnetism and employs it to generate the compositions, movements, and musical sounds of his static and kinetic sculptures. With twenty-five works, the largest single group outside of Europe, this exhibition was the first-ever U.S. museum survey of his career. The exhibition was curated by Toby Kamps, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. This exhibition was generously supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the City of Houston. top: Takis, Magnetic Painting No. 7, 1962 The Menil Collection, Houston 36

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Eugène Delacroix, Forest View with an Oak Tree, ca. 1853. Thaw Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Becoming Modern:

Eugène Delacroix, Pyrenees Mountains in the Fog of Eaux- Bonnes, 1845. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Purchased as the gift of the Visiting Committee of the Department of Drawings and Prints in honor of Eugene Victor Thaw

Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from The Morgan Library & Museum and the Menil Collection

February 27–June 14, 2015 This exhibition celebrated the remarkable holdings of nineteenth-century French drawings in the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum and the Menil Collection, museums engaged in an ongoing collaboration through their respective drawing institutes to foster meaningful conversations about the medium. The show comprised works on paper by five artists who had a significant impact on drawing during the formative years of modernism: Eugène Delacroix, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Odilon Redon, and Paul Cézanne. Emerging in a world transformed by new technologies and industrialization, drawing in the nineteenth century became a means to respond to a rapidly changing cultural and urban landscape and paved the way for the twentieth-century avant-garde. The exhibition was jointly curated by Jennifer Tonokovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator of Drawing at the Morgan Library & Museum, and Michelle White, Curator, The Menil Collection.

Georges Seurat, Corner of a Factory, ca. 1883. The Menil Collection, Houston

This exhibition was generously supported by The Brown Foundation; The John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Nancy and Mark Abendshein; Franci Neely; Diana and Russell Hawkins; Janie C. Lee and David B. Warren; Louisa Stude Sarofim; Michael Zilkha; Lazard Frères & Co.; W.S. Bellows Construction Corporation; Peter J. Fluor/K.C. Weiner; Vaughn Foundation; Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray; and the City of Houston.

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EXHIBITIONS

Barnett Newman: The Late Work March 27–August 2, 2015

From 1965 to 1970, during one of the most experimental periods of his career, American artist Barnett Newman produced a selection of extraordinary paintings. While the late paintings maintain Newman’s well-known language of narrow lines traversing planes of color, they are distinctly more uniform in terms of paint application, more luminous in color, and among the largest that he ever created. This exhibition highlighted the transformations apparent in these late works by including earlier Newman paintings as well as three unfinished works from the Menil’s holdings.

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The exhibition was curated by Curator Michelle White and Chief Conservator Brad Epley. The exhibition was generously supported by The John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Nancy and Mark Abendshein; Susanne and Bill Pritchard; Leslie and Shannon Sasser; Taub Foundation: Marcy Taub Wessel and Henry J.N. Taub II; Frost Bank; Suzanne Deal Booth; Janet and Paul Hobby; Gensler; Russell Reynolds Associates; and the City of Houston. Barnett Newman, Be I (Second Version), 1970. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan. Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford III Fund


Barnett Newman, White Fire IV, 1968. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Acquired 1980 with funds from the Max Geldner Foundation and from the purchase of the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel (left); and Now II, 1967, The Menil Collection, Houston, Formerly in the collection of Christophe de Menil

Barnett Newman, Midnight Blue, 1970. Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (purchased 1977)

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EXHIBITIONS

Menil Traveling Exhibitions

Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil, at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, installation view.

Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible The University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive June 11–September 14, 2014

This World Is Not My Home: Danny Lyon Photographs

Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva April 14, 2015–January 3, 2016

Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee August 14–November 9, 2014

Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil Morgan Library & Museum, New York September 26, 2014–January 25, 2015

Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now Hammer Museum, Los Angeles February 7–May 31, 2015 Organized by the Hammer Museum and The Menil Collection 40

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Josef Helfenstein and Amar Kanwar address visitors at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva.


DRAFT

Internal Use Only

Loans of Art to Other Institutions

During fiscal year 2015, the Menil loaned one hundred works to twenty three institutions in nine countries. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado Brandywine River Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva The Jewish Museum, New York Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen, Düsseldorf Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto Museu Picasso, Barcelona Museum of Modern Art, New York

Pablo Picasso, Woman in a Red Armchair, 1929, The Menil Collection, Houston, appeared in the exhibition Dalí Confronts Picasso at the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Museu Picasso, Barcelona.

National Art Center, Tokyo Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Tate Liverpool

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis

Tate Modern, London

Royal Academy of Arts, London

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

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COLLECTION

African Art Gallery.

Cataloguing objects from the Edmund Carpenter Collection of Arctic Art. 42

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S

haped by the humanist vision and intellectual pursuits of founders John and Dominique de Menil, the permanent collection of approximately 17,000 artworks is the foundation of the museum. As the collection grows with new acquisitions, it continues to deepen the artistic connections across different eras and cultures and embody the legacy of the de Menils’ original project. In fiscal year 2015, new exhibitions and gallery reinstallations, significant conservation and digital initiatives, as well as numerous public programs and innovative research projects with artists and scholars provided abundant opportunities to showcase the diverse artworks in the permanent collection and inspire new and returning visitors to the museum.


Musicians David Dove and Jawwaad Taylor performing in the Cy Twombly Gallery.

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COLLECTION

Acquisitions

HANS BELLMER, German, 1902–1975

Untitled, 1946–1948 Wood 103/4 × 11/2 × 2 inches (27.3 × 3.8 × 5.1 cm) Gift of Jacques de Caso Portrait of Jacques de Caso, 1954

Graphite and gouache on paper 95/8 × 115/8 inches (24.5 × 29.5 cm) Gift of Jacques de Caso

LOUISE BOURGEOIS, French-American,

1911–2010

Untitled, 1953 Ink on paper 111/2 × 71/4 inches (29.2 × 18.4 cm) Purchased with funds provided by the Board of Trustees and Collections Committee in honor of Josef Helfenstein on the occasion of his tenth anniversary as Director of The Menil Collection

WALTER DE MARIA, American, 1935–2013

Boxes for Meaningless Work, 1960/1961 Plywood and graphite Boxes: 95/8 × 131/4 × 18 inches (24.4 × 33.5 × 45.7 cm) Base: 41/8 × 48 × 24 inches (10.4 × 121.9 × 61 cm) top: Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 1953

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hroughout fiscal year 2015, the Menil Collection reinforced its commitment to living artists, acquiring works by several significant contemporary artists such as Suzan Frecon, Barkley L. Hendricks, and Rudolf Stingel. The Menil acquired works by both Dario Robleto and Luc Tuymans following their respective exhibitions. The Menil added considerably to its holdings of work by the late Walter De Maria through the acquisition of an important group of thirty-two early paintings and wood sculptures. Other highlights include a sculpture and a drawing by Hans Bellmer, a work on paper by Louise Bourgeois, drawings by Sari Dienes, a suite of works on paper by Frederick Hammersley, and a painting by Meret Oppenheim.

opposite: Walter De Maria, The Arch, 1964

Atomic Bomb Painting, 1961 Oil on canvas 36 × 36 inches (91.4 × 91.4 cm) Blue Cat, 1961

Oil on canvas 36 × 36 inches (91.4 × 91.4 cm)

Blue Rat, 1961 Oil on canvas 36 × 36 inches (91.4 × 91.4 cm) Column with Ball on Top, 1961 Wood and graphite Column: 96 × 12 × 12 inches (243.8 × 30.5 × 30.5 cm) Ball: 2 in. diameter (5.1 cm) Man on the Moon Painting, 1961

Oil on canvas 36 × 36 inches (91.4 × 91.4 cm)

Move Any Ball to Any Open Spot, 1961 Plywood, canvas, wood, and ink Each of two panels: 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 cm) Each of three balls: 21/4 inches (5.7 cm)

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COLLECTION

Acquisitions

WALTER DE MARIA (continued) Move Ball Counter-Clockwise on Diagram, 1961

Plywood, canvas, wood, and ink Each of two panels: 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 cm) Each of three balls: 21/4 inches (5.7 cm)

Move the Ball to Any New Place on the Board, 1961

Plywood, canvas, wood, and ink Each of two panels: 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 cm) Ball: 21/4 inches (5.7 cm)

Portrait of Two Boxes in the Face of a Cat, 1961 Oil on canvas 32 × 32 inches (81.3 × 81.3 cm)

Put One Box on Top of Another Box, Wait One Minute, Then Place the Top Box on the Floor, 1961

Oil on canvas, wood, and paint Stacked boxes: 151/4 × 111/2 × 131/4 inches (38.7 × 29.2 × 33.7 cm) Canvas: 491/2 × 24 inches (125.7 × 61 cm)

Statue of John Cage, 1961 Wood 85 × 141/2 × 141/2 inches (215.9 × 36.8 × 36.8 cm) Surprise Box, 1961 Wood, paint, and graphite Box: 19 × 13 × 131/2 inches (48.3 × 33 × 34.3 cm) Base: 35 × 91/4 × 73/4 inches (88.9 × 23.5 × 19.7 cm) Tale of the Two Fighting Boxes, 1961

Oil on canvas 32 × 32 inches (81.3 × 81.3 cm)

Walk Around the Box, 1961

Wood and oil on canvas Box: 15 × 13 × 13 inches (38.1 × 33 × 33 cm) Canvas: 491/2 × 24 inches (125.7 × 61 cm)

“A Walk to Sign B” “B Walk to Sign A,” 1961 Oil on canvas and plastic Each of two canvases: 121/8 × 10 inches (30.6 × 25.4 cm)

Ball Drop, 1961/1964

Plywood, wood, and graphite 76 × 24 × 61/4 inches (193 × 61 × 15.9 cm)

Adventures of Mr. Ball, 1962

Plywood, wood, paint, ink, and adhesive tape Box: 24 × 96 × 61/4 inches (61 × 243.8 × 15.9 cm) Ball: 4 in. diameter (10.2 cm)

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In and Out Box, 1962 Wood, paint, paper, nails, and ink Box: 18 × 237/8 × 237/8 inches (45.7 × 60.7 × 60.7 cm) Block: 51/8 inches (13 cm) Base: 373/4 × 91/4 × 71/2 inches (95.9 × 23.5 × 19.1 cm) Move the Ball Slowly Down the Row,

1962 Wood and graphite Box: 35/8 × 51/4 × 42 inches (9.1 × 13.3 × 106.7 cm) Ball: 4 in. diameter (10.2 cm)

Pin Ball, 1962

Wood, plywood, and graphite Box: 36 × 24 × 6 inches (91.4 × 61 × 15.2 cm) Ball: 4 in. diameter (10.2 cm)

Place Ball in Hole No. 1, 1962 Wood and graphite Box: 121/4 × 13 × 48 inches (31.1 × 33 × 121.9 cm) Upright plank: 96 × 13 inches (243.8 × 33 cm) Ball: 4 in. diameter (10.2 cm) Shadow Self Portrait / with Sight, 1962 Chalk on canvas, wood, and metal Canvas: 82 × 473/4 × 31/2 inches (208.3 × 121.3 × 8.9 cm) Sighting column: 91/4 × 75/8 × 72 inches (23.5 × 19.3 × 182.9 cm) Sighting pipe: 84 × 3/4 in. diameter (213.4 × 1.9 cm) Stand on Step, Lift Curtain, 1962

Wood, velvet, mirror, offset photolithographs (not extant), leather, paint, and graphite 821/2 × 24 × 24 inches (209.6 × 61 × 61 cm)

Tank, 1962

Wood and plywood 541/4 × 36 inches (137.8 × 91.4 cm)

Toss Ball in Box, 1962 Wood and plywood Box: 24 × 24 × 24 inches (61 × 61 × 61 cm) Pedestal: 35 in. height (88.9 cm) Ball: 4 in. diameter (10.2 cm) The Arch, 1964

Plywood Four pair of columns: 96 × 8 × 8 inches (243.8 × 20.3 × 20.3 cm) Pair of columns of arch: 801/2 × 24 × 31 inches (204.5 × 61 × 78.7 cm) Top of arch: 31 × 661/4 × 24 inches (78.7 × 168.3 × 61 cm)

The Gold Frame, 1964

Wood and paint 72 × 48 × 6 inches (182.9 × 121.9 × 15.2 cm)

In This Box Is Contained the Spirit of a Young Man’s Heart, 1964

Plywood and graphite 12 × 117/8 × 117/8 inches (30.5 × 30.2 × 30.2 cm)

The Silver Frame, 1964

Wood and paint 72 × 48 × 6 inches (182.9 × 121.9 × 15.2 cm)

The Land Piece, 1966 Wood and stainless steel 21/4 × 4 × 13 inches (5.7 × 10.2 × 33 cm) Ocean Bed, 1969 Mattress, steel, headphones, audiotape, and audiotape player Mattress: 6 × 36 × 73 inches (15.2 × 91.4 × 185.4 cm) Steel base: 24 × 60 × 6 inches (61 × 152.4 × 15.2 cm)

SARI DIENES, American, 1898–1992

Spiral Shell, late 1940s Watercolor and ink with graphite on paper 14 × 11 inches (35.6 × 27.9 cm) Pink Hue, ca. 1950 Rubbing under torn matboard 17 × 9 inches (43.2 × 22.9 cm) The Balcony, 1953

Ink frottage on paper 36 × 24 inches (91.4 × 61 cm)

SUZAN FRECON, American, born 1941 indigo form on found scrap of old Indian paper (“darkened water,” from Rumi), 2009

Watercolor on found Indian paper 51/2 × 63/8 inches (14 × 16.2 cm) Gift of the artist and David Zwirner, New York/ London

four color composition on small paper I (fountain and shadow), 2009

Watercolor on found old Indian paper 11 × 71/4 inches (27.9 × 18.4 cm) Gift of the artist and David Zwirner, New York/ London

four color composition on small paper 2 (love dogs), 2009

Watercolor on found old Indian paper 103/4 × 61/4 inches (27.3 × 15.9 cm) Gift of the artist and David Zwirner, New York/ London


4 color composition on small paper 3 (dust and sun), 2009

Watercolor on found old Indian paper 105/8 × 63/8 inches (27 × 16.2 cm) Gift of the artist and David Zwirner, New York/ London

lapis and sun_composition, 2012 Watercolor on found Indian paper 87/8 × 65/8 inches (22.5 × 16.8 cm) Gift of the artist and David Zwirner, New York/ London

FREDERICK HAMMERSLEY, American, 1919–2009

Checkered career, 1949

Lithograph in artist‑made frame Image: 3 × 3 inches (7.6 × 7.6 cm) Frame: 8 × 8 inches (20.3 × 20.3 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Winging, 1950

Colored pencil on paper in artist‑made frame Sheet: 4 × 4 inches (10.2 × 10.2 cm) Frame: 10 × 10 inches (25.4 × 25.4 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

roll call, 1951

Graphite and colored pencil on paper 103/4 × 123/4 inches (27.3 × 32.4 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

no title, 1955 Watercolor and ink on paper 25 × 19 inches (63.5 × 48.3 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation no title, 1957

22 × 163/4 inches (55.9 × 42.5 cm) Watercolor on paper Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Seedling, 1967 Screenprint Image: 8 × 8 inches (20.3 × 20.3 cm) Sheet: 17 × 12 inches (43.2 × 30.5 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation no title, ca. 1967

Ink on paper 161/4 × 111/4 inches (41.3 × 28.4 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

no title, ca. 1967 Ink on paper 161/4 × 111/4 inches (41.3 × 28.4 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Barkley L. Hendricks, Vitamin K for Fun, 1982

Nails, 1974 Pencil on paper in artist‑made frame Sheet: 71/2 × 71/2 inches (19.1 × 19.1 cm) Frame: 125/8 × 121/2 inches (32.1 × 31.8 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation I’ll wait, 1975

Pencil on paper in artist‑made frame Image: 73/8 × 71/8 inches (18.7 × 18.1 cm) Frame: 121/8 × 12 inches (30.8 × 30.5 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Outward, 1975

Pencil on paper in artist‑made frame Image: 71/4 × 71/4 inches (18.4 × 18.4 cm) Frame: 151/8 × 15 inches (38.4 × 38.1 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

ROBERT HEINECKEN,

American, 1931–2006

Newsweek, October 21, 1974 Altered magazine Open: 103/4 × 16 inches (27.3 × 40.6 cm) Gift of Anne Wilkes Tucker in memory of Elizabeth Lunning

BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS,

American, born 1945

Vitamin K for Fun, 1982 Oil, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas 66 × 50 inches (167.6 × 127 cm) Gift of Michael Zilkha in honor of Mary Schmidt Campbell

no title, 1969–1970 Complete set of the series of #1–#72 Computer‑generated drawings on paper Sheet: 11 × 147/8 inches (27.9 × 37.8 cm) Gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation

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COLLECTION

Acquisitions MERET OPPENHEIM, Swiss, 1913–1985 The Night, Its Volume and What Is Dangerous for It (La nuit, son volume et ce qui lui est dangereux), 1934

Gouache and oil on board 313/8 × 253/8 inches (79.5 × 64.5 cm) Purchased in part with funds provided by the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation

DARIO ROBLETO, American, born 1972 Things Placed In the Sea, Become the Sea,

Meret Oppenheim, The Night, Its Volume and What Is Dangerous for It, 1934

2013–2015 Sea urchin shells and spines cast and coated with hand‑ground and melted vinyl records salvaged from the deep sea, stretched audiotape recordings of various probe and heartbeat signals, soft coral, various crystals and minerals, various rock slabs, homemade crystals, various seashells, sea urchin teeth, Van Dyke prints (lost probes, probe planetary imagery, news and magazine clippings), watercolor paper, beeswax, aqua resin, entomology pins, walnut, gold and bronze‑mirrored Plexiglas, glass domes, brass, copper, light bulbs 643/4 × 57 × 57 inches (164.5 × 144.8 × 144.8 cm), including pedestal and vitrine Purchased with major funds provided by Michael Zilkha, Franci Neely, Bettie Cartwright, Cecily Horton, and Brad and Leslie Bucher, with additional funds provided by Bridget and Patrick Wade, Clinton T. Willour, Clare Casademont and Michael Metz, Cynthia Toles, Rebecca S. Trahan, and American International Group, Inc.

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, American, 1925–2008 Untitled (Customized Levi’s Denim Jacket),

1986 Cloth, metal, and stone 50 × 26 × 19 inches (127 × 66 × 48.3 cm) Gift of Susanne and William E. Pritchard III

CINDY SHERMAN, American, born 1954 Untitled, from the series Rear Screen Projections,

1980, printed 2015 Chromogenic print 23 × 31 inches (58.4 × 78.7 cm) Gift of William F. Stern, by exchange

Untitled, from the series Rear Screen Projections, 1980, printed 2015 Chromogenic print 23 × 31 inches (58.4 × 78.7 cm) Gift of William F. Stern, by exchange RUDOLF STINGEL, American, born 1956 Untitled, 2008

Oil on paper 301/8 × 221/2 inches (76.5 × 57.2 cm) Purchased in memory of Frances Dittmer

Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, 2008 48

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HISACHIKA TAKAHASHI, Japanese, born 1940 Untitled, 1969

Acrylic on canvas 72 × 48 inches (182.9 × 121.9 cm)

LUC TUYMANS, Belgian, born 1958 Nice (Banner for the Menil), 2013

Digital inkjet print on 13 oz. vinyl 66 × 353/4 inches (167.6 × 90.8 cm) Gift of the artist

Nice (Banner for the CAMH), 2013

Digital inkjet print on 13 oz. vinyl 84 × 168 inches (213.4 × 426.7 cm) Gift of the artist

Nice (Banner for Project Row Houses), 2013 Digital inkjet print on 13 oz. vinyl 473/4 × 95 inches (121.3 × 241.3 cm) Gift of the artist

SALLE WERNER‑VAUGHN, American, born 1939

Apparition #57, May–July, 2014

Graphite and pastel on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen

Apparition #58, May–July, 2014 Graphite with pastel on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen Apparition #71, May–July, 2014

Graphite on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen

Apparition #74, May–July, 2014

Graphite on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen

Apparition #75, May–July, 2014

Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled (Customized Levi’s Denim Jacket), 1986

Graphite on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen

Apparition #81, May–July, 2014

Graphite on paper 14 × 17 inches (35.6 × 43.2 cm) Gift of James and Salle Vaughn in memory of their dear friend Roy Cullen

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SCHOL ARSHIP

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SCHOLARSHIP

Publishing

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hree very different books were published this year. After a two-year process of shaping and reshaping, Claes Oldenburg finished his artist book Strange Eggs, a new look at some of his earliest work, sumptuously produced. The “Gandhi book” for Experiments with Truth is a wide-ranging anthology aimed at introducing the Mahatma’s thought to novices as well as contributing new views and voices, and it makes surprising connections between art and society. The first sustained look at Barnett Newman’s late works reproduces all single canvases from 1965 to 1970, contextualizing the paintings in the exhibition and supporting the essays’ scholarly insights.

Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence Edited by Josef Helfenstein and Joseph N. Newland Introduction by Josef Helfenstein, texts by Vinay Lal, Eric Wolf, Toby Kamps, Joseph N. Newland, Emilee Dawn Whitehurst, Thich Nhat Hanh, Aung San Suu Kyi, and many others 352 pages, 220 Illustrations October 2014

pp. 50–51: Curator of Collec­ tions Paul Davis working in the Menil Collection storage room with art from Africa and the Pacific Islands. The open storage display makes the works readily accessible for study by curators and scholars. Experiments with Truth 52

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Strange Eggs: Poems and Cutouts, 1956–58

Barnett Newman The Late Work, 1965–1970

Claes Oldenburg 44 pages, 20 cutouts and 20 poems December 2014

Bradford A. Epley and Michelle White, with a contribution by Sarah K. Rich 144 pages, 99 illustrations March 2015

Strange Eggs

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SCHOLARSHIP

Website

A Redesigned Website: menil.org The website was reconceived to present the range of Menil projects to a wider public, enhancing engagement before and after campus visits, and effectively reaching remote audiences. Developing a website as a public-facing tool first required a needs assessment and cross-departmental digitization efforts. With those systems in place, a first priority was putting 200 objects online, and more are expected to be available soon. An expanded calendar showcases public programs and promotes additional commitment with member-only events. Through video, the site can now present public programs beyond the confines of the physical museum. New exhibition pages extend the life of curatorial projects to include online gallery guides, installation images, related collection objects, and program links. With the new website, the museum is able to create connections between activities in a way that was not previously possible. A starting point and a hub for an increased digital presence, menil.org will communicate the richness of the Menil’s offerings. Redesigned website pages.

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Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings

Catalogue Raisonné Progresses The Menil Collection, under the auspices of the Menil Drawing Institute, began the Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings project in 2010. A project office was opened in New York expressly to conduct research, and just over 800 works have been located. Almost all the works have been seen and examined, photographs have been made or acquired, and three research associates have completed the histories of every drawing made by the artist during sixty years, from 1954–2014. Final touches to the research will be made in the coming months, and the forthcoming set of books will move into editing and production phases in 2016.

Jasper Johns top: Two Flags, 1969. The Menil Collection, Houston right: Untitled, 1990. The Menil Collection, Houston, Bequest of David Whitney

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SCHOLARSHIP

Conservation

Chief Conservator Brad Epley demonstrates a frame repair to conservation intern Rachel Mochon.

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iscal year 2015 saw the realization of several conservation department projects that had been in research and development stages for the past twelve months or more. The exhibition and related catalogue Barnett Newman: The Late Work highlighted Chief Conservator Brad Epley’s and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/Menil-shared research scientist Corina Rogge’s study of Newman’s groundbreaking use of acrylic emulsion paints in his late paintings. The exhibition included many of Newman’s tools and paints that were studied and sampled as part of their research. Restoration of Mark di Suvero’s Bygones.

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Assistant Objects Conservator Kari Dodson led an initiative to complete significant conservation treatments on Mark di Suvero’s large-scale sculpture Bygones, which had experienced issues with corrosion after more than thirty years of exposure. Additionally, Tony Smith’s massive sculpture The Snake is Out underwent a major treatment to prepare for its upcoming installation on the University of Houston campus. Last exhibited in 2006, Smith’s sculpture was shipped to a fabrication and painting specialist in Manassas, Virginia where the required treatment and painting could be performed in a specialized environment.


Barnett Newman: The Late Work in Context Symposium.

Barnett Newman: The Late Work in Context Symposium April 9–10, 2015

Conservation research scientist Corina Rogge examining one of Barnett Newman’s unfinished paintings. Rogge’s position is shared with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Rice University through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In April, the Menil Collection hosted a twoday scholarly symposium on Newman’s late works. A joint project between the Menil’s conservation and curatorial departments along with the Department of Art History at the University of Texas, Austin, the sympo­ sium featured three scholarly round-­table discussions. The first explored Newman’s materials and working methods; the second, Newman’s late paintings in the context of his greater oeuvre; and the final discussion examined Newman’s relationship with twentieth-century abstraction. The sympo­ sium culminated in a selection of lectures open to the public from artist David Diao, art historians Sarah K. Rich and Richard Schiff, and the exhibition curators on the material, aesthetic, and philosophical issues at the center of the exhibition.

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SCHOLARSHIP

Research: Library

New compact, high-density storage shelving installed on the first floor of the Menil Library.

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iscal year 2015 was a busy and productive one for the Menil Collection Library. From midAugust to mid-November 2014, the library closed for its first-ever major renovation. This included installation of compact, highdensity storage in the lower level of stacks, increasing the library’s storage capacity by approximately fifty percent. Additionally, the main reading room was renovated, which added twelve-foot-high shelves across the south wall and electronic wiring suitable for presentations, programs, and meetings. Even with its closure for four months, the library had more than fifty outside visits from researchers ranging from local curators at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to national and international scholars and artists from New York, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The library also used its new facilities to host symposia and seminars from

the Rice University School of Architecture and the University of Houston as well as sessions of the Menil Collection’s symposium on Barnett Newman. This year the library added more than 2,000 volumes to its catalogue, including seven rare books acquired with funds raised by the Friends of the Library affinity group.

New shelving and an integrated media presentation screen in the Menil Library. 58

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Research: Archives

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he Menil Archives experienced significant growth during fiscal year 2015 following the implementation of a comprehensive Records Management program, with Menil Foundation departmental records being transferred to the Archives on a regular basis. After new records are catalogued, some are transported to a local offsite records management and storage facility, where they are securely stored and readily accessible. Records that are referred to frequently by staff and patrons remain onsite. During the year, the Menil Archives also completed the production work on four DVDs for international distribution of films produced by Francois de Menil in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Max Ernst Hanging, 2008; The Rothko Chapel, 2011; North Star: Mark di Suvero, 2011; and Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle, 2014.

The Rosalind Constable Papers, acquired from the long-time art editor for Time-Life publications, are among the unique resources of the Menil Archives.

Menil Archives storage units.

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CO MM UNIT Y

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ENGAGEMENT

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ENGAGEMENT

Public Programs

Da Camera Young Artists perform in the Menil foyer.

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ublic programs enticed a diversity of visitors to events related to or beyond the scope of our exhibitions. Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston Perspectives brought a wide-ranging series of Gandhi-related programs to the Menil and numerous other venues, all detailed on pp. 29–33. A full schedule of innovative programming combining science and art accompanied Dario Robleto’s installation. As in years past, the Menil’s very popular outdoor programs, including MenilFest!, continued to draw crowds.

pp. 60–61: Rajmohan Gandhi addresses the large audience at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.

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MenilFest! MenilFest!—the museum neighborhood’s annual celebration of “ART/WORDS/NOISE”—merged literature, performance art, words (both spoken and written), and music (from solo drummers to blues bands). In addition, visitors to the Menil campus on Saturday, May 3, found food trucks and a book market with an array of volumes to peruse. Writers in the Schools students read poems inspired by the Menil Collection.


DIY images projected on the Menil façade during Bring Your Own Beamer.

Bring Your Own Beamer  On May 1, the Menil partnered with Aurora Picture Show to celebrate the moving image with the second Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB) event, at which all were invited to bring a projection device and beam their images, videos, or films onto the museum’s façade.

Ann Druyan and Dario Robleto  Robleto interviewed Ann Druyan as part of his exhibition The Boundary of Life is Quietly Crossed. Druyan and Carl Sagan were members of the committee that assembled The Golden Record, sounds from Earth such as Druyan’s heartbeat, carried into space by Voyager 1 and 2.

Ann Druyan and Dario Robleto.

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ENGAGEMENT

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Education

eyond its wide-ranging and always free public program­­ming, the Menil Collection advances educa­­tional endeavors associated with elemen­tary, middle, and high school levels by supporting Writers in the Schools and at the university level through research studies, internships, and fellowships. In 2015 a variety of indepth informational experiences and study opportunities took place across the spectrum of museum activities.

University of Houston/Dario Robleto Brainwave Study à Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, and his engineering students worked with Dario Robleto in a unique collaboration among artist, scientist, and museum visitors, where the line between art exhibit and cutting-edge research was blurred. The ultimate goal of the study was to observe common patterns in the visitors’ brainwaves in order to isolate the effects of an aesthetic experience within the human brain. The scope of the study—with a large sampling of museum visitors—was unprecedented.

Menil Contemporary Jessica Phifer and other museum visitors wore brainwave monitors in an experiment conducted by University of Houston engineering students.

Vivian L. Smith Foundation Symposium Juxtapositions: The Meanings Between April 25, 2015 The Menil Collection offers a one-year fellowship for graduate students in art history at the University of Texas, Austin, to work on their dissertations while receiving collegial advice and using the museum’s library, archives, and permanent collection as aids for their research. In 2015 the related symposium addressed the use of juxta­position in the interpretation and display of works of art. From Surrealist collections to contemporary thematic exhibitions, artists and curators use juxtaposition to invoke meanings between objects in intuitive rather than didactic ways, activating viewers to find new resonances. Allison Myers, Vivian L. Smith Foundation Fellow from the University of Texas, Austin, moderated a diverse group of scholars and curators.

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Kristina Van Dyke, Serge Guilbaut, David Levi Strauss, and moderator Allison Myers (left to right) during the Vivian L. Smith Foundation Symposium Juxtapositions.

This fellowship and symposium are generously underwritten by the Vivian L. Smith Foundation.


Menil Intern Program The Menil Collection offers internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled currently in the History of Art Departments at Rice University and the University of Houston. Students support research and exhibition planning and development under the guidance of a Menil curator. For those interested in museological careers, these internships offer exposure to museum practice.

Writing at the Menil

Writers in the Schools teachers speaking with students.

Since 1989, Writers in the Schools (WITS) has brought Houston school children to the Menil Collection where, through writing about the artworks they encounter, the students are awakened to the power of their own voices. Students are chosen through a juried competition to be published in the Watchful Eye anthology and to read their work at the Menil Collection at the end of the school year. In 2015, 3767 primary and secondary students made extended visits to the Menil on fifty-two separate field trips, many receiving their first direct exposure to works of art. Young writers reading to an outdoor audience.

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ENGAGEMENT

Menil Bookstore

The Menil Bookstore exterior was renovated and the landscape improved as part of the new campus Gateway project.

I Menil Bookstore 1520 Sul Ross Street Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. 66

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n fiscal year 2015, the Menil completed a series of renovations that gave the bookstore a new front porch, wrap-around deck, and fresh landscaping. Reopening with the critically praised exhibition Experiments with Truth, the bookstore saw increased sales for the exhibition’s catalog as well as for complementary books, merchandise, and jewelry. The bookstore added several successful and well-attended events to its calendar, including trunk shows, exhibitions, and gatherings featuring Houston and Texasbased artists and organizations such as Zinefest Houston, Claire Webb, Angel Oloshove, Julia Gabriel, and Ryan Storm. This year, the bookstore renewed its focus on not only carrying the foremost art publications, but an array of objects, jewelry, gifts, and new Menil-branded items. For the first time ever, the bookstore along with the publications and advancement departments, produced exquisitely designed ads and images for Glasstire and the membership bulletin to promote the store’s merchandise.


Artist Angel Oloshove (right) with a visitor to her ceramics showing.

The Menil Bookstore is one of Houston’s foremost locations for art publications and unique merchandise.

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ENGAGEMENT

Membership

Members at the annual celebration Menil by Moonlight.

M

embers of the Menil Collection remain an integral part of the museum’s activities, and their numbers continue to grow. Fiscal year 2015 ended with more than 2,000 active members, including large additions to our Menil Contemporaries and Menil Society membership programs. In their efforts to bolster the museum’s exhibitions and programming, the Membership Department successfully developed several new opportunities for giving in fiscal year 2015. Frost Bank and Salient Partners joined as corporate members and underwrote all Menil Society events, while many Menil members increased their commitment to the museum through generous gifts to the Annual Fund. With more than forty programs in fiscal year 2015, Menil members experienced the busiest and most diverse season to date. From all-member events such as the annual Menil by Moonlight to intimate, exclusive Treasure Room tours, membership programming continues to offer exciting and unique experiences for all members to enjoy.

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Friends of the Library Annual Reception On the evening of February 17, 2015, the Friends of the Library met for a presentation of the eighty-four artist books bequeathed to the library by William F. Stern, followed by a reception of hors d’oeuvres and wine. Thanks to the generosity of the Friends, the Menil Library acquired limited edition artists’ books by Haim Steinbach and Maurizio Cattelan this year.

Menil Contemporaries Cocktails with a Curatorà Dario Robleto and a team of researchers from the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering recorded and studied the brainwaves of museum visitors viewing Dario Robleto: The Boundary of Life is Quietly Crossed. Menil Contemporaries had the opportunity to serve as participants in the study and wore EEG sensors while touring the exhibition.


Menil Society members on a recent art trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Menil Society Art Trip to Crystal Bridges  Accompanied by Toby Kamps, Curator of Modern and Contempo­rary Art, members of the Menil Society experienced a whirlwind weekend of art, architecture, and beautiful fall foliage during a Menil-led tour of Bentonville, Arkansas. This two-day art trip designed exclusively for Menil Society members centered on a visit to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a cultural destination welcoming visitors from all over

the world. Members enjoyed a thoughtfully planned itinerary with highlights that included a visit to a prominent private collection of folk art; a guided tour of the renowned 21c Museum Hotel art collection; and an exclusive tour of the exhibition State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now at Crystal Bridges, led by the exhibition’s curator Chad Allgood.

Dario Robleto and UH College of Engineering students speaking to Menil Contemporaries.

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FACTS and FIGURES

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FACTS and FIGURES

Financial

For Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2015

Income $ 19.7 Million

2%

40%

OTHER

ENDOWMENT DRAW

26%

REAL ESTATE

32%

ADVANCEMENT

Advancement $ 6.3 Million

34%

18%

MEMBERSHIP

INDIVIDUAL GIFTS

8%

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

7%

HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX

pp. 70–71: Menil preparator Tony Rubio and Tom Walsh, head of art services, installing works in the foyer. 72

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3%

3%

PROGRAMS, OTHER CORPORATE GIFTS

27%

FOUNDATION SUPPORT


3% OTHER

(Inculding Non-Rental Proper ties)

Expenses $ 19.7 Million

12%

EXHIBITIONS. PROGRAMMING. and PUBLICATIONS

11%

32%

MUSEUM DEPARTMENTS *

ADVANCEMENT

6%

17% ADMINISTRATION

22%

CAPITAL EXPENSES

REAL ESTATE

* Museum departments include: Archives, Art Services,

3%

Bookstore, Curatorial, Collections Management, Conservation, Exhibition Design, Facilities & Security, OTHER Information Technology, Library, Public Programs, (Inculding and Publishing. Non-Rental

Proper ties)

Investment Portfolio $ 249 Million

42%

DOMESTIC EQUIT Y

22%

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

6%

FIXED INCOME

Data is derived from the financial statements of Menil Foundation, Inc. as of June 30, 2015. A complete set of Menil Foundation, Inc. audited financial statements for 2014–2015 is available on request.

27%

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY

3%

PRIVATE EQUITY

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FACTS and FIGURES

By the Numbers

ART

16,287 ARTWORKS in the Permanent Collection with selected works displayed in

144 ARTWORKS accessioned to the Permanent Collection

46,378 TOTAL SQUARE FEET of gallery space

609

100

5

ARTWORKS photographed

ARTWORKS loaned to

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS attended by

23

2,530

INSTITUTIONS in

9

ARTWORK IMAGES processed and digitized

COUNTRIES

247 IMAGES licensed to

341,940 VISITORS

researchers, curators, galleries, museums, and publications

PEOPLE

2,226

117 EMPLOYEES

VOLUNTEERS AND INTERNS

E N G AG E M E N T & M E M B E R S H I P

218,839

12,367

VISITORS attended

VISITORS attended

6 SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS AT THE MENIL 74

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HOURS volunteered

23

51 FREE PUBLIC PROGRAMS

2,048 MEMBERS

42 MEMBER EVENTS


CONSERVATION

As of June 30, 2015

1,393 ARTWORKS EXAMINED for exhibition, acquisitions, and treatments, including

128 PAINTINGS

504

761

WORKS ON PAPER

OBJECTS, SCULPTURE, and TEXTILES

S C H O L A R S H I P & E D U C AT I O N

2,040 VOLUMES added to library

89 VOLUMES loaned to other institutions

3 NEW MENIL BOOKS published and distributed worldwide by Yale University Press

54 LIBRARY RESEARCHERS (from outside the Menil)

3,767 STUDENTS (Elementary, Middle & H.S.)

visited the Menil on

323

52

INFORMATION REQUESTS and

WITS FIELD TRIPS to the museum

162

ONSITE ARCHIVES RESEARCHERS (from outside the Menil)

CONSTRUCTION

2 CAMPAIGN PROJECTS COMPLETED Gateway and Bistro Menil (opened September 30, 2015)

251 CONSTRUCTION DAYS on Menil Drawing Institute and Energy House (started October 23, 2014) | 75


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SUPP ORT

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SUPPORT

DONORS

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

The Menil gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their cumulative gifts of $500 and above between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. Gifts shown here include all non-membership gifts in support of annual museum operations, exhibitions, conservation, public programming, and other projects. For more information about making a current or legacy gift, please contact the Advancement Office at 713-535-3174.

The Campaign for the Menil Donors Donations to The Campaign for the Menil are not attributed solely to fiscal year 2015 and therefore not included in this year’s annual report. Those donors will be acknowledged separately in capital campaign updates and publications.

$500,000+ The Brown Foundation, Inc. Louisa Stude Sarofim

$200,000–$499,999 Houston Museum District Association The Wortham Foundation

$100,000–$199,999 Anonymous Adelaide de Menil Carpenter The Cullen Foundation John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Houston Endowment Inc.

$50,000–$99,999 Anonymous The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Isabel and Ransom Lummis Janet and Paul Hobby National Endowment for the Arts Franci Neely Fayez Sarofim Leslie and Shannon Sasser Anne and Bill Stewart Michael Zilkha

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$25,000–$49,999 Eddie and Chinhui Allen Suzanne Deal Booth The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Nancy and Mark Abendshein The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Allison Sarofim Clare Casademont and Michael Metz Susan and Francois de Menil Russell and Diana Hawkins David and Anne Kirkland Janie C. Lee and David B. Warren Kathrine G. McGovern / McGovern Foundation Marilyn Oshman Susanne and William E. Pritchard III Anne Schlumberger Vivian L. Smith Foundation Stream of Change Foundation Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray Thomas and Marcy Taub Wessel

$10,000–$24,999 Anonymous (3) The Anchorage Foundation of Texas The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Ralph B. Abendshein Brad and Leslie Bucher Mike and Diane Cannon Dr. and Mrs. Georges de Menil Agnes Gund Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Hamman Mr. and Mrs. William R. Lummis Melissa and Michael Mithoff Ginni and Richard Mithoff

Scott and Judy Nyquist Harry and Karen Pinson Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Simmons Stavros Niarchos Foundation $5,000–$9,999 Anonymous (2) John and Laura Arnold The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Nancy O’Connor Mr. and Mrs. Jon Evans Mr. and Mrs. Peter J. Fluor Kelly and Russell Hamman Mr. and Mrs. Ardon B. Judd, Jr. Roy and Evelyn Nolen Cabrina and Steven Owsley Claude L. Parker, M.D. Mary Elizabeth and Hugo Sand Monsour Taghdisi and Henry Richardson The Vaughn Foundation Richmond Walker Mr. and Mrs. K.C. Weiner William and Marie Wise Family Foundation

$1,000–$4,999 Anonymous (3) Henrietta K. Alexander Randy and Laurie Allen The Women’s Board of the Art Institute of Chicago James M. Bell Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bendheim Walter M. Bering Karen “Bert” Bertonaschi Laurence and Henry Bragg Helene and Jacob Brechan The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Cris and Elisa Pye Ms. Mary Ann Bruni Mr. Will Cannady Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Carney Tripp Carter Mr. and Mrs. Paul D. Chapman Lois Chiles and Richard Gilder Bevin and Daniel Dubrowski Jenny and Jim Elkins Family Fund Marita and J.B. Fairbanks Zeina and Nijad Fares


Carolyn Grant Fay David and Cindy Fitch Jeff Fort Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Gerry III Edward J. Gibbon Eleanor and Daniel Gilbane Amanda and Jason Greenwald Trey and Blakely Griggs Faith and Joe Gutierrez John and Sarah Hastings G.G. Hsieh and Mark Hausknecht Leslie and Mark Hull Jill and Dunham Jewett JM Kaplan Fund Joan and Marvin Kaplan Mr. Christian K. Keesee Mr. and Mrs. George Kelly Emilie Kilgore The Kirkpatrick Family Fund Katie Kitchen and Paul Kovach Delise Ward and Craig Lidji Beth and Greg Looser Mr. Rick Lowe Amanda and Fredrik Mack Mahatma Gandhi Library Mari and Greg Marchbanks Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Mary Hale Lovett McLean Matilda B. Melnick, M.D. Mr. and Mrs. H. Dixon Montague Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Moquay Jack and Anne Moriniere Lisa and Mike Mount Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Newton Carrie and Al Pepi Mr. and Mrs. Bill Phelps Mr. and Mrs. James L. Phillips Amber and Jack Pursley David Pustka Mr. and Mrs. Risher Randall Noelle and Eric Reed The RR Family Foundation Nancy and Clive Runnells Foundation Vanessa and Eduardo Sanchez John Sapp Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Scheib Bryan S. Scrivner Mariana Servitje John K. Smither Stephanie K. Smither Lois and George Stark

The Menil campus is flooded with visitors for the popular MenilFest!, the type of free events made possible by generous Menil donors.

Texas Commission on the Arts Kathy Treadway Vaughan Nelson Investment Management LP The Watson Foundation Lea Weingarten Madison T. Woodward Lynn Wyatt Elizabeth and Barry Young John L. Zipprich II Mr. and Mrs. Harry Zuber $500–$999 Anonymous (2) Claire Alexander Kelli and Eddy Blanton Richard L. and Robin Brooks Catherine Brown Mrs. Anne H. Bushman Estela and David Cockrell Lisa and Mark Coffin Mr. and Mrs. Taylor V. Cooksey Nancy S. Crowther William C. Davidson Helen Davis Gayle and Mike DeGeurin Mr. and Mrs. Morris Gelb Mr. and Mrs. Hemant Goradia Lauren Harris Dorothee Sauter and Josef Helfenstein

Kerry Inman and Denby Auble Dr. Robert R. Ivany Ann and Arthur Jones Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Kempner, Jr. Jim and Sherry Kempner Carl Masterson Mimi Ormand Miller Mr. and Mrs. David Moriniere Carol and David Neuberger Kathryn G. Neuhaus Geraldine and Christopher Ordway Luda Orelup Tex and Trilla Pando Mr. Michael Phillips H. Russell Pitman Eliza Lovett Randall Leonor and Eric Ratliff Richard and Margot Rodriguez Scurlock Foundation Reggie and Leigh Smith Ashley and Ralph Srouji David R. Stevenson Mary Strahan and Jason Norwood Gary and Jane Swanson Robert B. Trainer, Jr. Chester J. Urban and Aysha Kassim-Voronoff Mr. and Mrs. Louis C. Vest Patrick and Bridget Wade Lettalou Garth Whittington

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SUPPORT HIGHLIGHTS

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015 | FROM DONORS THE DIRECTOR

Jeff Speck, Principal of Speck & Associates, LLC and author of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time, delivered the keynote address, “Towards a More Walkable Houston” at the annual Corporate Conversations VII.

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015 The Menil is pleased to recognize gifts from our corporate supporters in fiscal year 2015. $20,000–$49,999 United Airlines

$10,000–$19,999 Baker Botts LLP Baker Hughes BB&T Frost Bank Gensler Gilbane Building Co. Goldman, Sachs & Co. H-E-B

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IBERIABANK Lazard Frères & Company Neiman Marcus Russell Reynolds Associates Salient Partners Schlumberger Limited Skadden, Arps Texas Crude Energy, LLC UBS Financial Services Inc.

$5,000–$9,999 Cardno Haynes Whaley, Inc. Christie’s Indigo Minerals

$1,000–$4,999 American International Group, Inc. Argo Group Inc. Ballard Exploration Company, Inc. Eagle Global Advisors, LLC Kempner Capital Management, Inc. Macquarie Bank Northern Trust Bank Norton Rose Fulbright Phillips Petroleum Company Tall City Exploration Teton Advisors, LLC W.S. Bellows Construction Corp.

In-Kind Donors

Bergner and Johnson Design Heights Cigar Lounge Jackson and Company Microsoft Pro/Sound Public Address Design


FRIENDS of the LIBRARY A distinguished affinity group, Friends of the Library brings together Menil members who value and promote exceptional literature. Their donations directly support the museum’s scholarly efforts and broaden the library’s holdings. Antiquarian $500 Anonymous Henrietta K. Alexander Bettie Cartwright Geraldine Ordway Patricia and Robert Pando Dorothee Sauter and Josef Helfenstein Michael Zilkha

Scholar $250 Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie J.A. Nairn Laureen Schipsi and Thomas Bolling Clinton T. Willour Bibliophile $100 Geraldine Aramanda Laura Bellows Margaret Culbertson Genevieve and Jon Evans Mr. Lonnie Hoogeboom and Dr. Betsy Strauch M.D. Maria Cristina Jadick Sheryl Kolasinski Richard Levy Edward Lukasek Qing Ma M.D. Ronald J. Restrepo and Candace Bagget Patricia Restrepo Frank B. Rynd Lynn Wexler Aline and Collett Wilson

Friends of the Library members viewing a selection of rare books and specialty bindings.

GLASS KEY SOCIETY The Glass Key Society honors individuals who have included the Menil Collection in their wills, personal trusts, or other planned giving arrangements. Through their thoughtful contributions, members of the Glass Key Society help to ensure a vital future for the museum. Anonymous (2) Jeff O. Beauchamp Louis B. Cushman Julie Dokell Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl Alex Heylen and Monika Lybeer Marjorie G. Horning William F. Lassiter Marc Melcher Laurie Newendorp Louisa Stude Sarofim John L. Zipprich II

René Magritte, The Glass Key, 1959. The Menil Collection, Houston

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SUPPORT THE MENIL SOCIETY The Menil Society comprises the core patrons of the Menil Collection. Their significant and sustaining contributions make possible the preservation and expansion of the permanent collection and support the museum’s special exhibitions, publications, and programs. Menil Society programming is generously supported by Frost Bank and Salient Partners.

Benefactor $10,000 Henrietta K. Alexander Eddie and Chinhui Allen Susan and Raymond Brochstein The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Lisa and Will Mathis The Brown Foundation Inc. / Allison Sarofim Robert J. Card, M.D. and Karol Kreymer Clare Casademont and Michael Metz Lou and Christy Cushman Barbara and Michael Gamson Agnes Gund Russell and Diana Hawkins Janet and Paul Hobby Olive McCollum Jenney

MEMBERSHIP

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

Stephanie Larsen Mr. Matthew Marks Kathrine G. McGovern / McGovern Foundation Franci Neely Marilyn Oshman Bérengère Primat Susanne and William E. Pritchard III Louisa Stude Sarofim Anne Schlumberger Lois and George Stark Anne and Bill Stewart Eugene and Clare Thaw Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray Morris Weiner Michael Zilkha

Friend $5,000 Anonymous Mrs. Nancy C. Allen Brad and Leslie Bucher Mike and Diane Cannon Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Carney Bettie Cartwright Jereann Chaney Heidi and David Gerger Mrs. Clare A. Glassell Karsten and Claudia Greve Mr. and Mrs. Henry R Hamman Kellie and Jeff Hepper Mr. and Mrs. Ardon B. Judd Jr. Mr. and Mrs. George B. Kelly

Sissy and Denny Kempner Ann and David Kirkland Jr. Michael and Jeanne Klein Werner H. Kramarsky Dillon A. Kyle Doug Lawing and Guy Hagstette Rochelle and Max Levit Cornelia and Meredith Long Beth and Greg Looser Marley Lott Nancy McGregor Manne and Neal Manne Mr. and Mrs. John L. Marion Cynthia and Robert McClain Dallas McNamara Rotraut Klein Moquay and Daniel Moquay Scott and Judy Nyquist Geraldine and Christopher Ordway George and Elizabeth Passela Lillie Robertson Drew and Edna Robins Mr. Andrew C. Schirrmeister Dr. and Mrs. W. R. Schmeal Timothy and Adrienne Unger Ann Wales Lea Weingarten Thomas and Marcy Taub Wessel Lettalou G. Whittington Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin D. Wilcox Wallace S. Wilson Lynn Wyatt

Josef Helfenstein and consulting curator and exhibiting artist Amar Kanwar speak with Menil Society members at a preview of Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence.

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Menil Society members at a preview of Becoming Modern.

Fellow $2,500 Anonymous (2) R. Edwin Allday and Francey Pengra Anne H. Bass Jeff O. Beauchamp Mary Bentsen John Bishop Cindy and Larry Burns William T. Cannady Lois Chiles and Richard Gilder Mr. and Mrs. Taylor V. Cooksey Rania Daniel Barbie and Lance Davis Krista and Mike Dumas Jenny Elkins Cece and Mack Fowler Dorene and Frank Herzog Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie Jerry Jeanmard and Cliff Helmcamp Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Kempner Jr. Emilie Kilgore Robert W. Kirkland Landers Consulting Poppi Massey Gaye and Ed McCullough Fund Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan Lisa Mosbacher and Downing Mears Ginni and Richard Mithoff Bill and Cristina Moore Fan and Peter Morris Carol and David Neuberger Patricia and Robert Pando John E. (Sandy) Parkerson Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Reckling III

John Sapp Dorothee Sauter and Josef Helfenstein Hinda Simon Stephanie K. Smither Scott Sparvero Amy L. Sutton and Gary W. Chiles Mark E. Taylor Jim and Cindy Thorp Cynthia Toles John L. Zipprich II

Associate $1,000 Nancy and Mark Abendshein Gail and Louis Adler Stanford and Joan Alexander Ms. Ann G. Ash Carol and Les Ballard Ilene and Paul Barr Elisabeth A. Bates Laura Bellows Walter M. Bering Karen “Bert” Bertonaschi Janet Blocker Brad Blume Berry D. Bowen Richard L. and Robin Brooks Bill Brosius Mr. Julian Brown and Ms. Daryl Koehn Mrs. Anne H. Bushman William A. and Virginia A. Camfield Chris Carson Tripp Carter Mr. and Mrs. William H. Caudill

Ching-Wu and May Chu Karan Ciotti Mr. and Mrs. David A. Cockrell Mr. Benjamin N. Conner and Ms. Carmen Bonmati Patrick Cowan Susie and Sanford Criner Elizabeth and Steven Crowell Paula and Dan Daly Helen Davis Gayle and Mike DeGeurin Viviana and David Denechaud Norman and Christina Diekman The Honorable and Mrs. Edward P. Djerejian Sara Paschall Dodd Carolyn Dorros Nancy S. Dunlap Virginia Dwan John and Annette Eldridge Nanette and Jerry Finger Mr. and Mrs. David Fitch Mark Flood Jeff Fort Deborah and William Fowler Stephen Fox Marta and Alan Galicki Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Gerry III Ed Gibbon L. Henry Gissel Jr. Louise and Larry Glenn Timothy G. Green Mrs. Joyce Greenberg Trey and Blakely Griggs Albert and Melissa Grobmyer

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SUPPORT

MEMBERSHIP

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

Menil Society Spring Cocktails at Menil House.

THE MENIL SOCIETY continued Nora Grossman Bill Hamilton Marion S. Hargrove John and Sarah Hastings G.G. Hsieh and Mark Hausknecht Dawn and Robert Hawley Ms. Olive Hershey and Dr. A.C. Conrad Lee M. Huber Demaris and Hank Hudspeth Kerry Inman and Denby Auble Jill and Dunham Jewett Ann Wier Jones Mr. and Mrs. David P. Kapiloff Susan and Richard Keeton Mr. and Mrs. Mavis P. Kelsey Jr. James C. and Sharon M. Kempner Mr. and Mrs. John G. Kennedy III Mr. and Mrs. Albert N. Kidd Mrs. Nancy Reddin Kienholz Frazier King Carla Knobloch Carolyn and Paul Landen Elyse Lanier Mr. Alfred W. Lasher III Mrs. Joan Schnitzer Levy Delise Ward and Craig Lidji

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Victoria and Marshal Lightman Evelyne Loyer Ms. Beth Madison Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis Kristi S. Martin William McGee Mary Hale Lovett McLean Matilda B. Melnick M.D. Gary Mercer Anthony Milam Mrs. S.I. Morris Terence Murphree J. A. Nairn Mr. and Mrs. Ben B. Neuhaus Evelyn and Roy L. Nolen Brian O’Donnell Maureen O’Driscoll-Levy M.D. Katy Pando Carrie and Al Pepi Virginia and Jean R. Perrette Mr. and Mrs. Geoffroy Petit Nancy and David Pustka Mrs. Eliza Lovett Randall Julia and Nick Rasmussen Margaret and Todd Reppert Ronald J. Restrepo and Candace Baggett James and Carolyn Robertson Sean Rudolph Dr. and Mrs. Richard S. Ruiz

Brian Salek Jimmy and Genie Schmidt Dr. and Mrs. H. Irving Schweppe Jr. Bryan S. Scrivner Lady Vivienne and Robert Seldon Mariana Servitje Carey C. Shuart Ellen Simmons Josephine and Richard Smith H.J. and J.G. Springer Eliza and Stuart W. Stedman Ann B. Stern Mr. Myron F. Steves Jr. and Ms. Rowena M. Young Dorothy Carsey Sumner Jane and Gary Swanson Carolyn and Garry Tanner Lucile B. Tennant Sandra Gorke Timte Bridget and Patrick Wade Peter and Mary Wallace Elizabeth and Jack Weingarten Angela K. Westwater Mr. and Mrs. Larry E. Whaley Margaret D. Williams Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Shirley C. Wozencraft W.D. Yale Leonard Yowell Erla and Harry Zuber Fund


Children enjoying the annual Halloween costume party fundraiser, Who R U?

MEMBERSHIP Active in their involvement and liberal in their generosity, Menil Members constitute the largest patronage group at the museum. Patron $500 Anonymous (3) Eric S. Anderson and Susan L. Thompson Laura and Thomas Bacon Mrs. Thomas D. Barrow Dr. Isabelle Bedrosian and Mr. John Heghinian Jill Weaver Brown Steven Brown Pamela Bryan Kathleen and Glenn Cambor Mr. and Mrs. Paul D. Chapman Efrain Corzo Julie and Markley Crosswell Brooks A. Diesel Mr. Nevin Dolcefino Thomas and Joell Doneker Laura H. Fain Ron and Nancy Fischer Mr. and Mrs. Frederic A. Fleming Stephanie D. Forman Kerry Anne Galvin Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Girouard James H. Greer

Mr. and Mrs. John P. Hansen Anna and Harold Holliday Yu Ru Huang William L. Hussey Caroline S. Hussey Anne and Brad Irick Dr. and Mrs. William W. Ishee Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Robert R. Ivany Mr. Jesse H. Jones II Kate Sayen Kirkland David Knickel Michael and Kelley Lang Y. Ping Sun and David W. Leebron Nancy Manderson Ms. Rebecca Marvil and Mr. Brian Smyth Carl Masterson Angus McFadden Will McLendon Mimi Ormand Miller Michael Clark and Sallie Morian Kathryn G. Neuhaus Oliver Bogler and Irene Newsham Mari Omori Sylvia A. Pacholder

Michael Phillips James A. Prell Federico Ramirez Jo S. Reid Leslie and Russ Robinson Mr. and Mrs. Charles Roff Christopher Rothko Joyce and Mohammed Salhoot Jane and Dick Schmitt Karen Shouse Mark Smith Dennis C. Smith Stephen Southern Mr. and Mrs. Beeman E. Strong III Dr. Doris Taylor Harold Taylor June Trammell Patricia Troncoso and William Pugh Birgitt Van Wijk William V. Walker Scott Wilkens Megan Williams Janne Williams Jorge M. Zeballos

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SUPPORT Sponsor $250 Anonymous (4) Ruma Acharya Gayle Goodman and Kenneth Adam Adam D. Adams Rick Adams and Elizabeth McClintock William J. Anderson Claire and Doug Ankenman David A. Archer Lee and Bob Ardell Ellis Arjmand Susie and David Askanase Kenny Baldwin Barbara Bass, MD Harry Beaudry Rita Bergers and Joel Abramowitz Henry P. Bethea Nicole Betters Marilyn M. Biles Catherine Black Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Bolam Pauline Bolton Hilary C. Borow Michelle Bouchard Renee Bouck Judy Breitenbach and Jerry Field A. R. Brenholts Ellen and Louis Breskin Katherine T. Brown Ms. Joan K. Bruchas and Mr. H. Philip Cowdin John Burke Caroline S. Callery Cindy Cannatella Elinor and Martin Colman George Connelly Victoria Corcoran and Ray Steinmetz Steven L. Cowart James and Ritsuko Cox Nancy S. Crowther Jonathan and Barbara Day Gemma and Luis de Santos Steve Dimlich Sheila Donley Gary R. Dowling Nick Dragna Ruth Dreessen and Thomas J.Van Laan Ms. Barbara Duganier and Mr. Mike Urban Miriam Edelman

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MEMBERSHIP

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

Mr. and Mrs. Philip Edmundson Jane L. Eifler Vicky and Lucas T. Elliot Keith and Kathleen Ellison Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette Steven Evans Sabrina Franzheim Ms. Evelyn M. Goebel Lisa K. Goetz Jorge E. Gonzalez Martyn E. Goossen Lance and Lenja Gould Caroline C. Graham Janice Green Jonathan and Nonya Grenader Laurie C. Haley Gary D. Hall Mr. and Mrs. Michael Harkness David Hendricks and Lorraine McKenna Laura L. Higgins Mr. and Mrs. Richard P. Hogan Jr. Benjamin Holloway and Amanda McMillian Mr. Lonnie Hoogeboom and Dr. Betsy Strauch Linda B. Houk Thomas E. Hughes Diane and Geoffrey S. Ibbott Jay Jackson and Barbara Waugh Louise Jamail Franny Koelsch Jeffries and John Jeffries Karen and David Jewell Dr. George H. Johnson, Jr. Stephen Jones Charles and Mary Kamps Catherine Karmel and Cyril Tawa Kathryn M. Kase Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Katz Kathy and Karl L. Kilian Ms. Anne L. Kinder Dr. Paul Klotman James G. Kralik Quin D. Kroll Jr. Aivars and Christa Krumins Timothy Krysiek K. Sampath and Sowmya Kumar Kathy and Timothy F. Lee

Guillermo F. Leguizamón Carolyn Levy Richard Levy Carol Kazmer Liffman John H. Louton Dorothy M. Lurie Ph.D. Nancy Luton Evelyne Marcks Lisa Marshall Ellen M. Martin Maria Matuszczak Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. May Jr. R. Scott and Rebecca McCay Wilmer H. McCorquodale Margaret A. McElrath Joel H. McGlasson II Anne and Dr. John Mendelsohn Stephen Miles Robert and Nancy Mollers Mr. and Mrs. John Monroe Mary Montgomery and Gretchen Myers Ms. Celia Morgan Ms. Frances E. Mount Dr. Cesar Nahas Elizabeth Nelson Carter A. Ness, Jr. Adam Newar W. Martin Nicholas Eugene Nosal Morgan Dunn O’Connor Mr. and Mrs. Duncan E. Osborne Rochelle and Sheldon Oster M. Ann Page Walter and Frances Pagel Michael Palmer Smita Pamar John and Mary Pappajohn Claude Lynn Parker, MD Norman W. Parrish Bradley A. Patterson Mr. and Mrs. José R. Pérez Jr. Linda Petersen Jim E. Petersen Jr. Elizabeth B. Phillips Ms. Jan-Claire Phillips and Mr. Jerome Kendall Mr. and Mrs. James L. Phillips Mr. and Mrs. Mark H. Pickett Howard R. Pitman


Men of Menil guests watching a lively demonstration by Olympic-champion table tennis players.

Mr. H. Russell Pitman Gary and Esther Polland Mr. and Mrs. Irving Pozmantier Siddharth Prakash and Igna Van den Veyver Kevin Prufer Katherine and Michael Putnam Kathryn and Richard Rabinow Mr. Peter A. Ragauss and Mrs. Jennifer Smith Ragauss Venu Rao Eric and Leonor Ratliff Harry M. Reasoner Mr. and Mrs. Dave Renner Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ritchie Andy Robertson Richard and Margot Rodriguez Bradley A. Roe Mrs. Jane S. Root Mr. and Mrs. David A. Rose Kelly B. Rose Carl Routh Ginger Clarkson and Mark Ryan Ms. Mary Ann Ryerson Frank Rynd Franca B. Sant’Ambrogio Mr. and Mrs. Luc Schlumberger Sande Schlumberger

Karin Schulz Sara Shackleton and Michael McKeogh Judith R. Shamp LeRoy and Adelle Shaw Carrie and Ed Shoemake Nicolas Shumway Louis E. Silver Trish and Fielding Smith Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Smith Michael M. Spata and Carlton Perkins Andy Spheeris Dr. Alana R. Spiwak Carol T. Stamatedes Uwe W. Steiner Caroline Stender Brian Stephens N.L. Stevens III and Nancy D. Williams Doreen Stoller and Dan Piette The Reverend Dr. Henry W. Strobel Mr. and Mrs. Rodney D. Susholtz Ms. Mimi Swartz and Mr. John Wilburn Mary Lou Swift Christina Thaller and Gregor Eichele Jo Ann Thweatt Sandra Tirey

Ellie and Jon Totz Nicola F. Toubia John T. Unger Bill Van Sweringen and Patricia Lawrence Van Sweringen Jana Vander Lee Sally Vernon Michael Vischak Barbara Jackson and Charles Wade Frederic C. Warner, Jr. Mary F. and Peter M. Way Randal Weber Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Weil, Jr. Michael Weller Jenny West Dr. Walter M. Widrig Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Wight Betty P. Williams Joanne G. Wilson Stephen and Lois Zamora James T. Zebroski

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SUPPORT

MEMBERSHIP

July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015

MENIL CONTEMPORARIES

The museum’s young professionals group, the Menil Contemporaries includes young collectors, art world newcomers, and anyone interested in learning more about the Menil. As the next generation of Menil patrons and sponsors, their contributions and enthusiasm ensure the longevity and vitality of the museum.

Friend $5,000 Dr. Katy French-Bloom The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Cris and Elisa Pye Jessica Phifer

Anatol Helfenstein Julian Helfenstein Shelley and Alex Kaplan Julie Kinzelman and Christopher Tribble Caroline and Jared LeBlanc Anna McKay John McLaughlin Lisa and Mike Mount Michael Naul and Stephen Schwarz Sarah Beth and Paul Seifert Kelly and Nicholas Silvers Jill Whitten and Robert Proctor Elizabeth and Barry Young

Fellow $2,500 Anonymous Isabel and Danny David Brian Donnelly Nataliya and Dennis Scheib Michael Stoeger

Associate $1,000 Liz and David Anders Alkesta and Curtis Belknap James M. Bell Ryan M. Boehner Rhett J. Carter Bevin and Daniel Dubrowski Cathy Eng Cullen K. Geiselman Eleanor and Daniel Gilbane Kelly and Russell Hamman

Patron Couple $750 Drs. Margaret and George Basu Justin and April Fink Surena and Misty Matin Elise and Scott Miller Susan Quarles Chester J. Urban and Aysha Kassim-Voronoff Katherine and Mark Yzaguirre

Menil Contemporaries enjoyed the festivities at the annual Holiday Party.

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Patron $500 Beverly Barrett Kathryn Bonner Christian Clark Kevin J. Foyle Robert L. Hunziker Gretchen and Andrew McFarland Valencia Thomas David Timmermeyer Gleeson Van Riet Sydney Viehman

Sponsor Couple $400 Sara Abdolpour and Jake Mase Kristen and John Berger Natasha Bowdoin and Joshua Bernstein Laura and John Chapman Meredith Riddle Chastang Tara Conley Genevieve and Jon Evans Caroline and Benjamin Garry Morgan and Patrick Garvey Adam Gibson and Vernon Caldera Andrew Glisson and Megan Light Robert and Lauren Gray Jessica Trincanello and Jeremy Griggs Brandi and Rob Kendall Dr. Christine K. Kim and Mr. Christopher Kutac L.L. Susanna Kise and Michael Kezirian Christopher and Jennifer Laporte Robert MacAskie and Emily Jackson Matthew and Meg Mallay Jack McBride and Thain Allen Anne and Matthew Phillips Juli and Heath Rehfuss Chris Robinson and Sarah Rollings Jessica and Josh Solera Ann Trione and Alexander Regier Barbara Volkmer and Pablo Ruiz-Berlanga Kathryn and Stephen Wilson


Menil Contemporaries at a private viewing of Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence.

Sponsor $250 Philip Arnold Sara J. Beck Sara Cain Christine Casas Burt Chao Julie L. Cushman Gisela Dall’Orto Brittany Duncan Tatiana Galitzine Dr. Alinda Gary Meaghan Gorman Matthew Greenberg Elizabeth Gregory Belinda-Leigh Hall Joshua I. Hansel Ina Honke Jackie Hugele Melissa Huntermark Jessica Johnston Sara Kelly Madeline Kelly Nao Kusuzaki

Mary Hammon Lee Nicole Longnecker Cynthia Mabry Katie and R.Whitney Mears Joshua Newcomer and Tejal Shah Jack O’Connell Mary H. Pappas Shane Pennington Stephanie Rau Manish Shah James P. Sivco Robert Spiegel Guido Stefanelli Roxanne Tizravesh Laurence Unger James Vesterman Hunter Wakefield Ian Wells Crystal Wreden Tom Young

Menil Contemporaries take a spirited selfie at the Spring Mixer.

Members at the Sponsor level and above during the fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014–June 30, 2015) are listed. Every effort has been made to ensure that this list is accurate. If errors or omissions have occurred, please accept our sincere apologies and notify Kristin Smyth at 713-525-9490 or ksmyth@menil.org.

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Menil Foundation, Inc., and The Menil Collection BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MENIL COUNCIL

FOUNDING BENEFACTORS

Officers

Henrietta Alexander Chinhui Juhn Allen Judy Ley Allen Ed Allday Mike Cannon William T. Cannady Nancy Carney Bettie Cartwright Taylor V. Cooksey Isabel David Daniel R. Dubrowski John Elderfield David Fitch Cullen Geiselman Ann Hamman Paula M. Harris Thomas A. Iannacone I.H. (Denny) Kempner III Gregory Looser Nancy McGregor Manne Mary Hale Lovett McLean Marc C. Melcher Benjamin de Menil John Moriniere Judy Nyquist Patricia Belton Oliver Geraldine C. Ordway Francesco Pellizzi Richard Shiff Jerome B. Simon Louis Sklar George Stark Aliyya Stude David Leslie Sarah Whiting

Sylvie and Eric Boissonnas The Brown Foundation, Inc. Edmund and Adelaide de Menil Carpenter The Cullen Foundation Dominique de Menil Susan and Francois de Menil Margaret W. and J.A. Elkins, Jr. The Charles Englehard Foundation Fayez Sarofim & Co. Fariha and Heiner Fredrich Hobby Foundation Houston Endowment Inc. Caroline Weiss Law The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Annalee G. Newman Susan E. and Roy S. O’Connor Louisa Stude Sarofim Scaler Foundation, Inc. Annette Schlumberger The Wortham Foundation

Louisa Stude Sarofim, Chair and Life Trustee Janet Hobby, President Mark Wawro, Vice President Eddie R. Allen III, Secretary Harry C. Pinson, Treasurer Nancy Abendshein Clare Casademont Suzanne Deal Booth Aziz Friedrich Russell B. Hawkins J. David Kirkland Douglas L. Lawing Janie C. Lee Rick Lowe Francois de Menil Adelaide de Menil Carpenter Franci Neely Roy Nolen Marilyn Oshman Bérengère Primat William E. Pritchard III Leslie Elkins Sasser Anne Schlumberger James W. Stewart Jr. Marcy Taub Wessel Michael Zilkha Miles Glaser (1925–2004), Emeritus

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As of June 30, 2015


STAFF Administration

Museum Departments

Director’s Office Josef Helfenstein, Director Sara Beck, Assistant to the Director’s Office Madeline Kelly, Assistant to the Director

Archives Geraldine Aramanda, Archivist Lisa Barkley, Archival Assistant

Deputy Director’s Office Sheryl Kolasinski, Deputy Director / Chief Operating Officer Earline Gray, Assistant to the Deputy Director / Chief Operating Officer Melissa McDonnell Luján, Budget and Project Manager Finance John S. Trahan, Chief Financial Officer Jocelyn Bazile, Accounts Payable Lisa DeLatte, Staff Accountant Shiow-Chyn (Susie) Liao, Accountant Patrick Saccomanno, Controller Thomas Trammel, Financial Analyst Human Resources Suzanne Maloch, Director of Human Resources Patrice Ashley, Benefits Coordinator

Art Services Tom Walsh, Head of Art Services Tobin Becker, Art Preparator Tony Rubio, Art Preparator Bookstore Paul Forsythe, Bookstore Manager Sally Glass, Buyer/Bookstore Associate Communications Vance Muse III, Director of Communications Oliver (Tommy) Napier, Jr., Communications Coordinator Collections Management Susan Slepka Anderson, Chief Registrar David Aylsworth, Collections Registrar Consuelo Gutierrez, Digital Asset Manager Margaret McKee, Imaging Services Specialist Heather Schweikhardt, Associate Registrar Julie Thies, TMS Administrator Conservation Bradford Epley, Chief Conservator Adam Baker, Matter / Framer and Conservation Photographer Janice Burandt, Paper Conservator Kari Dodson, Assistant Objects Conservator Judith Hastings, Administrative Assistant, Conservation Katrina Rush, Assistant Paintings Conservator Erin Stephenson, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow for Painting Conservation

Curatorial Haley Berkman, Curatorial Assistant David Breslin, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator, Menil Drawing Institute Paul Davis, Curator of Collections Paul Doyle, Administrative Assistant, Curatorial Department Clare Elliott, Assistant Curator Toby Kamps, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Frances Lazare, Administrative Assistant, Curatorial Department Sean Mooney, Curator, Edmund Carpenter Collection Allison Meyers, Vivian L. Smith Foundation Fellow Allegra Pesenti, Curator at Large, Menil Drawing Institute Michelle White, Curator Exhibition Design Brooke Stroud, Exhibitions Designer Eric Zimmerman, Exhibition Design Assistant Facilities & Security Steve McConathy, Manager of Facilities and Security Chris Akin, Gallery Attendant Rudy Antao, Gallery Attendant Davinagracia Antao, Gallery Attendant Delana Bunch, Gallery Attendant Larry Campbell, Control Room Monitor Sabina Causevic, Gallery Attendant Nick Cedillo, Custodian William Cuevas, Control Room Monitor Bridget Eldredge, Relief Control Room Monitor/Gallery Attendant Ernest Flores, Maintenance Assistant Latisha Gilbert, Gallery Attendant Jamarcus Gilmore, Gallery Attendant Vera Hadzic, Gallery Attendant Earl Harris, Control Room Monitor Monique Harris, Gallery Attendant

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Christopher Henry, Branard Street Receptionist Shawnie Hunt, Control Room Monitor Anthony Igwe, Gallery Attendant Alem Imru, Receptionist/Mail Room Clerk Sossina Kenfere, Gallery Attendant Lerma Legaspi, Gallery Attendant Reynaldo Legaspi, Gallery Attendant Guillermo Leguizamon, Gallery Attendant Nadar Madanat, Gallery Attendant Getachew Mengesha, Gallery Attendant Supervisor Jack Patterson, Facilities Engineer Matthew Rojas, Gallery Attendant Mirzama Sisic, Gallery Attendant Scarlett Taylor, Membership and Visitor Desk Attendant Konjit Tekletsadik, Gallery Attendant Richard Thompson, Gallery Attendant Eric Valdez, Gallery Attendant Leah Walker, Gallery Attendant

Advancement

Real Estate and Maintenance

Karen Sumner, Director of Advancement Austin Andrews, Membership Assistant Theodore Bale, Manager of Foundation Relations Elsian Cozens, Manager of Special Events Carrie Ermler, Manager of Membership and Annual Fund Jeremy Faulk, Grant Writer Eileen Destri Johnston, Manager of Special Events Patrice McCracken, Prospect Researcher Alexandra Nikolaisen, Director of Capital and Major Gifts Alexis Pennington, Capital and Major Gifts Coordinator Amanda Shagrin, Director of Individual Giving Thelma Smith, Visitor / Membership Associate Meghan Thrash, Assistant to the Director of Advancement

Information Technology Oliver (Buck) Bakke III, Information Technology Manager

Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings

Karin Schulz, Director of Real Estate Oretha Basey, Bookkeeper Jose Buenrostro, Head Groundskeeper Juan Buenrostro, Driver/Groundskeeper Ramon Castillo, HVAC/Plumbing Technician Martin Cerna, HVAC Technician Aurelio Escalona, Groundskeeper Antonio Gil, Groundskeeper Roberto Gonzalez, Maintenance Supervisor Gloria Joseph, Property Manager Susan Kmetz, Assistant to the Manager of Real Estate/Bookkeeper Georgina Molina, Leasing Agent Jesus Olvera, Groundskeeper Antonio Ramirez, HVAC Technician Gabriel Romero Soriano, Groundskeeper/ Make Ready Ricardo Victorio Salas, Maintenance/ Make Ready Jose Soriano Salazar, Groundskeeper/ Maintenance/Make Ready Javier Verduzco, Groundskeeper

Library Eric Wolf, Head Librarian Rita Marsales, Catalog Librarian Public Programs Karl Kilian, Director of Public Programs Tony Martinez, Programs Coordinator Publishing Joseph N. Newland, Director of Publishing Sarah E. Robinson, Assistant Editor

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Eileen Costello, Project Director/Editor Kimberly Costello, Bibliography Researcher Caroline Gabrielli, Senior Project Associate Bernice Rose, Chief Editor Emerita Christian Wurst, Researcher / Project Associate

As of June 30, 2015


Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision, installation view.

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Photography

Copyrights

Susan Slepka Anderson: p. 42 (bottom)

Artworks by:

Jenny Antill: 4 (top), 17 (bottom), 68, 76–77, 82, 84, 85

Louise Bourgeois © The Easton Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Adam Baker: pp. 56 (bottom) Nash Baker © nashbaker.com: pp. 31 (top) Cameron Blaylock: p. 7 (bottom) Bridgeman Art: p. 38 David A. Brown: pp. 8, 17 (top), 28 (top), 36 (bottom), 88, inside back cover Dan Budnik: p. 27 (bottom) Jan Burandt: p. 56 (top) Charvex / Creative Commons: p. 69 (top) Ben Doyle/Runaway Productions: pp. 5 (bottom), 30 (top & bottom, right), 32 (all), 33 (bottom), 57 (top), 63 (bottom), 64 (bottom) Brad Epley: p. 57 (bottom) Don J. Geraci: cover Sally Glass: p. 67 (top) Don Glentzer: pp. 42 (top), 50–51, 70–71 Graham S. Haber, courtesy Morgan Library & Museum, New York: p. 40 (top & bottom) Paul Hester: pp. 18 (bottom), 25 (top & bottom), 27 (top), 28 (bottom), 36 (top), 37 (top), 39 (top & bottom), 41, 45, 47, 48 (top & bottom), 49 Hickey-Robertson, Houston: pp. 37 (bottom), 81 (bottom) Courtesy of Los Angeles County Museum of Art: p. 26 Lynn Lane: pp. 2–3, 22–23, 24, 34 (top), 43, 62, 65 (top & bottom), 66, 67 (bottom), 79, 93 Robert McKeever: p. 44 Mahatma Gandhi Library, Houston: p. 31 (bottom, left) Johnston Marklee: pp. 21 (top) Johnston Marklee / Igor Brozyna: pp. 18–19, 21 (bottom) Johnston Marklee / Nephew: pp. 4 (bottom), 12, 20 George Bures Miller: p. 35 (bottom) Tommy Napier: p. 63 (top) Daniel Ortiz: pp. 64 (top), 69 (bottom), 80, 83, 87, 89 (top & bottom) Don Quaintance: pp. 1, 10–11, 15 (top & bottom), 16 (top & bottom), 33 (top), 34 (bottom), 58 (top & bottom), 59 (top & bottom) Sarah Robinson: p. 81 (top) Amanda Shagrin: p. 69 (top, inset) Billy Smith / © Houston Chronicle, used with permission: p. 35 (top) Courtesy of SRF: Tagesschau: p. 40 (bottom) Michael Stravato: pp. 7 (top), 30 (bottom, left), 60–61 Photo: Jamie M. Stukenberg / Professional Graphics Inc., Rockford, Illinois: p. 55 (top & bottom) Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: p. 14

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Dan Budnik © Dan Budnik Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller © 2015 Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller Walter De Maria © 2015 The Estate of Walter De Maria Barkley L. Hendricks © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Jasper Johns © Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Amar Kanwar © Amar Kanwar. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris Kimsooja © 2015 Kimsooja Sol LeWitt © 2015 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York René Magritte © 2015 C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Barnett Newman © 2015 The Barnett Newman Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Meret Oppenheim © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich Pablo Picasso © 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Robert Rauschenberg © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Artwork used with the permission of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Rudolf Stingel © Rudolf Stingel Anthony Suber © Anthony Suber Takis © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York /ADAGP, Paris


Tai chi practitioners using the Menil Collection portico, a popular community gathering spot.

Copyright © 2015 Menil Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by the Administration Office Melissa McDonnell Lujan, Managing Editor Theodore Bale, Editor Tommy Napier, Image Editor Ruth Gaulke, Rebel Writer, Copyeditor Don Quaintance, Public Address Design, Graphic Designer Special thanks to:

Geri Aramanda, David Aylsworth, Lisa Barkley, Haley Berkman, David Breslin, Paul Davis, Bradford Epley, Carrie Ermler, Jeremy Faulk, Paul Forsythe, Consuelo Gutierrez, Sally Glass, Judith Hastings, Josef Helfenstein, Toby Kamps, Madeline Kelly, Karl Kilian, Sheryl Kolasinski, Suzanne Maloch, Margaret McKee, Tony Martinez, Joseph Newland, Allie Nikolaisen, Kristin Smyth, Karen Sumner, Sarah Robinson, Julie Thies, Meghan Thrash, John S. Trahan, Thomas Trammel, Michelle White, and Eric Wolf

Cover: The closing ceremony of Sand Mandala: The Sacred Tour in the foyer of the Menil Collection.

Visitor Information Museum and bookstore hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Free of charge Free parking at 1515 West Alabama Street

The Menil Collection 1533 Sul Ross Street Houston, TX 77006 713-525-9400

menil.org | 95


The Menil Collection

1533 Sul Ross Street Houston, Texas 77006 713-525-9400

menil.org

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