Menil Collection facts for kids
The Menil Collection is a special place in Houston, Texas. It's both a museum and a huge collection of art! It was started by John de Menil and Dominique de Menil. They loved art and wanted to share it with everyone.
The collection has about 17,000 amazing items. These include paintings, sculptures, drawings, photos, and rare books. While much of the art was once private, the Menil Collection is now a non-profit group. This means it's for the public good. It even gets support from the City of Houston, the State of Texas, and the U.S. government.
You can see many different kinds of art here. There are works from the early to mid-1900s by famous artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. You'll also find pop art and contemporary art by artists such as Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. The museum also has ancient art, Byzantine art, Medieval art, and art from different cultures around the world.
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History of the Menil Collection
The Menil Collection museum first opened its doors in June 1987. It was designed by a famous architect named Renzo Piano. The museum is managed by The Menil Foundation. This foundation was created in 1954 to help people understand culture through art. Dominique de Menil led the museum until she passed away in 1997.
Exploring the Menil Campus
The museum isn't just one building; it's a whole campus! Besides the main museum, there are two other special galleries. The Cy Twombly Gallery was also designed by Renzo Piano. The Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall shows cool light art.
Two other important buildings are also nearby. These were started by the de Menils but are now separate. They are The Byzantine Fresco Chapel and the Rothko Chapel.
The Menil Foundation started buying homes in the area in the 1960s. They painted all these houses a special shade of gray. When the museum was built, it was also painted this "Menil gray." This makes the whole neighborhood feel connected and beautiful.
In 2013, a landscape architect named Michael Van Valkenburgh began making the campus even better. The plan includes more green spaces, walking paths, a cafe, and new buildings for art.
Visiting the Menil Collection
The Menil Collection is open to everyone, and it's completely free to visit! The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm. You can find it near the University of St. Thomas in the Neartown area of Houston.
The Rothko Chapel
The Rothko Chapel was built in 1971. It's a special place for people of all faiths. The de Menils asked for it to be built. Every year, more than 60,000 visitors from many countries come here.
Inside, you'll find holy books from different religions. The chapel is lit by natural light from above. There are mats and benches for prayer or quiet thinking. Fourteen large paintings by artist Mark Rothko hang inside. The Rothko Chapel is its own non-profit group. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Outside the chapel, there's a reflecting pool. In the pool, you'll see a sculpture called Broken Obelisk by Barnett Newman. It honors Martin Luther King Jr., a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Byzantine Fresco Chapel
The Byzantine Fresco Chapel is in a separate building. It used to hold two very old church paintings from the 1200s. These paintings were from a church in Lysi, Northern Cyprus. They were taken illegally but were found in the 1980s. These were the only such paintings in the Americas. The museum kept them with an agreement from the Church of Cyprus.
In 2011, the Menil Collection announced that the paintings would go back to Cyprus. This happened in 2012. It was an example of returning art to its home country. In 2015, the Menil decided to use the chapel space for new art projects.
The Cy Twombly Pavilion
In 1992, Dominique de Menil asked Renzo Piano to design a small building for artist Cy Twombly's work. This building is on the Menil Collection grounds. Unlike the main museum, the Cy Twombly Gallery is made of sand-colored concrete blocks. It has nine galleries. Light comes in through the roof, just like the main museum. This creates a soft, gentle light inside.
The Menil Drawing Institute
The Menil Drawing Institute is a new building. It's the first building in the United States made just for showing, studying, and keeping art on paper. It was designed by Johnston Marklee and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.
This building is about 30,000 square feet big, with two floors. One floor is underground for storage. The ground floor has a large central room, exhibition space, and rooms for learning and events. It also has a special lab to care for the art. The building is not very tall, blending in with the other buildings on the campus.
Art Vandalism at the Museum
On June 13, 2012, a visitor named Uriel Landeros damaged a painting by Pablo Picasso called Woman in a Red Armchair. He used black spray paint on the artwork. Landeros said he did it to make a statement. He was later sentenced to two years in prison for damaging the art.
How the Menil Collection is Managed
The Menil Foundation still runs the museum. The foundation pays for new art and for the museum's daily operations. Many groups have helped fund the museum, including the Cullen Foundation and the Brown Foundation. By 2001, the Menil Foundation had a large fund of $200 million. This money helps pay for the museum, its exhibits, and research.
Louisa Stude Sarofim has been the president of the Menil Collection and Foundation since 1998. She has also given a lot of money to the museum.
Museum Directors
The first director of the museum was Walter Hopps. He helped plan the museum before it opened. Later directors included Ned Rifkin and Josef Helfenstein. During Josef Helfenstein's time, the museum's visitors doubled. The collection also grew by over 1,000 new artworks. These included pieces by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.
Art Curators
Michelle White is one of the museum's curators. Curators are experts who help choose and care for the art. She has worked on many different projects. Her writings have been published in art magazines.
See also
In Spanish: Colección Menil para niños
