Menil Collection FY22 Annual Report

The Menil Collection Annual Report

We are pleased to share this annual report highlighting the notable events that took place across the Menil Collection’s neighborhood of art during Fiscal Year 2022 (July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022).

At the beginning of the Fiscal Year on July 30, the Menil opened Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes, an exhibition of more than forty objects from different historical moments of Andean history. Complementing these objects was a selection of photographic prints by Pierre Verger (1902–1996). The two portfolios that he gave John and Dominique de Menil at the time had never been exhibited prior to the museum’s show. The exhibition and online publication celebrating Andean visual cultures coincided with the 200th anniversary of Peru’s independence.

In early fall, the Menil debuted Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s, an important exhibition focused on the experimental and prolific work of the French-American artist (1930–2002). This monumental display, along with the museum’s major retrospective of Meret Oppenheim (1913–1985), which opened in the spring, continues the museum’s string of exhibitions that call attention to groundbreaking women artists. Also in our main building galleries was a selection of works by American photographer Bruce Davidson (b. 1933). The photographs offered an intimate perspective of Davidson’s subjects and their communities, from circus performers to Welsh miners to New York City neighborhoods.

At the Menil Drawing Institute, we displayed a major retrospective on Joseph E. Yoakum (1891–1972). The exhibition featured more than eighty drawings by Yoakum, including nine that were recently given to the museum. In addition, two shows spotlighted the museum’s permanent collection: Draw Like a Machine: Pop Art, 1952–1975 and Spatial Awareness: Drawings from the Permanent Collection. We also welcomed artist Marcia Kure (b. 1970) to create a site-specific wall drawing for the building’s living room, the third in the museum’s ongoing series. Kure’s NETWORK, 2021, used the line as a metaphor of contemporary and historical trade routes. In her formulation, the line is not only a mark; it is activated in space through the movement of bodies in daily actions.

In this report, you will find more information about these exhibitions, as well as scholarship highlights. You can also read more about the Menil’s public programs, which included our community days and Artist Talks with Alice Aycock, Mel Chin, Roni Horn, Marcia Kure, Liliana Porter, Kate Shepherd, and William T. Williams.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Rabinow

Photo: Daniel Ortiz

The Menil Collection is committed to its founders’ belief that art is essential to the human experience. Set in a residential Houston neighborhood, the Menil fosters direct, personal encounters with works of art and welcomes all visitors free of charge to its museum buildings and surrounding green spaces.

The Menil’s institutional culture and actions are guided by the following core values:

Inclusivity We are committed to being equitable, inclusive, and welcoming to all people.

Integrity We strive toward transparency and accountability, and we actively work to combat bias and racism in all of our practices, interactions, and activities.

Empathy We are a small staff who work closely together. We listen to different points of view and are committed to acting with kindness, respect, and understanding toward one another.

Excellence We uphold the highest professional standards. We consistently strive to innovate those standards and exceed expectations.

Intellectual Curiosity Guided by our founders’ vision, we are committed to being socially and culturally aware, to pursuing new and challenging ideas, and to advancing new scholarship and new perspectives.

Community We aim to contribute to the cultural vibrancy of our diverse community by being a site for learning, sharing, and the free exchange of ideas. We are a thoughtful and active member of the Montrose and greater Houston community; we are a good neighbor and responsible partner.

Board of Trustees

Louisa Stude Sarofim, Chair Emerita

Janet M. Hobby, Chair

Doug Lawing, President

Mark Wawro, Vice President

James W. Stewart Jr., Treasurer

Michael Zilkha, Secretary

Nancy Abendshein

Eddie R. Allen III

Suzanne Deal Booth

Clare T. Casademont

Hilda Curran

Francois de Menil

Menil Council

Henrietta K. Alexander

Chinhui Juhn Allen

Michael D. Cannon

Bettie Cartwright

Stephanie Cockrell

Caroline Finkelstein

Cullen K. Geiselman

Russell Hawkins

George B. Kelly

I.H. Kempner III

Dillon Kyle

Marley Lott

Ransom Lummis

Nancy M. Manne

Poppi Massey

Marc C. Melcher

David C. Moriniere

David Fitch

Aziz Friedrich

Barbara Goot-Gamson

Cecily Horton

Caroline Huber

Janie C. Lee

Alison Leland

Isabel Lummis

Clémence Molin

Bénédicte de Montlaur

Franci Neely

Marilyn Oshman

William E. Pritchard III

David Ruiz

Leslie Elkins Sasser

Anne Schlumberger

Miles Glaser (1925–2004), Trustee Emeritus

John C. Moriniere

Carol Neuberger

Judy Nyquist

Francesco Pellizzi

Jessica Phifer

Harry C. Pinson

Leslie Elkins Sasser

Raquel Segal

Paul Seifert

Kelly R. Silvers

Reggie R. Smith

Aliyya Stude

Patrick G. Wade

Lea Weingarten

William H. White

Barry Young

Firm in the belief that art is essential to human experience, the Menil Collection remains free to all, always. From their philanthropic vision to their work with artists, our founders sought to combat prejudice and champion social justice. This legacy lives on in our work and mission, to which diversity, inclusion, and equitable representation are fundamental.

True commitment to diversity and inclusion is an active process; we are dedicated to the work of listening, learning, and taking action that this ongoing commitment necessitates. It is our responsibility to reflect the diversity of our community, from our galleries and programming to our offices and green spaces. At the Menil, you are included, welcomed, and needed.

Founding Benefactors

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

Fariha and Heiner Friedrich

Hobby Foundation

Houston Endowment Inc.

Caroline Weiss Law

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Annalee G. Newman

Susan E. and Roy S. O’Connor

Fayez Sarofim & Co.

Louisa Stude Sarofim

Scaler Foundation, Inc.

Annette Schlumberger

The Wortham Foundation

Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes

July 30–November 14, 2021

Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes, the Menil Collection’s first display of Andean visual culture, featured more than forty objects from the permanent collection—complemented by loans from the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico—including polychrome ceramic vessels of the Nazca culture, important textiles from the Wari and Chimú civilizations, and 20th–21st-century examples of elaborately embroidered esclavinas (short capes) and monteras (hats) worn during religious festivals in Peru. The exhibition included the Menil’s large fragment of the 13th–14th-century so-called Prisoner Textile created by artists of the Chimú civilization. A generous grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project funded the conservation of the textile and the ongoing analysis of its relationship to nine fragments at other institutions.

The impetus for the exhibition was the accession of recently conserved gelatin silver photographic prints by Pierre Verger (1902–1996), also known as Fátúmbí. Verger gifted two portfolios of nearly two-hund red original photographs to John and Dominique de Menil in gratitude for their support of his trips through the Central Andes during the early 1940s. His images of religious festivals in the Andes, taken between 1939 and 1945, depict the costumes, dances, drama, and fusion of indigenous and Catholic traditions at these regular events.

A bilingual digital publication, in English and Spanish, was created in conjunction with the exhibition and features essays by scholars of Andean culture and history, interactive multimedia, and music recordings. The publication is available at menil.org/read.

Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes was curated by Paul R. Davis, Curator of Collections, The Menil Collection.

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s September 10, 2021–January 23, 2022

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s was the first exhibition to focus on the experimental and prolific work of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) created during a pivotal decade. Numerous works from European collections were displayed in the United States for the first time.

The exhibition explored a transformative ten-year period in Saint Phalle’s career, when she embarked on two significant series: the Tirs, or “shooting paintings,” and the powerful Nanas. Affirming the artist’s place in postwar art history, this show highlighted these prescient works of performance, participatory, and feminist art, as well as her transatlantic projects and collaborations.

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s opened with the artist’s Tirs, created using a .22 caliber rifle. Often standing in front of an audience, Saint Phalle invited participants to shoot at white plaster surfaces that concealed imbedded bags of pigment or cans of paint, which would explode spectacularly upon the impact of the bullets. Saint Phalle explained that her intention was “to make a painting bleed.” Her paradoxical method of creating a work through destruction was intended as commentary on the ingrained violence of the culture, as well as a feminist assault on the tradition of modern painting.

The exhibition continued with Saint Phalle’s explorations of gender through figural assemblages representing female archetypes, such as brides, mothers, goddesses, and monsters. Evolving from wall-bound reliefs to colorful and freestanding sculptures, these works became increasingly monumental and liberated, depicting curvaceous female forms with outstretched arms and powerful poses. Saint Phalle began creating these sculptures in the 1960s, and they are often seen as heralding the rise of an international feminist movement.

Accompanying the exhibition was a catalogue published by the Menil and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s was cocurated by Michelle White, Senior Curator, The Menil Collection, and Jill Dawsey, PhD, Curator, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Major funding for this exhibition was provided by Cecily E. Horton; a gift in memory of Virginia P. Rorschach; Bettie Cartwright; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from Eddie Allen and Chinhui Juhn; Suzanne Deal Booth; Dragonfly Collection, Garance Primat; Clare Casademont and Michael Metz; Cindy and David Fitch; Barbara and Michael Gamson; Janie C. Lee; Susan and Francois de Menil; MaryRoss Taylor; Wawro-Gray Family Foundation; Carol and David Neuberger; Julie and John Cogan, Jr.; Robin and Andrew Schirrmeister; MCT Fund; Niki Charitable Art Foundation; UBS Financial Services; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Support for this exhibition at both the Menil Collection and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego was provided by Christie’s.

Research for this exhibition was supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

This exhibition was generously supported by Melza and Ted Barr; Micheline and Germán Newall; Cecilia and Luis Campos; the Ferreyros Family; Valerie and Miguel Miro-Quesada; Brian M. Smyth and Rebecca E. Marvil; John Zipprich; Hightower Texas; Pluspetrol International; and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

Drinking Vessel (Kero) in the Form of Head, Possibly Representing a Person from the Forest (Anti or Chuncho), late 15th–18th century. Quechua. Colonial Period, Peru. Wood, natural resin, and pigments, 8 1/4 × 6 3/8 × 7 3/8 in. (21 × 16.2 × 18.7 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston. Photo: Paul Hester

Niki de Saint Phalle, Tir Séance, 26 June 1961, 1961. Plaster, metal, acrylic, and objects on wood, 129 15/16 × 82 3/4 × 13 3/4 in. (330 × 210 × 35 cm). Collection of Mamac, Nice. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. All rights reserved. Photo: Muriel Anssens/Ville de Nice

Draw Like a Machine: Pop Art, 1952–1975

October 29, 2021–March 13, 2022

Draw Like a Machine: Pop Art, 1952–1975 featured more than thirty drawings primarily sourced from the Menil Collection’s permanent holdings, along with select loans from local Houston collections.

Draw Like a Machine focused on works made during a time when gestural and expressionistic mark-making was considered increasingly outmoded, and artists were actively experimenting with images and processes borrowed from advertising and mass media. The drawings included in this exhibition bridged the seeming contradiction between the manual and the mechanical.

Highlights of the exhibition included Andy Warhol’s series of six drawings of critic Gene Swenson completed in 1962, the year before Swenson’s iconic ARTnews interview with Warhol, which centered on the broad inquiry, “What is Pop Art?” In response to the question, Warhol declared his intention to “be a machine” and “machine-like” in his art practice, a quote that inspired the exhibition’s title. Warhol used a blotted line technique that combined drawing and printmaking strategies to create works that intentionally resembled printed reproductions. The exhibition also included several other of Warhol’s drawings from the 1950s, highlighting the range of techniques he employed.

The exhibition also spotlighted a generation of American artists in the United States who bridged fine art and industrial design, including Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Idelle Weber. Certain works, for example, by Marjorie Strider and Tom Wesselmann, foregrounded the alluring visual advertising strategies developed by postwar marketing firms to direct and encourage consumer spending. Californian artists such as Ed Kienholz blurred the lines of art and commerce even further.

Draw Like a Machine: Pop Art, 1952–1975 was curated by Kelly Montana, Assistant Curator, Menil Drawing Institute.

This exhibition was generously supported by Angela and William Cannady; Catherine Miller in memory of Marcy Taub Wessel; Indigo Natural Resources; Ann and Mathew Wolf Drawing Exhibition Fund; Clare Casademont and Michael Metz; John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Linda and George Kelly; Susanne and William E. Pritchard III; Leslie and Shannon Sasser; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Spatial Awareness: Drawings from the Permanent Collection

October 29, 2021–March 13, 2022

Spatial Awareness: Drawings from the Permanent Collection brought together a diverse group of thirty drawings from the mid-20th century to the present day that illustrate how artists have conceived of and realized their ambitions to render space, often in unexpected ways.

The term “spatial awareness” denotes the understanding of the relationship between one’s body and its surroundings. This exhibition included three-dimensional drawings that create physical space rather than represent it; works that emphasize the body in motion through its physical traces; and art that renders space through the use of line, illusion, voids, reflection, and transparency.

The exhibition featured drawings involving folding and layering techniques, with standout examples from Sam Gilliam and Dorothea Rockburne. Recently acquired by the Menil, Gilliam’s untitled work from 2019 asserts its physical materiality with eye-catching hues of blue and orange applied through a folding technique that involves repeatedly soaking absorbent Japanese paper with pigment, resulting in undulating irregular surface layers. Rockburne used translucent varnished paper in Rectangle, Square, 1978, so that viewers can better perceive its layered construction. Other works included Houston-based artist Rick Lowe’s Untitled, 2017, with a layered network of lines formed from the contours of dominoes that he traced over an aerial view of his neighborhood, and Trisha Brown’s Untitled (Montpellier), 2001, in which the artist used her entire body to make the work, drawing with charcoal held alternately in her fingers and between her toes while standing, crouching, lying, and tumbling over the paper surface.

When the Menil Drawing Institute was established as a program in 2008 and with its dedicated building completed in 2018, the Menil set out to provide opportunities for deep engagement and research using the growing permanent collection of modern and contemporary drawings. Spatial Awareness was the first exhibition the museum organized with the support of the new Menil Drawing Institute Scholars Program. It was curated by Saskia Verlaan, the 2020–21 Menil Drawing Institute PreDoctoral Fellow.

Marjorie Strider, Party 1973. Acrylic and graphite on board, 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm). Private collection, Houston. © Mike Chutko. Photo: Paul Hester

This exhibition was generously supported by Clare Casademont and Michael Metz; John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Linda and George Kelly; Susanne and William E. Pritchard III; Leslie and Shannon Sasser; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Sam Gilliam, Untitled 2019. Watercolor and acrylic on washi paper, 73 × 38 1/2 in. (185.4 × 97.8 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston, Purchased in part with funds provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Nancy Abendshein, and Caroline Huber. © 2022 Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Wall Drawing Series: Marcia Kure

October 1, 2021–September 22, 2022

The Menil Drawing Institute presented the third of an ongoing series of ephemeral, site-specific wall drawings. Artist Marcia Kure (b. 1970) has a multidisciplinary art practice in which she explores a wide range of concepts, including colonial legacies and diasporic identities. She is known for compositions that feature Uli line, a Nigerian design motif traditionally drawn on bodies and the walls of homes, as well as her use of natural pigments.

Kure’s wall drawing used the line as a metaphor for contemporary and historical trade routes. In her formulation, the line is not only a mark; it is activated in space through the movement of bodies in daily actions. In NETWORK, 2021, Kure used kola nut, indigo, tea, and charcoal as drawing media while also addressing their role as commodities that trace the African diaspora. These connections implicate the viewer in a complex history of migration, labor, and exploitation. Furthering this narrative, the installation included two African sculptures placed on pedestals, one in the style of a Mande headdress and the other of a Dogon female figure, both modified with the addition of synthetic hair extensions.

Kure has said that, for her, “drawing has been a life-long journey. It’s been a language that I’ve been trying to understand for the longest time—from historic South African cave drawings, to collage, to sewing— trying to find my own way of drawing the line. Line is not a mere mark on paper, it’s something that contains memory, purpose, and thought. Line is something that we all engage with daily, our entire body participates in making the mark, implicating us all in a vast interconnected and entangled network that continues beyond the wall.”

Wall Drawing Series: Marcia Kure was curated by Kelly Montana, Assistant Curator, Menil Drawing Institute.

This exhibition was generously supported by Clare Casademont and Michael Metz; Penelope and Lester Marks; Scott and Judy Nyquist; Leslie and Shannon Sasser; and Robin and Andrew Schirrmeister.

Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs

December 10, 2021–May 29, 2022

Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs consisted of a selection of the American photographer’s most consequential series made between 1956 and 1995. Primarily drawn from a recent anonymous gift to the Menil Collection of approximately 350 photographs, the exhibition offered an intimate perspective on Davidson’s subjects and their communities, from circus performers to Welsh miners to New York City neighborhoods.

The exhibition opened with works from one of Davidson’s earliest series, Brooklyn Gang, 1959. After reading an article about a group of teenagers called the Jokers who had instigated a skirmish in Prospect Park, Davidson (b. 1933) sought them out and earned their trust by socializing with them on street corners late at night. Davidson’s resulting photographic essay portraying their adolescent struggles was published in Esquire magazine. The work received international acclaim, and the artist subsequently was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to document “Youth in America.” For this project, Davidson joined the Freedom Riders, college-age activists who confronted racial segregation in the American South. Davidson was profoundly impacted by the violent resistance the group encountered, as well as by the glaring inequity in the communities they visited.

From 1961 to 1965, Davidson continued to record the civil rights movement and the effects of segregation throughout the United States in his series Time of Change. His images show Mother Brown, a former slave living in Harlem, aboard the Circle Line boat tour as it passes the Statue of Liberty; a member of the Ku Klux Klan handing out pamphlets on the streets of Atlanta; and demonstrators marching from Selma to Montgomery in late March 1965, during their third attempt to reach the state capitol.

Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs was curated by Molly Everett, Curatorial Assistant, Modern and Contemporary Art, The Menil Collection.

Detail of Marcia Kure’s NETWORK , 2021, at the Menil Drawing Institute. The Menil Collection, Houston, Courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, New York. © Marcia Kure. Photo: Paul Hester

This exhibition was generously supported by Anne Levy Charitable Trust; Franci Neely; Erla and Harry Zuber; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Bruce Davidson, Selma March, Alabama , 1965. Gelatin silver print, 18 7/8 × 12 3/4 in. (48 × 32.4 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston, Anonymous gift. © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition

March 25–September 18, 2022

Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition was the Swiss artist’s first major transatlantic retrospective. From her artistic beginnings in Paris through her postwar career in Switzerland, Meret Oppenheim (1913 –1985) created art that defied neat categorizations of medium, style, and historical movement. At the time of her death at age seventy-two, her output included object constructions, narrative paintings, hardedge abstractions, witty drawings, and collages and assemblages. This retrospective exhibition, organized chronologically, surveyed the sweep of her remarkably original artwork.

After arriving in Paris in 1932, the artist became involved with the Surrealists before returning to Switzerland prior to World War II. The show followed her subsequent reengagement with Surrealist ideas and development of a new visual vocabulary alongside postwar art movements such as Nouveau Réalisme and Pop. During the last two decades of her life, her longstanding interests in nature, abstraction, and enchantment combined to forge a novel new style. The exhibition was accompanied by a comprehensive, fully illustrated catalogue featuring new scholarly texts.

Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition was coorganized by the Menil Collection, Houston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 30, 2022–March 4, 2023); and the Kunstmuseum Bern (October 22, 2021–February 13, 2022). The exhibition was cocurated by Natalie Dupêcher, Associate Curator of Modern Art, The Menil Collection; Anne Umland, The Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art; and Nina Zimmer, Director, Kunstmuseum Bern / Zentrum Paul Klee.

Major funding for this exhibition was provided by Art Blocks; Bettie Cartwright; a gift in memory of Virginia P. Rorschach; Scott and Judy Nyquist; Marilyn Oshman; Susan Vaughan Foundation; The Vaughn Foundation; and Lea Weingarten. Additional support came from Henrietta Alexander in memory of Marcy Taub Wessel; Eddie Allen and Chinhui Juhn; Suzanne Deal Booth; Hilda Curran; John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Barbara and Michael Gamson; Janet and Paul Hobby; Caroline Huber; Linda and George Kelly; Janie C. Lee; Susan and Francois de Menil; Franci Neely; Carol and David Neuberger; Susanne and William E. Pritchard III; Robin and Andrew Schirrmeister; James William Stewart, Jr.; MaryRoss Taylor; Nina and Michael Zilkha; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw April 22–August 7, 2022

Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw was the first major museum retrospective in more than twenty-five years to focus on the dreamlike landscape drawings of Joseph Elmer Yoakum (1891–1972), a self-taught, visionary American artist. The show illuminated his vivid creativity, imaginative vision of the land and deep spirituality, and explored his complex biography as an African American man with Native American heritage.

Born in Missouri just twenty-five years after the end of the Civil War, Yoakum had little schooling before he left home to work for several circuses, traveling across the United States as well as abroad. He later served in a segregated noncombat regiment during World War I and ultimately settled in Chicago’s South Side. Inspired by a dream, he began his artistic career at age seventy-one, producing some two thousand drawings before his death in 1972.

Yoakum’s drawings reflect his travels to every continent except Antarctica. As he put it, “I had it in my mind that I wanted to go to different places at different times. Wherever my mind led me, I would go. I’ve been all over this world four times.” His idiosyncratic drawings, predominantly landscapes in ballpoint pen, colored pencil, pastel, and watercolor, convey his poetic view of nature.

The exhibition at the Menil Drawing Institute featured more than eighty drawings by Yoakum, many from the collections of Chicago-based artists. Nine of these were recently given to the museum. An extensive, richly illustrated exhibition catalogue provided new scholarship on the artist and expanded upon key themes of the show.

Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw was coorganized by Edouard Kopp, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator, Menil Drawing Institute; Mark Pascale, Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago; and Esther Adler, Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, MoMA.

The exhibition was generously supported by Cecily Horton; Leah Bennett; Diane and Michael Cannon; Hilda Curran; Cindy and David Fitch; Barbara and Michael Gamson; Janet and Paul Hobby; Caroline Huber; Mary Hale Lovett McLean; John and Stephanie Smither Visionary Art Fund; James William Stewart, Jr.; Nina and Michael Zilkha; Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Meret Oppenheim, The Night, Its Volume and What Endangers It (La nuit, son volume et ce qui lui est dangereux) 1934. Gouache and oil on board, 31 5/8 × 25 3/8 in. (80.3 × 64.5 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston, Purchased in part with funds provided by the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Pro Litteris, Zurich

Joseph E. Yoakum, Chorro Valley Sanluis Obispo County Paso Robles California , n.d. Black ballpoint pen, black fountain pen, and watercolor on paper, 9 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (25.3 × 20.1 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston, Anonymous gift. © Joseph E. Yoakum

Christo, Valley Curtain 1970. Collage of gelatin silver prints, fabric, tape, colored pencil, graphite, and ink. 13 7/8 × 16 7/8 in. (35.3 × 42.9 cm). Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps. © Christo and JeanneClaude Foundation

Richard Artschwager

American, 1924–2013

Study of Potatoes, 1997

Charcoal on paper

25 × 19 in. (63.5 × 48.3 cm)

Gift of Christina and Norman Diekman

Geneviève Asse

French, 1923–2021

Untitled 1992

Oil on canvas

76 5/16 × 43 11/16 in. (193.8 × 111 cm)

Gift of Silvia Baron Supervielle

Untitled mid 20th- early 21st century

Oil on canvas

76 5/16 × 44 13/16 in. (193.8 × 113.8 cm)

Gift of Silvia Baron Supervielle

Untitled mid 20th- early 21st century

Oil on canvas

76 5/16 × 44 13/16 in. (193.8 × 113.8 cm)

Gift of Silvia Baron Supervielle

Billy Al Bengston

American, 1934–2022

Untitled (Dento) ca. 1965

Enamel lacquer silkscreened on incised

aluminum

24 × 22 in. (61 × 55.9 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

James Bettison

American, 1957–1997

Still Life with Lava Lamp, 1987

Oil and wood relief

26 1/2 × 18 × 2 1/4 in. (67.3 × 45.7 × 5.7 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Chryssa, Flight of Birds 1957–1960. Cast aluminum. 59 × 61 × 3 in. (149.9 × 154.9 × 7.6 cm). Gift of JPMorgan Chase & Co. © The Estate of Chryssa

Charcoal on paper

29 1/2 × 22 1/2 in. (74.9 × 57.2 cm)

Gift of Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie in honor of Louisa Stude Sarofim

Christo

American, 1935–2020

Valley Curtain 1970

Collage of gelatin silver prints, fabric, tape, colored pencil, graphite, and ink

13 7/8 × 16 7/8 in. (35.3 × 42.9 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Chryssa

American, 1933–2013

Flight of Birds, 1957–1960

Cast aluminum

59 × 61 × 3 in. (149.9 × 154.9 × 7.6 cm)

Gift of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Composition Bach ca. late 1950s

Wood, plaster, paint, and glass

34 1/2 × 34 × 5 in. (87.6 × 86.4 × 12.7 cm)

Gift of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Lygia Clark

Brazilian, 1920–1988

Modulated Space (Espaço Modulado), 1958

Cut-and-pasted paper on paper

8 × 8 in. (20.3 × 20.3 cm)

Gift of Kool 1, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, on behalf of Irving Stenn, Jr. in honor of Louisa Stude Sarofim and Janie C. Lee

Bruce Conner

American, 1933–2008

Untitled 1961

Graphite on paper

John Biggers

American, 1924–2001

Opa Oranmiyan, Ile Ife, Nigeria ca. 1957

Conté crayon on paper possibly mounted on board

Sight: 29 15/16 × 19 in. (76 × 48.3 cm)

Gift of Drs. Robert and Jean Galloway

Trisha Brown

American, 1936–2017

Left Foot Drawn by Right Foot, Right Foot

Drawn by Left Foot, 1980

Graphite on paper

17 1/4 × 23 in. (43.8 × 58.4 cm)

Gift of Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie in honor of Louisa Stude Sarofim

26 × 20 in. (66 × 50.8 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Linda Connor

American, born 1944

Spirit Door, Egypt 1989

Gelatin silver print

Image: 9 5/8 × 8 1/2 in. (24.4 × 21.6 cm)

Sheet: 11 7/8 × 10 in. (30.2 × 25.4 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Jay DeFeo

American, 1929–1989

Untitled 1953

From the series Tree Ink on paper

35 1/2 × 28 in. (90.2 × 71.1 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

William Eggleston, Untitled , ca. 1970, printed later. Dye imbibition photograph. Image: 17 7/8 × 11 3/4 in. (45.5 × 29.8 cm). Sheet: 20 1/8 × 16 in. (51.1 × 40.6 cm). Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps. © Eggleston Artistic Trust, Courtesy Eggleston Artistic Trust and David Zwirner

Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson

American, 1931–2017

Symbol, 1979–1980

Oil on velvet

16 × 14 1/4 in. (40.6 × 36.2 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Anne Doran

Canadian, born 1957

Untitled (Study for Lush Life), 1986 Collage and ink on paper

19 5/8 × 14 in. (49.8 × 35.6 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Rackstraw Downes

British, born 1939

Presidio Race Track Association Track, Presidio, Texas: The Judges’ Tower and Spectator Shelters 2005 Graphite on cream paper with blue threads

10 × 50 1/4 in. (25.4 × 127.6 cm)

Gift of Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie in honor of Franci Neely

Presidio Horse Racing Association Track, Presidio, Texas. Looking East, South, and Southwest. The Judges’ Tower and Spectator Shelters 2006 Oil on canvas

15 × 106 in. (38.1 × 269.2 cm)

Gift of Franci Neely in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Menil Collection

Mary Beth Edelson

American, 1934–2021

Earth Works: Reclaiming the Land, 1976 Graphite, ink, and colored pencil on card

26 7/16 × 35 15/16 in. (67.2 × 91.3 cm)

Purchased with funds provided by Leah Bennett, Poppi Massey, and Mary Hale

Lovett McLean

William Eggleston

American, born 1939

Allen Ginsberg

American, 1926–1997

William Burroughs, 1984

Gelatin silver print

Image: 6 1/8 × 9 1/16 in. (15.5 × 23 cm)

Sheet: 7 × 9 1/2 in. (17.8 × 24.1 cm) (visible)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

William Burroughs, 1953

Gelatin silver print

Image: 7 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (19.1 × 29.2 cm)

Sheet: 9 3/8 × 12 3/8 in. (23.9 × 31.5 cm) (visible)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Hans Hofmann

American, 1880–1966

Untitled 1946

Gouache on paper

23 × 28 3/4 in. (58.4 × 73 cm)

Gift of the Fitch Family in memory of Bobbie Fitch

Barry Le Va

American, 1941–2021

Accumulated Vision (Stages I & II):

Length Ratios, 1976

Ink and graphite on paper

22 × 16 3/4 in. (55.9 × 42.5 cm)

Gift of Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie

Study for Corner Sections, 1977 Graphite and ink on paper and vellum

16 × 45 1/4 in. (40.6 × 114.9 cm)

Gift of Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie

Sheets–To Strips–To Particles (According to Section), 1967

Ink on paper

17 × 22 in. (43.2 × 55.9 cm)

Purchased with funds provided by an anonymous donor

Either, Or #2 (Centers and Segments, Exact Location, Switch), 1974

Mary Beth Edelson, Earth Works: Reclaiming the Land 1976. Graphite, ink, and colored pencil on card 26 7/16 × 35 15/16 in. (67.2 × 91.3 cm). Purchased with funds provided by Leah Bennett, Poppi Massey, and Mary Hale Lovett McLean. © Mary Beth Edelson

Untitled 1972, printed later

Dye imbibition photograph

Image: 9 × 13 1/2 in. (22.9 × 34.3 cm)

Sheet: 16 × 20 1/2 in. (40.6 × 52.1 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Untitled ca. 1970, printed later

Dye imbibition photograph

Image: 17 7/8 × 11 3/4 in. (45.5 × 29.8 cm)

Sheet: 20 1/8 × 16 in. (51.1 × 40.6 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Ink on paper

42 × 126 in. (106.7 × 320 cm)

Purchased with funds partially provided by the William F. Stern Acquisitions Fund Glenn Ligon

American, born 1960

Untitled (How Does It Feel to Be White You?) 1991

Oil stick on paper

32 × 16 in. (81.3 × 40.6 cm)

Purchased with funds provided by Louisa Stude Sarofim in memory of Dr. and Mrs. William Larimer Mellon, Jr.

Linda Lynch

American, born 1958

Turmoil, 1999

Pastel pigment on paper

Each: 30 × 22 1/4 in. (76.2 × 56.5 cm)

Gift of the artist

James Mullen

American, born 1949

Untitled 1981/1994

Collage, ink, and paint on paper

8 3/8 × 9 in. (21.3 × 22.9 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Reuben Nakian

American, 1897–1986

Study for Rape of Lucrece, 1958

Ink on paper

11 3/4 × 14 1/2 in. (29.8 × 36.8 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Robyn O’Neil

American, born 1977

Maria Selma at Sunset, 2021

Gouache, colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor on mulberry paper

12 3/8 × 17 in. (31.5 × 43.2 cm)

Gift of Clare Casademont and Michael Metz

Betty Parsons

American, 1900–1982

Sputnik 1961

Oil on canvas

30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm)

Gift of Cecily Horton

Giuseppe Penone

Italian, born 1947

Leaves of Grass In The Hands–I wander all night, 2014

Graphite on tissue paper on Lyon silk veil

Sheet: 15 × 19 1/2 in. (38.1 × 49.5 cm)

Mount: 21 1/2 × 27 1/2 in. (54.6 × 69.9 cm)

Purchased with funds provided by the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation

Lew Thomas

American, 1932–2021

Bibliography 3 , 1977

From the series Reproductions of Reproductions

Screenprint

20/75

Image: 28 1/8 × 20 1/8 in. (71.4 × 51.1 cm)

Sheet: 30 1/4 × 22 1/8 in. (76.8 × 56.1 cm)

Gift of Caroline Huber and the estate of Walter Hopps

Jorinde Voigt

German, born 1977

Immersive Integral The Real Extent III, 2019

India ink, gold leaf, pastel, oil pastel, and graphite on paper in artist- designed frame

Sheet: 55 3/8 × 109 1/2 in. (140.7 × 278.1 cm)

Frame: 59 × 115 × 3 11/16 in. (149.9 × 292.1 ×

9.4 cm)

Purchased with funds provided by the William F. Stern Acquisitions Fund

Nari Ward

American, born in Jamaica, 1963

Say Can You See, 2021

Security tags on American flag 228 × 120 × 3 in. (579.1 × 304.8 × 7.6 cm)

Gift of Jeffrey Deitch and Michael Zilkha

Joseph E. Yoakum

American, 1886–1972

Chorro Valley Sanluis Obispo County Paso

Robles California, 20th century

Black ballpoint pen, black fountain pen, and watercolor on paper

9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in. (25.2 × 20.2 cm)

Anonymous gift

Ground Floor of Grand Canyon Colorado River near Arizona State Line stamped 1964 Black and blue fountain pen, colored pencil, and pastel on paper

12 × 17 15/16 in. (30.5 × 45.6 cm)

Anonymous gift

Mt Puyed Dome near Clermont France WE

(Some Where in France Theres a Lily?), stamped 1970 Black felt-tip pen, black ballpoint pen, blue fountain pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper

12 3/16 × 19 1/16 in. (31 × 48.4 cm)

Anonymous gift

Mt Sinaii at Sea Port on Gulf of Aquaba near Dhant al Haii of Saudi Arabia in Asia stamped 1968

Blue and black ballpoint pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper

11 7/8 × 19 1/16 in. (30.2 × 48.4 cm)

Anonymous gift

An Alaskan Passenger Sail Boat While in Vancouver British Columbia Canada, 1969 Blue fountain pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper

8 1/16 × 10 1/16 in. (20.5 × 25.6 cm)

Anonymous gift

Wilks Land in East Sector of Antartica

Continents on Rose Sea and Ice Shellf Cliffe of the Two Sectors Discovery Since Australia and New Zealand, stamped 1969 Black felt-tip pen, blue fountain pen, purple ballpoint pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper

12 × 18 7/8 in. (30.5 × 47.9 cm)

Anonymous gift

Jessie Willard 2nd Challenge to Champion Fight with Jack Johnson for Worlds Heavy Weight Prize Fighting Champion Ship in Year 1917 and in 1921, stamped 1969 Black felt-tip pen, blue fountain pen, black ballpoint pen, and pastel on paper

11 15/16 × 18 7/8 in. (30.3 × 47.9 cm)

Anonymous gift

Mt Makkah near Village Mecca of Sudi Arabia SE Asia, stamped 1968

Blue felt-tip pen, black fountain pen, colored pencil, and pastel on paperboard

14 1/16 × 21 15/16 in. (35.7 × 55.7 cm)

Anonymous gift

Mt Atzmon on Border of Lebanon and Palestine SE. A., stamped 1968

Purple and black ballpoint pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper

19 1/16 × 24 1/8 in. (48.4 × 61.3 cm)

Anonymous gift

Installation view of Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw. Photo: Paul Hester

Nari Ward, Say Can You See 2021. Security tags on American flag. 228 × 120 × 3 in. (579.1 × 304.8 × 7.6 cm). Gift of Jeffrey Deitch and Michael Zilkha. © Nari Ward. Photo: Joshua White

Joseph E. Yoakum, Mt Atzmon on Border of Lebanon and Palestine SE. A. stamped 1968. Purple and black ballpoint pen, pastel, and colored pencil on paper. 19 1/16 × 24 1/8 in. (48.4 × 61.3 cm).

Anonymous gift. © Joseph E. Yoakum

Publishing Archives

14 webpages, 113 images, 3 audio tracks, 1 video

English/Español

Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes

This online, bilingual publication focuses on the formation of the museum’s collection of Andean visual culture and related photography by Pierre Verger. Essays authored by leading scholars in Andean studies highlight several of the major examples in the Menil’s first exhibition of Andean archaeological material and other works in the collection. Important texts on macaw-feathered panels from the Wari civilization and the monumental Prisoner Textile from the Chimú civilization combine with artwork illustrations, music, video, and interactive features to animate the reader’s experience.

Authored by Paul R. Davis, Susan E. Bergh, Kari Dodson, Ana Girard, Amy B. Groleau, Heidi King, Zoila S. Mendoza

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s

This publication presents a focused look at two bodies of work in the experimental practice of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002): the Tirs, or “shooting paintings,” and the Nanas. Alongside a poetic response to the work, four essays investigate Saint Phalle’s performances and works of feminist art as a ground-breaking oeuvre. Together, they constitute a reevaluation of her transatlantic career, collaborations, and key contributions to artistic innovations in the 1960s. The book includes the first-ever comprehensive and heavily illustrated chronology of all of Saint Phalle’s known shooting sessions in Europe and the United States, drawn from research conducted at the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, with archival images of the artist’s participatory and performance-based practice.

Library

248 pages, 135 illustrations

Hardcover

Authored by Jill Dawsey, Michelle White, Amelia Jones, Ariana Reines, Alena J. Williams, Molly Everett, and Kyla McDonald. Published with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw

In this volume, invited specialists and the three cocurators of the exhibition Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw chronicle, assess, and reassess the work and career of an artist who spontaneously began to draw and paint landscapes at the age of seventy-one. The texts delve into the friendships Yoakum forged with the Chicago Imagists, who secured his place in art history, explore the religious outlook that may have helped him cope with a racially fractured city, and examine his complicated relationship to his African American and Native American identities. With hundreds of color reproductions of his beautiful, dreamlike drawings, it offers the most comprehensive study of the artist to date, illuminating his vivid imagination and creativity.

The Menil Archives preserves and provides access to administrative, business, and departmental records of the Menil Foundation and the Menil Collection, as well as exhibition history records, film and media materials, special collections, and the papers of John and Dominique de Menil. The Archives receives periodic transfers of institutional records that document the present and past activities of the museum.

In Fiscal Year 2022, Archives fielded 356 internal and external inquiries and hosted 118 onsite research visits. Extensive material from the Archives was featured in the exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s, including film, photography, and drawings.

The library of the Menil Collection supports the reference, research, and scholarly needs of the museum and outside scholars. The library added more than 1,500 new books, periodicals, and digital resources to its collection during Fiscal Year 2022. Materials from the Menil Library’s Special Collections were included in several of the Menil’s permanent collection galleries, and two books recounting the tales of Genevieve and Apollo and Daphne were displayed in Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition

Significant acquisitions include Dubose Heyword’s Porgy & Bess, printed in 2013 by Arion Press and purchased with funds provided by the William F. Stern Endowment for Special Collections.

The library is open by appointment to graduate students, university and college faculty, museum professionals, professional artists and designers, art historians, arts professionals, and arts writers.

252 pages, 200 color illustrations

Hardcover

Authored by Mark Pascale, Esther Adler, and Edouard Kopp.

Contributions by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Mary Broadway, Clara Granzotto, Whitney Halstead, Faheem Majeed, Laura K. Minton, Emily Olek, and Ken Sutherland. Published with the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Collection Management

The Menil’s Collection Management Department consists of Registration, Art Services, Collection Database Administration, and Imaging Services.

Registration oversees all documentation related to the acquisition, exhibition, and storage of more than 17,000 artworks in the permanent collection. The team coordinates all exhibitions and gallery rotations, as well as incoming and outgoing loans. Registrars manage contract negotiations, fine art insurance, packing and crating, shipping, couriers, and electronic and physical file management for all projects. In Fiscal Year 2022, Registration arranged 171 shipments containing 2,156 objects.

Art Services professionally installs and dismantles all Menil exhibitions and rotations. The team is responsible for packing and crating incoming and outgoing loans, monitoring storage areas, tracking location moves, and couriering outgoing loans with complex installation requirements. In Fiscal Year 2022, Art Services made 6,720 object moves.

The Collection Database team continually uploads data on artworks from the permanent collection to the Menil’s internal database and website, menil.org. More than a thousand entries are currently available to the public, 105 of which were added in Fiscal Year 2022.

Imaging Services supervises new photography of collection objects, archival materials, and rare books for the Menil. Imaging sta ff manage analog object photography and digital imaging collections, license images to outside scholars and publishers, and secure reproduction rights for publications. In Fiscal Year 2022, 229 objects from the permanent collection were photographed.

Fellowships

Each year, the Menil Collection offers paid fellowships to established scholars and university students of art history and conservation at various stages of their careers.

Anne Schmid, the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Paintings Conservation, participated in the Conserving Canvas Initiative with the removal of varnish from a Georges Braque painting and the preparation of a wax-resin extraction treatment for a Mark Rothko painting. She also treated two two Walter De Maria canvases in preparation for an upcoming exhibition.

Anna Smith, recipient of the University of Houston Fellowship at the Menil Collection, worked closely with the curatorial team to advance scholarship on Walter De Maria’s plywood sculptures.

Karine Raynor, recipient of the John and Dominique de Menil Fellowship at Rice University, helped develop future exhibitions at the Menil Drawing Institute and assisted with the installation of Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition.

Filippo Bosco, 2021–22 Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Menil Drawing Institute and PhD Candidate at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, studied the circulation of Minimalism and conceptual art projects in Europe between 1960 and 1970 and the legacy of Surrealist drawing practices in conceptualist work.

Anna Lovatt, 2021–22 Research Fellow at the Menil Drawing Institute, and Associate Professor of Art History at Southern Methodist University, worked on her research project titled Lines of Resolution: Drawings and the Small Screen that explores the relationship between drawing, television, and video art of the 1950s to the 1980s.

Outgoing Loans

During Fiscal Year 2022, the Menil Collection loaned seventy objects to twenty-three institutions in seven countries:

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

CaixaForum Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY

Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX

Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain

Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

The Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, TX

University of Houston-Clear Lake Art Gallery, Houston, TX

University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Allora & Calzadilla crates being staged for pick up in the main building foyer. Photo: Paul Hester

Progress image of Marcia Kure’s NETWORK

Photo: Sarah Hobson

Anne Schmid, Anna Smith, Karine Raynor and Filippo Bosco; Photo: Sara Beck

In Fiscal Year 2022, the Conservation department hosted two workshops to research the extraction of wax-resin lining adhesive in preparation for the future treatment of The Green Stripe, 1955, by Mark Rothko. This study is part of Conserving Canvas, the Getty Foundation’s international grant initiative focused on the conservation of paintings on canvas.

Conservation Artists Documentation Program

Conservation conducted several recorded interviews with artists Mel Chin and Kate Shepherd and with fabricators to better understand works in the permanent collection and their treatment. Conservators worked with visiting conservator Reinhard Bek to clean, treat, and restore movement to the kinetic sculpture M.O.N.S.T.R.E., 1964, by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. Papier-mâché elements were stabilized, and a rubber toy alligator, which had significantly deteriorated, was replaced in time for the Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s exhibition.

Eight members of the Conservation team presented their work at the American Institute for Conservation conference in Los Angeles in June 2022, lecturing on topics including the creation and preservation of Niki de Saint Phalle’s shooting paintings, artists’ intent and how it affects preservation of works whose inherent appearance mimics conditions of damage, novel treatments for wax-resin lined canvases, and research on the visual distinctions and identification of charcoal drawing materials in works on paper.

Conservation purchased a fiber optic reflectance spectrometer (FORS) in order to non-destructively characterize the colorants on a rare 13th–14th-century Chimú artwork known as the Prisoner Textile, which was on view in the Menil’s exhibition Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes. The team built a reference library using the Zumbühl and Antuñez de Mayolo Peruvian dyestuff collections and will compare FORS measurements taken on the Menil’s Prisoner Textile to those standards in search of the specific colorants used in its creation.

The Artists Documentation Program (ADP), founded in 1990, is a collaborative project between the Menil Collection and the Whitney Museum of American Art to record and make publicly available interviews between artists and conservators. In these filmed conversations together with their artwork, conservators speak with artists about the materials and techniques they use as well as their wishes for the preservation and presentation of their art. In Fiscal Year 2022, former chief conservator Brad Epley and paper conservator Jan Burandt interviewed artist William T. Williams. The discussion focused on the painting Mercer’s Stop, 1971; a series of works on paper; the artist’s perspective on the aging of his work; and long-term preservation of artworks included in the landmark exhibitions The De Luxe Show and Some American History.

Brad Epley, former Chief Conservator, the Menil Collection, taking part in the Conserving Canvas project.

Photo: Sarah Hobson

William T. Williams with Mercer’s Stop, 1971, Acrylic on canvas, 108 × 84 inches (274.3 × 213.4 cm). Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC. © William T. Williams. Photo: Caroline Philippone

Public Programs

The Menil Collection organizes a variety of public lectures, conversations, and performances to deepen visitors’ appreciation of the art on view. These programs are free and open to everyone.

During Fiscal Year 2022, the Menil organized forty-five public programs. Highlights included two community days; six Artist Talks, featuring Mel Chin, Marcia Kure, Rick Lowe, Lilliana Porter, Kate Shepherd, and William T. Williams, as well as seventeen lectures, panel discussions, and conversations with noted curators, writers, and scholars.

In November 2021, writer and critic Hilton Als presented the annual Marion Barthelme Lecture Series. In his two-part talk, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of Some American History and The De Luxe Show, Als explored Dominique and John de Menil’s curatorial practice in the late 1960s and early 1970s and how it led to their support for these two Houston-based exhibitions.

To celebrate the exhibition Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes, the museum hosted a Community Day, featuring an outdoor performance of Raíces del Perú by the Ballet Folklorico of Houston and a musical performance by Leyenda Andina, along with talks on the exhibition. Following the afternoon of programs, Axelrad Beer Garden hosted a special “Noche de Cumbia” event spotlighting the Menil’s exhibition.

The Menil inaugurated a new Neighborhood Community Day in April 2022, with an afternoon of art, music, poetry, and family activities in celebration of the museum’s vibrant neighborhood. Participating organizations included DACAMERA, Houston Center for Photography, Inprint, Pride Chorus Houston, Rothko Chapel, Watercolor Art Society, and Writers in the Schools (WITS).

In June 2022, the museum hosted a 35th Birthday Party, featuring short curator-led gallery tours, live music by Keyun and the Zydeco Masters, and refreshments and dessert on the Menil’s front lawn.

Ballet Folklorico Raíces de Perú performance. Photo: BEND Productions

Top to bottom: The Menil’s Neighborhood Community Day, 2021. Photo: Daniel Ortiz. DACAMERA Young Artists performance. Photo: Tony Martinez. Leslie Umberger lecture on self-taught artists. Photo: BEND Produtions

Community

Writers in the Schools

Writing at the Menil Collection is a nationally acclaimed program organized by Writers in the Schools (WITS) that brings Gulf Coast-area school groups to the museum. Educators and professional writers discuss art on view and prompt their students to create stories, poems, and prose. In addition to financially supporting the program, the Menil opens its art buildings early so that the students and teachers may visit the galleries outside of regular museum hours.

During Fiscal Year 2022, approximately 1,302 students from eight different schools made twenty-one in-person field trips to the museum. There were forty-six additional classes taught virtually using the Menil’s collection.

Music Performances and Film Screenings

During Fiscal Year 2022, the Menil Collection partnered with DACAMERA to host five concerts outdoors on the lawn and in the galleries. As part of their Stop, Look, and Listen! series, three of the performances by DACAMERA Young Artists responded to the exhibitions Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes; Draw Like a Machine: Pop Art, 1952–1975; and Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs.

Additionally, the Menil collaborated with Aurora Picture Show on three film presentations in Fiscal Year 2022: Land Mark Land Scape, a program of short films on Land Art that complemented Dream Monuments: Drawings in the 1960s and 1970s; Fool in the Fairytale, an online screening of Niki de Saint Phalle films; and Seeking a Shared Humanity, a program of short experimental films about political and social activism in connection with the Menil exhibition Collection

Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs

Member Noontime Talks

Held on two Fridays each month, Noontime Talks are a popular way for Menil members to learn about the artwork on view and the projects in progress across our 30-acre neighborhood of art. Each tour is led by a member of the Menil sta ff from a variety of departments, including Archives, Conservation, Curatorial, Facilities, and Publishing. The Menil presented twenty-one Noontime Talks in Fiscal Year 2022.

Bookstore

Housed in a gray bungalow that faces the entrance to the main museum building, the Menil Collection Bookstore offers an assortment of rare art books, vintage posters, gift items, and Menil merchandise. The children’s section stocks French, Italian, and Spanish titles, along with a thoughtfully selected assortment of toys and games that appeal to the museum’s youngest visitors. The bookstore also sells a selection of artwork and jewelry by Texas-based artists.

Menil Bookstore

1520 Sul Ross Street

Wednesday–Sunday

11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Internships

The Menil Collection offers two curatorial internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the art history departments at Rice University and the University of Houston. Students support research and exhibition planning under the guidance of Menil sta ff and participate in a museum-wide cohort of emerging scholars to grow their development and network. For those interested in museum careers, these internships offer valuable curatorial experience.

Attendance

In Fiscal Year 2022, the Menil Collection welcomed approximately 210,000 guests to museum buildings. This number represents shoppers at the bookstore and visitors to all exhibition spaces, including the main museum building, Cy Twombly Gallery, the Menil Drawing Institute, and the Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) at the Menil Collection, Houston. Courtesy: Aurora Picture Show

Curator talk with Danielle Bennett. Photo: Daniel Ortiz

The Menil Collection gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their cumulative gifts of $500 and above between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

$500,000–$999,999

The Brown Foundation, Inc.

$200,000–$499,999

City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

$100,000–$199,999

The Cullen Foundation

John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation

The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation

Susan and Francois de Menil

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

$50,000–$99,999

The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Nancy and Mark Abendshein

The J.W. Couch Foundation

Agnes Gund

Cecily E. Horton

Caroline Huber

The Brown Foundation, Inc. / Isabel and Ransom Lummis

Franci Neely

The Powell Foundation

Bill Stewart and Johanna Brassert

Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray

$25,000–$49,999

Eddie and Chinhui Allen

Art Blocks Inc. / Calderon Family Fund

Suzanne Deal Booth

Bettie Cartwright

Clare Casademont and Michael Metz

Cockrell Family Fund

Stacey and Casey Crenshaw

Hilda and Greg Curran

Cindy and David Fitch

Barbara and Michael Gamson

Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin

Janet and Paul Hobby

Cecily E. Horton

Linda and George Kelly

Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter

Janie C. Lee and David B. Warren

National Endowment for the Arts

Marilyn Oshman

Susanne and William E. Pritchard III

Leslie and Shannon Sasser

Anne Schlumberger

The Susan Vaughan Foundation

The Vaughn Foundation

Lea Weingarten

Elizabeth and Barry Young

Nina and Michael Zilkha

$10,000–$24,999

Anonymous

Henrietta K. Alexander

Katie and Paul Barnhart

Leah Bennett

Leslie and Brad Bucher

Angela and William Cannady

Diane and Michael Cannon

Julie and John Cogan, Jr.

Marion and Jonathan Fairbanks

The George and Mary Josephine

Hamman Foundation

Willard and Ruth Johnson

Charitable Foundation

Doug Lawing and Guy Hagstette

Anne Levy Charitable Trust

Cornelia Long

Penelope and Lester Marks

Mary Hale Lovette McLean

Lois and George de Menil

Cullen and Robert Muse

Carol and David Neuberger

Scott and Judy Nyquist

The Brown Foundation, Inc. /

Nancy Pittman

The Brown Foundation, Inc. /

Elisa and Cris Pye

Cabrina and Steven Owsley

The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation

Wilhelmina E. Robertson

Kelly Rorschach

Kimerly Rorschach and John Hart

Nancy and Clive Runnells Foundation

The Pierce Runnells Foundation

Robin and Andrew Schirrmeister

Vivian L. Smith Foundation

John and Stephanie Smither

Visionary Art Fund

Eliza and Stuart Stedman

MaryRoss Taylor

Texas Commission on the Arts

Morris A. Weiner

The Clarence Westbury Foundation

Whalley Foundation

$5,000–$9,999

Anonymous

Nancy and Mark Abendshein

Susan and Richard Anderson

Francine and Westy Ballard

Kristen and John Berger

Libba and Geer Blalock

Rosanna and Myron Blalock III

Lesley and Gerald Bodzy

Cecilia and Luis Campos

Jenny Elkins

Sam Field Foundation

Dorene and Frank Herzog

Mindy and Jeffery Hildebrand

Stephanie Larsen

Alison Leland

The Lindley Family Foundation

Shelli and Steven Lindley

Emily and Jordan Marye

Alison and Charlie Meyer, Jr.

Catherine and Bill Miller

Jennifer and William Monteleone III

Mary Hammon and Jacob Quinn

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

John Sapp

Melissa and Doug Schnitzer

Kelley and Jeffrey Scofield

Raquel and Andrew Segal

Mary and John Steen III

Jennifer and David Strauss

Jane and Daniel Zilkha

Erla and Harry Zuber

$1,000–$4,999

Anonymous

AHB Foundation

Olof Arnman

James and Kimberly Bell

Liz and Steven Bender

Helyna and John Bledsoe

The Karen and Todd Blue

Family Foundation

Jill and Stirling Bomar

Fredricka Brecht

Greggory Burk

Cynthia and Laurence Burns

Sara Cain

Chris and William Caudill

Jereann Chaney

Christian Clark

Jerry Ann Woodfin Costa and Victor Costa

Han Cun

Lama and Samer Danial

Margot and Zach Davis

Megan Davis

Haydeh and Ali Davoudi

Jennifer and David Ducote

Lisa and Ralph Eads

Chandos and Ike Epley

Olivia Farrell

Jerry and Nanette Finger Foundation

Caroline and Jeremy Finkelstein

Cece and Michael Fowler

Rodi and Robert Franco

Monica and William Fulton

Illa and William Gaunt

Heidi and David Gerger

Steve Summers and Glen Gonzalez

Alessandra Grace and Sam Gorgen

Elizabeth S. Gregory

Claudio Gutierrez

Kristy Hamilton

Kelly and Russell Hamman

Lauren Walstad Hardy

Margaret Hawk

Clifford Helmcamp and Jerry Jeanmard

Laura and Galen Hines-Pierce

Catherine Holste

Holthouse Foundation for Kids

Laurel and Arthur Huffman

Deborah Hurwitz and Bruce Herzog

George Joseph

The Joan and Marvin Kaplan Foundation

Emily Keeton

Molly Kemp and Vance Knowles

Kirkpatrick Family Fund

Katie Kitchen and Paul Kovach Fund

Nikola and Jason Kivett

Karol Kreymer and Robert Card

Emma Kronman

Kiki and Taylor E. Landry

Renee Lewis and John Cary

Robert Lorio

Nancy McGregor Manne and Neal Manne

Catherine and George Masterson

Gretchen and Andrew McFarland

April and William McGee

Jennifer Nelsen and Vinod Pathrose

Capera and Igor Norinsky

Anaeze C. Offodile II

Josh and Lisa Oren

Veronica and Douglas Overman

Elizabeth and George Passela

Sue Payne

Olivia and Edward Persia

Calia and Peter Pettigrew

Katherine and Bill Phelps

Alison and Cullen Powell

The RR Family Foundation

Victoria Salem

Winifred Scheuer and Kevin Bonebrake

Samantha Schnee and Michael Hafner

Randy Schweickart

Sarah Beth and Paul Seifert

Kelly and Nick Silvers

Diana Skerl

Ann and John Kerr Smither

Tatiana Sorkin

Julia and John Stallcup

Natalie and Jamey Steen

Peggy and Mike Strode

Katherine Warren

Kelli and John Weinzierl

Thomas F. Wessel

John F. Wieland, Jr.

JoAnn Williams

Skyler Wyatt

Lyndsey and Bret Zorich

$500–$999

Benjamin Ackerley

Erik Allahverdian

Allison Armstrong Ayers and David Ayers

Carlos Bacino

Kelly Barnhart

Cathryn Chapman

Abigail Roberts Chung

C.C. Conner and David Groover

The Cragg Family Foundation

Paula Daly

Sarah Foltz

Maurine Ford

Peter and Diana Garza

Irma and Kirk Girouard

Ben Kitchen Fund

Jennifer Hau

Sara Kelly

Allison and Randy King

Kathryn Lumpkins

Tara Martin

Annie and Taylor Mason

Robert Maurice

Michelle McGrath

Katie F. McNearney

Patricia Medors

Sarah Mischer

Caroline C. Negley

Brynne and Brad Olsen

Jessica Phifer

Lillie Robertson

David Ruiz

Jennifer Segal

Howard Sherman

Jenna Skulstad

Leigh and Reggie Smith

Linley Stroud

Emily Todd

Tuckerman Foundation

Kris and Michael Weller

Laura and William Wheless IV

Lynn and Oscar Wyatt

Paul and Mary Nugent, and Peter and Fan Morris. Photo: Daniel Ortiz Brandon and Denerica Cofield, and Jennifer and Rhett Carter. Photo: Daniel Ortiz

* Deceased

Menil Society

The Menil Society is composed of philanthropic members who enjoy a special relationship with the Menil Collection. Members are dedicated to fostering deeper engagement with the museum, its mission, and its world-renowned collection by generously supporting exhibitions, programming, and the museum’s annual fund.

Benefactor

Anonymous

Henrietta K. Alexander

Eddie and Chinhui Allen

Leslie and Brad Bucher

Charles Butt

Angela and William Cannady

Diane and Michael Cannon

Clare Casademont and Michael Metz

Marsha and Samuel Dodson

Laura and Walter Elcock

Olivia Farrell

Caroline and Jeremy Finkelstein

Cindy and David Fitch

Barbara and Michael Gamson

Agnes Gund

Diana and Russell Hawkins

Judith and Marc Herzstein

Janet and Paul Hobby

Ann and John Johnson

Linda and George Kelly

Sissy and Denny Kempner

Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter

Doug Lawing and Guy Hagstette

Rochelle* and Max Levit

Nancy McGregor Manne and Neal Manne

Cynthia and Robert McClain

Mary Hale Lovett McLean

Susan and Francois de Menil

Sara and Bill Morgan

Franci Neely

Carol and David Neuberger

Scott and Judy Nyquist

Susanne and William E. Pritchard III

Leslie and Shannon Sasser

Robin and Andrew* Schirrmeister

Scott Sparvero

Lois and George Stark

Bill Stewart

Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray

Morris A. Weiner

Nina and Michael Zilkha

Friend Anonymous

Melza and Ted Barr

Jane and William Curtis

Cece and Michael Fowler

Morris and Amanda Gelb

Heidi and David Gerger

Claudia and Karsten Greve

Melissa and Albert Grobmyer

Kathryn Hale

Elise and Russell Joseph

Page Kempner

Jeanne and Michael Klein

Karol Kreymer and Robert Card

Cornelia Long

Poppi Massey

Yuliya Veretennikova-Penny and Daniel Penny

Isla and Thomas Reckling

Lillie Robertson

Jacqueline and Dick Schmeal

Adrienne and Timothy Unger

Pavlina Vagioni and Matthew Hughes

Ann Wales

Marion and Benjamin Wilcox

Cyvia Wolff

John Zipprich

Fellow

Jacquelyn Barish

Kelly Barnhart

Katharine Barthelme and Shane Frank

Jeff Beauchamp

Lesley and Gerald Bodzy

Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl

Cynthia and Laurence Burns

Heather Carr and Aaron Sanders

C.C. Conner and David Groover

Jerry Ann Woodfin Costa and Victor Costa

Megan Davis

Brenda and Kenneth Dillon

Bevin and Daniel Dubrowski

Krista and Michael Dumas

Nancy Dunlap

Linda and Simon Eyles

Sarah and Kenneth Fisher

Margaret Hawk

Catherine Holste

Clifford Helmcamp and Jerry Jeanmard

Deborah Hurwitz and Bruce Herzog

Jill and Dunham Jewett

Judy and Rodney Margolis

April and William McGee

Mary Ann and Alexander McLanahan

Will McLendon

Cristina and William Moore

Anne and John Moriniere

Fan and Peter Morris

Cullen and Robert Muse

Duyen and Marc Nguyen

Maureen O’Driscoll-Levy

Patricia and Robert Pando

Olivia and Edward Persia

Jessica Phifer

Bernadette Prakash

Mary Hammon and Jacob Quinn

Kathryn and Richard Rabinow

Beverly and Howard Robinson

Victoria Salem

Winifred Scheuer and Kevin Bonebrake

Liana and Andrew Schwaitzberg

Kelley and Jeffrey Scofield

Raquel and Andrew Segal

Sarah Beth and Paul Seifert

Tejal Shah and Joshua Newcomer

María Inés Sicardi

Angela and Mark Smith

Michael Stoeger

Ellen D. Susman

Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles

Stephen Schwarz and Michael Naul

Mark Taylor and Jon Mercado

Elizabeth and Jack Weingarten

Andrea and Bill White

Elizabeth and Barry Young

Erla and Harry Zuber

Associate

Gail and Louis Adler

Hamad Al Abdulla

Joan and Stanford* Alexander

Judy Ley Allen

Maida and Paul Asofsky

Carlos Bacino

Ilene and Paul Barr

Patricia Beaver-Skakun and Gary Skakun

Alkesta and Curtis Belknap

Paul L. Bowman

Anna Brewster

Marianna and Chris Brewster

Susan and Raymond* Brochstein

Virginia and William Camfield

Tripp Carter

Helen and Benjamin Cohen

Patricia H. Colville

George Connelly

Nancy and Taylor Cooksey

Elizabeth and Steven Crowell

Paula Daly

Helen Davis

Margaret and William Davis

Joell and Thomas Doneker

Stephanie and Gregory Evans

Rachel and Edward Folse

Kristina Van Dyke Fort and John Fort

William Gage

Pablo Garcia and Greg Martin

Elizabeth and Wayne Gibbens

Kathy and Martyn Goossen

Joy and Don Haley

Kelly and Russell Hamman

Sarah and John Hastings

Kellie and Jeff Hepper

Dorene and Frank Herzog

G.G. Hsieh

Lee Huber

Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie

Kerry Inman and Denby Auble

Franny and John Jeffries

Cynthia Kagay and David Hayes

Wendy and Mavis Kelsey

Carla Knobloch

Katherine Kohlmeyer

Christa and Aivars Krumins

Ashley and Curt Langley

Elizabeth Lawnin

Victoria Lightman

Aaron Loeb and James Flowers

Terry Mahaffey

Christine and Graham Makin

Mari and Greg Marchbanks

Penelope and Lester Marks

Rebecca Marvil and Brian Smyth

Surena and Misty Matin

Gaye and Edward McCullough

Amy and John Miller

Elise Arnoult Miller and Scott Miller

David Montague

Gabriela Monterroso

Betty Moody

Amanda and Ren Nebel

Jennifer Nelsen and Vinod Pathrose

Sheila Noeth and Ted Dohmen

Evelyn and Roy* Nolen

Katy Pando

Elizabeth and George Passela

Maureen and Paul Perea

Andrea and Carl Peterson

Jason A. Presley

Nicholas Proietti and Richard Beard

Fairfax and Risher Randall

Leonor and Eric Ratliff

Kristen Castellanos Ridgway and David Ridgway

Gloria and Nick Ryan

Frank Rynd

Karlsson and Brian Salek

Neda Scanlan

Mariana Servitje

Ellen Simmons

Hinda Simon

Michelle Slater

Douglas Smith

Josephine and Richard Smith

Janet and John Springer

Eliza and Stuart Stedman

Shawn Stephens and James Jordan

Jennifer and David Strauss

Jane and Gary Swanson

Sandra Tirey and Jan van Lohuizen

Bridget and Patrick Wade

Lauren Walstad Hardy

Katherine Warren

Margaret and Kenneth Williams

Skyler Wyatt

Anna Brewster and Michelle Slater. Photo: Daniel Ortiz

Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition opening.

Photo: Melissa Taylor

Clare Casademont, Kathryn McNiel, Doug Lawing, Rick Lowe, India Lovejoy.

Photo: Jenny Antill

Charmstone Circle Corporate Support

The Menil Collection’s Charmstone Circle recognizes individuals who make annual financial gifts of $25,000 or more to the museum. Menil Society memberships, exhibition support, and unrestricted giving all count toward Charmstone Circle recognition. Charmstone Circle donors enjoy unparalleled access to the museum and the collection and are celebrated at an unforgettable annual dining and art event with Rebecca Rabinow, Director.

Nancy and Mark Abendshein

Henrietta K. Alexander

Eddie and Chinhui Allen

Melza and Ted Barr

Suzanne Deal Booth

Leslie and Brad Bucher

Angela and William Cannady

Diane and Michael Cannon

Bettie Cartwright

Clare Casademont and Michael Metz

Stephanie and Ernest Cockrell

Hilda and Greg Curran

Cindy and David Fitch

Barbara and Michael Gamson

Agnes Gund

Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin

Janet and Paul Hobby

Cecily E. Horton

Caroline Huber

Linda and George Kelly

Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter

Stephanie Larsen

Doug Lawing and Guy Hagstette

Janie C. Lee and David B. Warren

Isabel and Ransom Lummis

Nancy McGregor Manne and Neal Manne

Kathrine G. McGovern

Mary Hale Lovett McLean

Kimball and David Moriniere

Susan and Francois de Menil

Franci Neely

David and Carol Neuberger

Scott and Judy Nyquist

Marilyn Oshman

Susanne and William E. Pritchard III

Kelly Rorschach

Kimerly Rorschach and John Hart

Louisa Stude Sarofim

Leslie and Shannon Sasser

Robin and Andrew* Schirrmeister

Anne Schlumberger

Bill Stewart and Johanna Brassert

Salle and James* Vaughn

Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro

Morris A. Weiner and Leslie Field

Lea Weingarten

Nina and Michael Zilkha

The Menil Collection is pleased to recognize gifts from corporations in Fiscal Year 2022.

$25,000+

Art Blocks Inc.

Frost Bank

$10,000–$24,999

Bloomberg Philanthropies

DeMontrond Automotive Group, Inc.

H-E-B

Houston Trust Co.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Latham & Watkins LLP

UBS Financial Services Inc.

$5,000–$9,999

BrightView

Marek Brothers Systems, Inc.

Pluspetrol International

$1,000–$4,999

Common Bond

Shell Oil Company Foundation

In-Kind Support

Alice Blue

Baker Botts

Bergner & Johnson

Christie’s

Eureka Heights Brew Co.

Jackson & Company

* Deceased

Glass Key Society

Named after a beloved painting by René Magritte, 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. For information about making a legacy gift, please contact Judy Waters, Director of Advancement, at 713–525–9425 or jwaters@menil.org.

Anonymous (4)

Jeff Beauchamp

Collection of Mollie R. and William T. Cannady

Tripp Carter

Julie and John Cogan, Jr.

Helen and Benjamin Cohen

Christy and Louis Cushman

Diane Arnold and Bill Frazier

Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl

Alex Heylen and Monika Lybeer

Greg Ingram

Paige and Todd Johnson

Douglas L. Lawing

Terry Mahaffey

Mary Hale Lovett McLean

Marc Melcher

Franci Neely

Laurie Newendorp

Francesco Pellizzi

Susanne and William E. Pritchard III

Marietta Voglis

Morris Weiner

John L. Zipprich II

Installation view of René Magritte, The Glass Key, 1959. The Menil Collection, Houston. © 2021 C. Herscovici/Artists Right Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Sara Beck

Salle Vaughn, Carol Neuberger, Paula Daly, Stephanie Larsen, and Linda Kelly. Photo: Daniel Ortiz

Patron

Betty* and W. K. Adam

Paolo and Surpik Angelini

Bill Arning and Mark McCray

David Aylsworth and Paul Forsythe

Sarah Balinskas

Louise and Henry Bethea

Katherine Birchard and Richard Semelka

Jody Blazek and David Crossley

Nancy and Scott Bolduc

Pauline Bolton

Nana Booker and David Lowe

Margaret Boulware and Hartley Hampton

Kathleen A. Boyd

James Browne

Lori Choi

Kathleen and Robert Clarke

Steven L. Cowart

Carol Currie

Kimberly and Bradley Dennison

Virginia Dwan*

Thomas M. Edens

Carolyn Egbert

John Eymann

Katherine Rhodes Fields

Joseph A. Fischer III

Kathleen and John Fitsgerald

Helen Fosdick

Mary Foster

Donna and Gary Freedman

Kerry A. Galvin

Christopher Gardner and Gary Tinterow

Peter and Diana Garza

Leslie Gassner

Mary L. Gibbs

Irma and Kirk Girouard

Marc E. Grossberg

Richard Gruen

David and Nanette Hartdegen

Carola Herrin

Marcia Hershey and Robert Roach

Anna and Harold Holliday

Steven Hooker and Rick Ankrom

Carrie Horne

Patricia Hunt and Joseph Milton

Barbara and Charles Hurwitz

Greg Ingram

James Kelly

Peaches and Harris Kempner

Deborah Keyser and James Stafford

Elizabeth and Albert Kidd

Anne L. Kinder

Malcolm F. King, Jr.

Ann and Timothy Koerner

Rajiv Kohli

Laurence Land

Lara Landmesser and Frederic Warner

Susan Lapin

Benigna and Ernst Leiss

Dinah Chetrit and Rich Levy

Shelli and Steven Lindley

Carl Masterson

Michelle and Bill Matthews

Beth McCracken

Patricia Medors

Margaret and Duane Montana

Denise Monteleone

Janet Moore

Matthew A. Morgan

Brian and Jennifer Moss

Douglas A. Murphy

Djenane Nakhle

Phil Nevlud

Mark H. Onak

Phyllis Panenka and David Archer

Michael R. Piana

Carol and Daniel Price

Mike and Sarah Ragsdale

Macey and Harry Reasoner

Vanessa Reniers

Leslie and Russ Robinson

Minnette Robinson*

Melanie L. Rogers

Susan and Mike Salinas

John Sapp

Jane and Richard Schmitt

Sara and Michael Shackleton

Karen Shouse

Renie and Louis Silver

Alana Spiwak and Sam Stolbun

Raymond Stainback

Carol T. Stamatedes

Brian Stephens

Harold Taylor

Emily Todd

Patricia Troncoso and William Pugh

Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin*

Jasper and Jane Ann Welch

Kris and Michael Weller

Heather and Robert Westendarp

Charlotte and Larry Whaley

Jill Whitten and Robert Proctor

James Calvin Williams

Gunilla and Jorge Zeballos

Sponsor Charles and Conway Adams

Ernesto Alfaro

Nicholas Alfaro

Joel Ang

Claire and Wayne Douglas Ankenman

Elizabeth and Bob Ardell

Mary and Marcel Barone

William A. Bartlett

Jan and David Bean

Nancy and John Belmont

Rita and Joel Bergers

Kathy and Andrew Berkman

Shirley and Stanley Beyer

Cynthia Birdwell

Robert Blocker

Carolyn Bloomer

Jane and Roger Boak

Minnette and Peter Boesel

Linda and Philip Boyko

Heather L. Brown

Robin and Michael Bullington

Katherine L. Butler

Kathleen and Robert Butts

Teresa Byrne-Dodge and Cameron Ansari

Janet Caldwell

Lora and Peter Caldwell

Nancy S. Caminiti

Cynthia and Robert Card

Adel Chaouch

Andrea Chiappe

Charlott and Robert Childers

Rhoda and Allen Clamen

Nancy S. Crowther

N. and Thomas Daly

Diana Davis and Andrew Blocha

Lynn Detrick and Harvey Marks

Jimmy Dunne

Martha and Daniel Dupêcher

Inell Dyer-Klein

Thomas Earthman

Jane L. Eifler

Kathleen and Keith Ellison

Milton Erickson

Patricia and Richard Ermler

Milton J. Finegold

Ann N. Finkelstein

Bernice A. Fisher

Caroline and Marion Freeman

Edward J. Gibbon, Jr.

Beverley and Wayne Gilbert

Gretchen Gillis and David Cook

Christina Girard

Penny and Shep Glass

Rachel Glikin

Gayle Goodman and Kenneth Adam

Gwynn Gorsuch

Helene and K. Lance Gould

Caroline and M. P. Graham

Rebecca R. Grant

Mary and Charles Gregory

Nonya and Jonathan Grenader

Jacqueline and Brent Grundberg

Robert W. Guynn

Maureen and Gary Hall

Babette and Tod Harding

Michele Heater

Carol H. Hebert

Ann and Paul Herrera

Amanda and Benjamin Holloway

Laurel and Arthur Huffman

Alan J. Hurwitz

Raymond Hylenski

George H. Johnson, Jr.

Chandra Katragadda

Ann and Stephen Kaufman

Kim and David Kelly

Jean King

Sheryl Kolasinski

Dohn Larson

Alexander and Victoria Lazar

Laura and Barry Leavitt

Barbara and Larry Lipshultz

Zena and Nouhad Majdalani

Katerina and Juan Mangini

Nitza and Moshe Maor

Mary Lynn and J. Steve Marks

Charles Martens

Lori and Marcel Mason

Patricia McEnery and Jack Fletcher

Elizabeth McClintock and Rick Adams

Mary McIntire and James Pomerantz

Sonja and Steve McKinnon

Janice McNair

Maria Merrill

Jenny Meyer

Tracey Meyer

Jean S. Mintz

Nancy and Robert Mollers

Anne E. Murphy

Liliane and Cesar Nahas

Steve Nall and Tom Young

Mary and Fred Nevill

Carolyn and Michael Newmark

Americo Nonini

Sandra Nugent

Carla O’Dell

Betty and Duncan Osborne

Rochelle and Sheldon Oster

Bette and Richard Pesikoff

Michael Phillips

Lynn and Mark Pickett

H. Russell Pitman

Esther and Gary Polland

Kathrin and Albert Pope

Stephen and Janis Porter

Lara and James Powers

Paula and Irving Pozmantier

Eamonn M. Quigley

Jennifer and Peter Ragauss

Maura and Walter Ritchie

Elaine and Steven Roach

Margot and Richard Rodriguez

Daisy Lee and Bradley Roe

Nathalie and Charles Roff

Lynn and Alex Rosas

Casey and Kevin Rowe

Linda and Jerry Rubenstein

Ellen Safier

Franca B. Sant’Ambrogio

Gemma and Luis Santos

Patricia Schillaci

Veronique and Luc Schlumberger

Genie and Jimmy Schmidt

Michelle and Clifford Shedd

Christine and Michael Sigman

Patricia and Fielding Smith

Kathryn and Craig Smyser

Linda B. Spain

David Stevenson

Michael G. Stewart

Doreen and Dan Stoller

Mary Lou Swift

Susan and Bascom Talley

Gregor and Christina Thaller

Eleanor and Jon Totz

Robert and Anne Tucker

Patricia and Steven Uchytil

Kathy and John Unger

Barbara Volkmer and Pablo Ruiz-Berlanga

Tanya and David Wells

Monica S. White

Janne Williams

Nancy and N. L. Williams

Clint Wilson

Kay and Carl Wilson

Daniel Zimmerman

* Deceased

Mitchell and Melanie Baldridge, Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles. Photo: Daniel Ortiz Peggy and Michael Strode, Margaret Strode.

Photo: Jenny Antill

Partner

Tim Barkley

Cristina and Joshua Bedwell

Kayla and Sean Berwald

Chase Bice

Libba and Geer Blalock

Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl

Anna Brewster

Elizabeth and C. Walker Brierre

Matthew Brollier

Lindsey Brown and Chris Shepherd

Ashlyn Davis Burns

Eva Kristina Bush and Todd Bush

Sara Cain

Jennifer and Rhett Carter

Laura and John Chapman

Ben Clemenceau

Megan Davis

Jessica and Brian Dear

Julia Doran and Adam Carlis

Bevin and Daniel Dubrowski

John D. Edwards

Margo Fendrich and Tommy Nguyen

Dan Fergus

Sarah Foltz

Menil Contemporaries

Laura Garrison and Anthony Ableman

Clarissa and Jesse Gonzalez

Lauren Walstad Hardy

Abigail Harris and Edward F. Davis

Jennifer Hau

Robert Hereford

Bradley Houston

Mariya Idenova

Claire Johnson

Cynthia Kagay and David Hayes

Madeline Kelly

Sara Kelly

Allison and Randy King

Kirsten and Taylor Landry

Laura and Keefer Lehner

Megan E. Light

Penelope and Lester Marks

Kahler Biedenharn Marlow and Kristian Marlow

Annie and Taylor Mason

Jack McBride and Thain Allen

Jay and Clay McKenna

John McLaughlin

Ashley McPhail

Ognjen Miljanic

Peter Molick

Jennifer and William Monteleone III

Reyad Nasser

Duyen and Marc Nguyen

Anaeze C. Offodile II

Nancy Parsley and Zakary Banks

Olivia and Edward Persia

Fernando Miguel Ramos III

Victoria Ridgway

Brittany Sager

Lea Salamoun

Karlsson and Brian Salek

Randi and Pablo Schmidt-Tophoff

Kelley and Jeffrey Scofield

Sarah Beth and Paul Seifert

Orel Shoham

Derrick Shore and Brandon Bourque

Hannah Swiggard

Susie and Payson Tucker

Melissa and Oliver Tuckerman

Lara Turan

Robert W. Turnage

Lynden Unger

Jane and Daniel Zilkha

The Menil Contemporaries is a membership group for emerging patrons, collectors, and art enthusiasts who share a common passion for the Menil Collection. Menil Contemporaries are the next generation of leaders and advocates of the Menil.

Cocktails with a Curator with Clare Elliott. Photo: Sarah Hobson

Menil Contemporaries Spring Mixer. Photo: Daniel Ortiz

Jay Shinn, Megan Davis, and Paul Seifert. Photo: Dave Rossman

Financials

Data is derived from the financial statements of the Menil Foundation, Inc., as of June 30, 2021. A complete set of the Menil Foundation, Inc., audited financial statements for 2020–2021 is available on request.

Operating

Director’s Office

Rebecca Rabinow, Director

Elsian Cozens, Director’s Office Liaison

Mariana Kessler, Assistant to the Director, Internal Affairs

Maryhelen Murray, Assistant to the Director, External Affairs

Administration

Ileana Del Toro, Chief Financial Officer

Xuguang (Toby) Zhao, Controller

Brandon Conner, Financial and Budget Manager

Emilee Hunter, Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer

Shiow-Chyn (Susie) Liao, Assistant Controller

Suzanne Ralls, Accounts Payable Specialist

Xinyi (Olivia) Zhang, General Ledger Accountant

Melissa McDonnell Luján, Director of Project Development

Advancement

Judy V. Waters, Director of Advancement

Katy Barber, Manager of Development Services

Samuel Ferrigno, Manager of Individual Giving

Madeline Kelly, Associate Director of Individual Giving

Patrice McCracken, Prospect Researcher

Daisy Perez, Director of Special Events

Alyssa Reese, Assistant to the Director of Advancement

Jasmine Saing, Development Services Associate

Martin Schleuse, Manager of Foundation Relations

Breanna Word, Special Events Assistant

Archives

Lisa Barkley, Archival Associate

Bookstore

Paul Forsythe, Manager

Bozena (Bozi) Dobrijevic, Bookstore Associate

Collection Management

Susan Slepka Anderson, Director of Collection Management

Stephanie Harris Akin, Senior Associate Registrar, Loans and Exhibitions

Nadia Al-Khalifah, Assistant Registrar, Collections and Exhibitions

David Aylsworth, Collections Registrar

Catherine Fitzgerald Eckels, Registrar, Menil Drawing Institute

Anna Foret, Senior Assistant Registrar, Loans and Exhibitions

Jonathan Groom, Art Preparator

Chris Henry, Art Preparator

John (Russ) Lane, Art Preparator

Margaret McKee, Digital Asset Manager

Donna McClendon, Imaging Services Specialist

Robert (Ole) Petersen, Art Preparator

Caroline Philippone, Photographer

Tony Rubio, Chief Preparator

Julie Thies, Head of TMS Administration

Patrick Yarrington, Art Preparator, Menil Drawing Institute

Communications

Sarah Hobson, Assistant Director of Communications

Cathy Baumanis, Marketing Manager

Amanda Thomas, Graphic Designer

Conservation

Bradford Epley, Chief Conservator

Joy Bloser, Assistant Objects Conservator

Jan Burandt, Conservator of Works of Art on Paper

Dominic Clay, Conservation Technician, Menil Drawing Institute

Chloe Cook, Conservation Coordinator

James Craven, Conservation Imaging Specialist

Annie Daubert, Conservation Records Administrator

Desirae (Desi) Dijkema, Assistant Paintings Conservator

Kari Dodson, Objects Conservator

Mina Gaber, Matter/Framer

Curatorial

Edouard Kopp, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator, Menil Drawing Institute

Michelle White, Senior Curator

Danielle Bennett, Curatorial Associate

Megan Cekander, Administrative Assistant, Curatorial Department

Paul R. Davis, Curator of Collections

Natalie Dupêcher, Associate Curator of Modern Art

Clare Elliott, Associate Research Curator

Julia Fisher, Administrative Assistant, Menil Drawing Institute

Kirsten Marples, Curatorial Associate, Menil Drawing Institute

Kelly Montana, Assistant Curator, Menil Drawing Institute

Sarah Beth Wilson, Exhibitions Manager

Exhibition Design

Brooke Stroud, Exhibitions Designer

Kent Dorn, Assistant Exhibitions Designer

Alex Rosas, Exhibitions Design Assistant

Human Resources

Suzanne Maloch, Director of Human Resources

Patrice Ashley, Benefits Coordinator

Perla Mancillas, Sr. Human Resources Generalist

Information Technology

Oliver (Buck) Bakke, Manager of Information Technology

Albert Diaz III, Assistant Network Support Technician

Library

Lauren Gottlieb-Miller, Librarian

Robin Key, Assistant Librarian

Membership

Carrie Ermler, Manager of Membership and Visitor Services

Qasim Ali, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Seneca Garcia, Visitor/Membership Assistant, Menil Drawing Institute

Joshua Gottlieb-Miller, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Monique Harris, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Lena Khattab, Manager of Patron Programs

Andrew Kozma, Branard Street Receptionist

Anna Loft, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Anna Nugent, Membership Associate

Kaneem Smith, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Philip Karjecker, Visitor/Membership Assistant

Museum Facilities/Operations

Wesley Haines, Director of Facilities

Chris Akin, Mailroom Clerk/Receptionist

Juan Buenrostro, Custodian

Carl Chaney, Custodian

Nick Cedillo, Lead Custodian

Bridget Eldredge, Maintenance Assistant/Relief Control Room

Ernest Flores, Maintenance Assistant

Roberto Gonzalez, Grounds and Custodial Supervisor

Jack Patterson, Facilities Coordinator

Alvin Ramirez, Groundskeeper

Marco Ramirez, Groundskeeper

Shivnaraine Sewnauth, Facilities Engineer

Philip Soto, Maintenance Assistant

Javier Verduzco, Custodian

Public Programs

Lauren Pollock, Manager of Public Programs

Tony Martinez, Programs Coordinator

Publishing

Joseph N. Newland, Director of Publishing

Nancy O’Connor, Associate Editor

Safety and Security

Ramona Al-Hardani, Gallery Attendant

Arceli Arcilla, Gallery Attendant

Cynthia Ballard, Gallery Attendant

Bryant Bruce, Gallery Attendant

Delana Bunch, Gallery Attendant

Sabina Causevic, Gallery Attendant

Cody Chapman, Gallery Attendant

Mackenzie Crawford, Gallery Attendant

William Cuevas, Control Room Monitor

Aailyah Fields, Gallery Attendant

Latisha Gilbert, Gallery Attendant Supervisor

Jamarcus Gilmore, Gallery Attendant

William Gomez, Gallery Attendant

Jorge González, Gallery Attendant

Nydia Gutierrez, Gallery Attendant

Vera Hadzic, Gallery Attendant

Earl Harris, Control Room Monitor

Shawnie Hunt, Control Room Monitor

Sossina Kenfere, Gallery Attendant

Bordin Keplar, Gallery Attendant

Reynaldo Legaspi, Gallery Attendant

Dylan Matos, Gallery Attendant

Alexej O’Malley, Gallery Attendant

Jesper Panessah, Gallery Attendant

Enelra (EJ) Rizalde, Gallery Attendant

Meichelle Robinson, Gallery Attendant

Anastasia Rodriguez, Gallery Attendant

Laronda Shelvin, Gallery Attendant

Kenneth Sherman, Gallery Attendant

Mirzama Sisic, Gallery Attendant Supervisor

Konjit Tekletsadik, Gallery Attendant

Toren Thornton, Gallery Attendant

Eric Valdez, Control Room Monitor

Jacqueline Yagao, Gallery Attendant

Macario Yagao, Gallery Attendant

*Staff list as of June 30, 2022

Copyright © 2022 Menil Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by the Director’s Office

Jennifer Greene, Editor

Sarah Hobson, Editor

Sarah E. Robinson, Proofreader

Amanda Thomas, Graphic Design

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Cover, installation view of Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s, photo: Paul Hester; pp. 1–2, photo: Melissa Taylor; pp. 8–9, installation view of Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes, photo: Daniel Ortiz; pp. 18–19, Installation view of Geneviève Asse © 2022 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris, photo: Paul Hester; pp. 24–25, photo: Sarah Hobson; pp. 32–33, Community Day, photo: Daniel Ortiz; pp. 38–39, photo: David Ortiz