''I went to breakfast, lunch and dinner at their house and met every important person they knew. '', ''I wanted a functional museum and they wanted great architecture,'' comments Dominique. Until very recently, Christophe also had a sizable house in East Hampton, but it burned down during Hurricane Gloria last fall. They established the university's Media Center in 1967. Indeed, Adelaide has recently given the museum an important piece from her collection. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Though the collection has strengths in Mediterranean antiquities, Eurasian and European artifacts, African art, Cubism, Surrealism and contemporary American and European works, it lacks a museum ''profile.'' Their associates tend not to be other superrichlings, but artists, film makers, poets, anthropologists, activists, professors, priests and - in the case of Philippa, who is involved with Sufism, an Islamic philosophy - sheiks and whirling dervishes. It serves the vi-sion of a place ''for people in search of peace, meditation and a more intense consciousness of our time.'' The theoretical thrust of ''The Image of the Black'' reflects Dominique more than John, whose interests were apt to find more direct expression. In a stronghold of segregation, they not only backed civil rights and Martin Luther King, but entertained blacks at dinner. Now I have a vocation and much better bearings.''. The Fathers, too, can now see both sides. Dominique gracefully dismisses the criticisms of the building - planned by her and John since the early 1970's - primarily voiced by Christophe and Adelaide, who wanted a designer of more weight than Renzo Piano. Beyond the family, their influence has been substantial, too. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. By the 1960s the de Menils had gravitated toward the major American post-war movements of abstract expressionism, pop art, and minimalism. Also on display in Richmond Hall are four examples of Flavin's "monuments" to V. Tatlin, created between 1964 and 1969.[1][36]. [1] She also published articles on film technology in the French journal La revue du cinma.[4]. Friedrich and his then wife Philippa de Menil, together with Helen Winkler, established the Dia Art Foundation in 1973. Now it's a coalition of businessmen and minorities who run the city.''. [10] They bought more than two hundred pieces from Klejman's New York Gallery. Perhaps the closest of the children to her late father, who was an outspoken liberal drawn to minority causes, Adelaide has developed an interest in the lives of the ''bonackers,'' the vanishing tribe of fishermen and their families native to the eastern tip of Long Island. He was my particular nemesis. At that point, the de Menils began to drift away from the museum. After his death, he lay in state, wrapped in a sheet in his own bed. Dominique, who was courted by other cities, says that the museum is in Houston because ''I was so encouraged here.'' The middle child is Georges, an elegant and articulate - if slightly stuffy -scholar of 45 who more or less oversees the family's financial matters. John listened patiently to the telephone tirade and then said, ''Listen, my friend, why don't you come to my house for a drink? De Menil, who lived in Houston until she was 12 and was raised Catholic, has been a practicing Muslim for more than 30 years, and is now known as Sheikha Fariha al-Jerrahi, having been officially . She is not a ''go-getter,'' she insists in her French-tinged English. The foundation cut back drastically on its support of artists, began to sell some of its extensive real estate holdings and, at auction, some of its choice art works. to find the word you're looking for. Thus, the 657,829 shares owned by Georges de Menil and his wife and children, now worth about $20 million, have shrunk in value from the $57 million they were worth at the stock's high. The Menil Collection's discreet, low-key architecture befits its site in Montrose, a modest, socially mixed residential area of Houston. ''I'm extreme and I have strong tastes,'' says Christophe, who is also an excellent though unexhibited photographer. She studied mathematics and physics at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1927-28 . Ever since, Dia's mission has been to commission, support, and present site-specific long-term installations and single-artists exhibitions to the public. [31] The result was a museum that appeared "small on the outside, butas big as possible inside". His accomplished wife, Lois, a political historian with a Ph.D. from Harvard, is writing a book on a prominent 19th-century Schlumberger ancestor, Francois Guizot, Premier of France under Louis Philippe. And I loathed the black-tiled floor. The reunited family went to Houston, then the American headquarters for the company. [14] They were instrumental in the Contemporary Arts Association's decision to hire Jermayne MacAgy as its director; she curated several groundbreaking exhibitions, including "The Sphere of Mondrian" and "Totems Not Taboo: An Exhibition of Primitive Art. Dominique, who from childhood had an impulse toward collecting, acquiring such objects as ''shells, cut-out images, exotic seeds,'' attributes her interest in art -late-blooming as it was - to her mother, who would have collected, save for her husband's disapproval. (The two recently returned from a trek to western Tibet to take in the ruins of an 11th-century Buddhist temple.) They also set up a media center, an undergraduate film school whose instructors included the film directors Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard and Michelangelo Antonioni. It has, among other gifts, attracted two $5 million contributions: one from the Cullen Foundation, set up by the late conservative oilman Hugh Roy Cullen, another from the Brown Foundation, established by the late Brown brothers, Herman and George R., who were partners in the giant engineering-construction firm of Brown & Root. And when John died in 1973, he left his estate in part to Dominique and in part to the Menil Foundation, set up in 1954 to support ecumenism, education, the arts and minority causes. ''Before that it was the old Bourbon alliance, blue-collar whites and white-collar businessmen. A good part of the Menil Collection comprises objects of African and other tribal art, and the foundation began, in 1961, a long-range research project, ''The Image of the Black in Western Art.'' Easily the most spectacular residence is Francois's, built a few years ago on seven acres of expensive East Hampton beachfront as a vacation retreat from his handsome Manhattan apartment. Christophe, who at 53 is the oldest (and a grandmother of three, by her daughter Taya) has always been attuned to the avant-garde. Guided by her longtime companion, the anthropologist Edmund Carpenter, she has acquired a formidable collection of objects from tribal cultures - Peruvian feather hangings, Polynesian sculptures, Eskimo carvings, masks by Northwest Coast Indians. ''He reminds me of my father,'' she says, ''with his strong idealism and willingness to undertake certain things that others wouldn't. . (One takes off one's shoes on entering.) ''We changed the basic political structure of Houston,'' says Hofheinz -now chairman of Tangent Oil and Gas - whose four-year mayoral stint corresponded with Houston's ''go-go'' period of growth. A European artist, who is a friend of Adelaide's and Ted's, remembers making an appointment through them to see Dominique on a visit to Houston. What they do should be balanced against what's possible.''. ALTHOUGH DOMI-nique's children function in somewhat lower gear, they also have made ambitious forays into - and even careers in - the arts. [29] The Foundation offered the CarterMenil Human Rights Prize, sponsored by the Rothko Chapel, to organizations or individuals for their commitment to human rights. "[15] In 1954 they founded the Menil Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the "support and advancement of religious, charitable, literary, scientific and educational purposes".[16]. THE NEW BUILDING will be close to another, even more un-Houstonian de Menil monument. ''When they didn't control things, they stepped aside,'' says Philippe de Montebello, now director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who took the job in Houston after Sweeney. When they arrived there from Paris in the early 1940's, they were not yet as wealthy as they would become, but they were almost too interesting. A former film maker, short-time magazine publisher, pilot and hell-raiser who never finished college, Fran,cois - who has his father's baby face - is now a hard-working architectural student at The Cooper Union. The foundation operates Dia:Beacon (est. Though the building is not loved by some of Dominique's children, it is hoped that eventually the varied holdings of all of them will repose there, too. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, they offered it to the city of Houston on condition that it be dedicated to the black leader. Expansive main-floor displays will be made up of works in the storage areas, with space set aside for the spectacular theme shows that Dominique and the museum's director, Walter Hopps, have been doing together for years. Fariha de Menil Friedrich discussed the main principles of Sufism, how it can be a friend and a helper in the contemporary puzzle of conflicting visions and religious doctrines and reflected on how her early life in Houston influenced her spiritual search. ''What I inherited was my mother's craving. Actually, her children venerate Dominique almost to the point of copying her.'' Philippa was then married to Francesco Pellizzi, an Italian anthropology student, and already exploring with him the concept of helping artists realize large-scale environmental works. De Menil died in Houston on December 31, 1997. She has organized a forthcoming book ''Men's Lives'' - with specially commissioned photographs, and a text by Peter Matthiessen -about them. Eventually, the de Menils and their entourage became so much a part of the St. Thomas scene that ''it became difficult to operate without stepping on one of their toes,'' says Father Patrick O. Braden, president of the college at the time. To suggest the institution's role in enabling such ambitions, they selected the name "Dia," taken from the Greek word meaning "through." French expats who left Paris for the United States during World War II, the de Menils were the heirs to multiple fortunesincluding Dominique's family's booming oil equipment company . And she was surrounded by accomplished relatives. He remembers admiring a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson at Adelaide's house. It is named for the late Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko, whom the de Menils commissioned to do 14 dark, meditative paintings that are the only adornment of the octagonal building. "The de Menil Family: The Medici of Modern Art". de? Kahn did produce some preliminary drawings, but the project was suspended in 1973 after John de Menil's and Kahn's deaths less than a year apart. Hickey-Robertson. [35], De Menil's final project was a 1996 commission of three site-specific light installations by Minimalist sculptor Dan Flavin for Richmond Hall, a former Weingarten's grocery store in Houston. The day and hour were set, with Dominique's agreement. Like the Rockefellers, the de Menils are distinguished by the variety and scope of their art interests. [22], Their most controversial action on behalf of civil rights was their offer of Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk as a partial gift to the city of Houston in 1969, on the condition that it be dedicated to the recently assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.[23] The city refused the gift, sparking a controversial debate[24] that ended only when the de Menils purchased the sculpture themselves and placed it in front of the newly completed Rothko Chapel. On the other hand, she can be imperious. Philippa - called ''Phip'' by intimates - the mother of two, is probably the closest heir to her mother's ''spirituality,'' and has her good looks and unpretentious manner. And Adelaide herself now has a home or two not like everyone else's, in which the art is at least as ''weird'' as that owned by her parents. Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, co-creator of the high-tech Pompidou Center in Paris, the museum is so favorably looked upon by Houston bigwigs that more than half of its building costs are being met by local money. Believing in art education and - though committed Catholics -religious ecumenism, they saw in St. Thomas, run by the Basilian Fathers, a chance to further the school and their causes. ''If it hadn't been for them, we wouldn't be here,'' says Father Frank H. Bredeweg, now president of the college. Naturally, the artists involved - two of whom, Robert Whitman and La Monte Young, lost elaborate performance and living quarters - were hugely disappointed. After undergoing revisions by several architects, including Philip Johnson, Howard Barnstone, and Eugene Aubry, the non-denominational Rothko Chapel was dedicated on Menil Foundation property in 1971 in a ceremony that included members of various religions. For years, she has quietly but wholeheartedly backed the work of such performance artists, dancers and musicians as Robert Whitman, La Monte Young, Robert Wilson, Twyla Tharp, Philip Glass, Trisha Brown and Terry Riley. Its basis was a device that was lowered by cable into the ground to measure the electrical resistance of formations in the earth. Eventually - despite their contributions of time and art - their ambitious projects brought them into conflict with budget-minded trustees. Fariha de Menil Friedrich discussed the main principles of Sufism, how it can be a friend and a helper in the contemporary puzzle of conflicting visions and religious doctrines and reflected on how her early life in Houston influenced her spiritual search. In 1974, Fr John shot from the hip. ''If only my father could see him now,'' his sister Adelaide has remarked proudly. They have also come to the aid of liberal-left politicians and Islamic religious groups, avant-garde music and counterculture films, archeological digs and art education, Long Island fishermen and anti-Vietnam activists. Their fervor spilled over into us. ''You support artists by buying their work, not by making shrines to them.''. The de Menils' Catholic faith, especially their interest in Father Yves Marie Joseph Congar's teachings on ecumenism, would become crucial to the development of their collecting ethos in the coming decades. ''Dominque said, 'I'll take it,' and she bundled herself in a tacky fur coat and went trudging through the rain, arriving at Levi-Strauss's looking like a drowned rat. Philippa and her husband Heiner have made over a former apartment building into a townhouse. A local citizen once called John up and railed against him as a ''red'' for his support of King. They actually maintained their support here for six or seven years before it began to happen.'' An ongoing project that seeks to catalogue and study the depiction of individuals of African descent in Western art, it is now under the aegis of Harvard University. Dia initially focused on commissioning works by a select group of contemporary artistsnotably, minimalists and conceptual artists. [3] She studied physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne and developed an interest in filmmaking, which took her to Berlin to serve as script assistant on the Josef von Sternberg production of The Blue Angel. And Donald Judd has gone public with vociferous denunciations of the foundation, which is now but a shadow of itself. Of the siblings, she has also undertaken the most wildly ambitious involvement with the arts, as patron of the financially troubled Dia Foundation, whose aim is to support venturesome artists' projects of a nature or scale that make it difficult to obtain other backing. Meanwhile, grandiosity and the Schlumberger stock slide have caused the serious foundering of the Dia Foundation, established by Philippa and Heiner Friedrich, to support the ambitious projects of several hand-picked artists. THE DE MENIL FAMILY: THE MEDICI OF MODERN ART, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/18/magazine/the-de-menil-family-the-medici-of-modern-art.html. His interest in architecture, he says, comes from his father and from working with Charles Gwathmey, who designed his East Hampton house. [12] The de Menils filled their home with art and hosted many of the leading artists, scientists, civil rights activists, and intellectuals of the day. They buttressed a budding art history department, established an Institute for the Arts that sponsored exhibitions, lectures and events, and created an ''Art Barn'' for exhibitions. The work these artists made changed, or at least questioned, the nature of art: what it. To supple-ment the scanty family income, John dropped out of school to work in a bank. The gray clapboard of the museum is in keeping with the small, traditional timber-frame homes -some used as foundation offices, others rented to friends, associates and various locals - that surround it. It is often cited as one of the most significant privately assembled art collections, alongside the Barnes Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Museum. (Spookily enough, another dwelling she had built on the same site about 20 years ago met the same end.) In 1974, Friedrich and his future wife, Philippa de Menil, the youngest child of Dominique and John de Menil of the Schlumberger oil fortune, created the Dia Art Foundation. There was a moral obligation to get involved with their involvements. For the marriage, Dominique converted to John's Catholicism, a move that at first shocked her clannish family. ''Dominique and John were entirely separate people who worked not so much together but in parallel ways,'' suggests Fred Hofheinz. Since its inception, the chapel has witnessed all manner of events, from high-minded colloquia to weddings, bar mitzvahs, a Sufi ceremony by whirling dervishes from Turkey, a reception for the Dalai Lama and avant-garde concerts. ''Each of the children,'' says Adelaide now, ''would have preferred his or her own choice of architects, but after all, it is my mother's museum. Inheritance (oil) 20th-century art Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Overview Newswire RobbReport She also established the scar Romero Award, named after the slain El Salvadoran bishop. Francois, who stopped making films (''I was dissatisfied with what I was doing and felt a change would be good''), is still elated over his admission to The Cooper Union, achieved in part by hiring special tutors to prepare him in necessary disciplines, such as mathematics. An 11th-century abbey revamped during the 18th century, the chateau has perhaps 100 rooms. They were the first Americans to influence Europeans. Pianissimo: The Very Quiet Menil Collection., Holmes, Ann, and Patricia C. Johnson. [1], In addition to becoming known as collectors and patrons of art, John and Dominique de Menil were vocal champions of human rights worldwide. (Once, for instance, he surprised the dance critic Jill Johnston with a round-trip ticket to England, so she could visit her birthplace.) ''The funny thing is, how it came out in me after my parents' collecting,'' says Philippa, a fresh-faced blonde who has her mother's unpretentious manner and good looks. she asked, in genuine surprise. Dominique de Menil (ne Schlumberger; March 23, 1908 December 31, 1997) was a French-American art collector, philanthropist, founder of the Menil Collection and an heiress to the Schlumberger Limited oil-equipment fortune. [6], "Shaykha Fariha al Jerrahi | WISE Muslim Women Shaykha Fariha al Jerrahi", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fariha_al_Jerrahi&oldid=1096401510, This page was last edited on 4 July 2022, at 07:16. ''', Dominique's craving found expression during the couple's frequent visits to New York in the 40's and 50's, where they met Father Marie-Alain Couturier, a French Dominican priest who spent the war years there. In 1980, the woman she was had become a Sufi dervish named Fariha al-Jerrahi, and when the house of Dia fell, she moved on. .''. They were an extraordinary couple. [11] Influenced by the teachings of Father Couturier and Father Congar, the de Menils developed a particular humanist ethos in which they understood art as a central part of the human experience. But the falling price of Schlumberger stock and serious administrative problems brought big financial troubles. Dominique, who maintains three homes herself, shakes her head indulgently over their ''extravagance.''. THE DE MENILS' IN-volvement in the Houston art world began in the 1940's - an inevitable consequence of Father Couturier's evangelism. During an earlier school board election, the de Menils helped launch the political career of Mickey Leland, a young black militant from Houston's grubby Fifth Ward, who is now serving his fourth term in the United States Congress. Congressman Mickey Leland, it was one of the first racially integrated art shows in the United States.[28]. ''Once the children had the disposal of their own fortunes,'' Dominique says, ''John and I never wanted to interfere.'' John's assertiveness made itself felt even as he lay dying of cancer, when he prepared a scenario for his funeral. She badly needed a religion.''. Millionaires are different from us, as everyone knows, but as a clan the de Menils are different even from their fellow millionaires, most noticeably in the unconventional ways in which they spend their money. Says Philip Johnson, who met Dominique and John when they were ''still living in a tract house'' in Houston, ''They were unpretentious, yet arrogant enough. Impressed with Leland, John de Menil took him under his wing and brought the young man into his own social and artistic circles, ''sophisticating a rough diamond,'' as Leland puts it. After being met with increasing resistance by the more traditional Basilian clergy at the University of St. Thomas, in 1969 the de Menils moved the art departmentincluding the art history facultyand Media Center to Rice University, where they founded the Institute for the Arts to manage the exhibition program at Rice Museum. Yet for all her protests, her modest, low-key bearing conceals the drive of a captain of industry, and one of her associates says, ''The phrase 'steel butterfly' was coined for her. At the sale, Dominique bought a Barnett Newman and Adelaide picked up her first de Kooning.) 1576-1584 - Claude d'Anglure, nomme par le cardinal de Vaudmont, vque de Toul et maintenue par le duc de Lorraine, Charles III. But when the artist arrived, she appeared for a moment only. Date of birth 1947 Birth place Houston, USA Philippa De Menil Siblings Philippa De Menil Age 71 (approx.) Christophe, for example, was once chided by an East Hampton hostess for not showing up at a party. . This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. ''I get that so much from my mother - decide what you're aiming at and strike out after it. [26] It was established as an autonomous organization the next year and began hosting colloquia, beginning with "Traditional Modes of Contemplation and Action," which brought together religious leaders, scholars, and musicians from four continents. Small wonder that in Houston, a city where, as a local gadfly once observed, ''it's easier to be rich than interesting,'' the de Menils are something of a legend. ''The things I've collected resemble the sort of works my parents acquired, but maybe less broad in range and less expensive,'' he says, pointing out, on a hall wall, a favorite Braque painting of his father's given him by Dominique. Their Georgian town house of brick and marble, while more for-mally ordered than the digs of the others, serves as a setting for high-caliber contemporary art, and is one of the Upper East Side's more elegant private dwellings. In, Donald D. Clayton, "The Dark Night Sky: a personal adventure in cosmology" Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co. (New York 1975), Richard, Paul. De Maria had traveled to Santa Barbara for his mother's 100th birthday in early June; however, he went on to . Looking back, I suppose we were too ambitious, and they felt overwhelmed.'' Her second husband is is a German-born former art dealer, Heiner Friedrich, with whom she is deeply engaged in Sufism. That same year they provided the University of St. Thomas, a small Catholic institution in Houston, with funding to build Strake Hall and Jones Hall, designed by Philip Johnson per their recommendation. The building, primly sheathed in what one Houstonian calls ''Protestant gray clapboard'' (probably a first for a museum in this country), has on the ground floor exhibition spaces set in a landscaped garden. They are men mostly, with big egos and big ideas. ''Yet I admire them, and I don't want to belittle their achievements.'' THE COUPLE'S MOST INTENSE Houston involvement was with St. Thomas University, a small Catholic college. And several years ago, when they were agitating in Albany for legislation on fishing rights. 1529-1538 - Philippa de Ligniville, fille de Jean de Ligniville et de Jeanne d'Oiselet. Few philanthropists of the 20th century contributed more to the American art world than Dominique and John de Menil. An economist, with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he has taught at Princeton and is founding director of the economics research division of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, where he is a professor and where he spends time teaching each year. Fariha, born Philippa de Menil, . German gallery owner Heiner Friedrich, Fariha Friedrich (ne de Menil) and Helen Winkler Fosdick founded Dia. Each is not only glamorously housed in Manhattan, most of them on the Upper East Side, but also has one or two lavish residences elsewhere -Paris, Texas, the Hamptons. battle of omdurman order of battle. The story goes back to the early 70's when Heiner, a European dealer, transferred his activities to New York, while retaining his interest in his Munich gallery. Schlumberger, Dominique. More than 1,000 mourners, an international assemblage including a local contingent of Black Panthers - to whom John had given money for setting up a free children's breakfast program - turned out in a heavy rainstorm. Coordinated by civil rights activist and later U.S. When their children were still young, and Schlumberger shares were worth comparatively little, John and Dominique de Menil decided they would put half of their holdings in trust funds for each of their five children. (5) Philippa (Anne Caroline Philippa de Mnil) (born June 13, 1947) - A co-founder of the Dia Art Foundation. They maintained residences in New York and France but settled in Houston, where John would eventually become president of Schlumberger Overseas (Middle and Far East) and Schlumberger Surenco (Latin America), two branches of the Houston-based oilfield services corporation. The children and their mother also occasionally drop in on Val-Richer, the vast estate in Normandy passed down by Schlumberger ancestors. You might try using the wildcards * and ? So in tune with the de Menils' judgments was Sweeney that at one point, seeing a show in Paris of cranky kinetic works by the then-little-known Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely, he let them know about it. This in turn enabled the inventors to determine the location of an oil deposit. Ironically, planned in a time of boom for Houston, the museum will be finished in a time of bust, due to falling oil prices. ''I was interested in art, but shy and out of contact with the art world. After Sheikh Nur's passing, she would take on the guidance of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order and it's circles of dervishes around the world. by Paula Newton November 11, 2013. by Paula Newton November 11, 2013. The enigmatic Friedrich quit New York, disappeared into a wandering, art-mad exile; Philippa de Menil, the embattled heiress, had long since ceased to exist. They had a foreign accent, and political views that for Texas were extremely liberal. But I think it will turn out superbly.''. After moving to Houston, the de Menils quickly became key figures in the city's developing cultural life as advocates of modern art and architecture. Casey Lesser. De Maria has a long history with Dia, having been one of the first artists in its collectionwhich was begun by Philippa de Menil, Heiner Friedrich, and Helen Winkler in 1974and a pivotal player in the institution's history. The bulk of the vast collection - reportedly worth between $150 milllion and $175 million - will be kept on the second floor in open storage, visible to anyone who wants to see it. ''It's absolutely crazy what they did,'' says one New York dealer. Behind that fragile, otherworldly facade is a complex person of very ambitious reach.''. Their collection was motivated by their shared interest in the many ways individuals over different cultures and eras reveal through art their understanding of what it means to be human.[7]. Photo by Michael Schmelling The founders had . ''But there were all these weird paintings hanging on the walls,'' she says. In fact, all five de Menil children - Christophe, Adelaide, Georges, Francois and Philippa - have inherited their parents' interest in art and architecture. The public would never know museum fatigue and would have the rare joy of sitting in front of a painting and contemplating it Works would appear, disappear, and reappear like actors on a stage. Flowering, in a way. As a result, Georges's wife Lois has been appointed to Dia's reconstituted board, and Heiner has resigned. Explains William Camfield, whom the de Menils brought over as professor of art history from St. Thomas, ''At Rice, the de Menils said, 'Let's see if it works and if you like it. Unlike the normal superwealthy, their pursuits do not run to clubs, yachts or horseracing. But Heiner lives in a dream. which cannot be easily produced, fi-nanced or owned by individual collectors because of their cost and magnitude". She grew up, the middle sister of three, watching her physicist father, Conrad Schlumberger, struggle to perfect his invention, an electric measuring device that disclosed the location of oil deposits. As it turned out, her parents, thanks to their holdings in Schlumberger, the giant multinational oil-field services company, were en route to developing one of the world's largest private art collections, noted today for its examples of Cubism, Surrealism, African sculpture, Mediterranean antiquities and contemporary works. ''Things just happen to me.'' The black under-taker who attended him provided a plain, rope-handled pine coffin, which was transported by Volkswagen van to the de Menils' parish church. Says Dominique, ''The idea of the foundation was marvelous, and they've done great things. '', Because Dominique saw ''collecting'' as pretentious, she was reluctant until recently to use the term. It was there that the de Menils began their institutional involvement with art. [2], Sheikha Fariha al-Jerrahi leads devotional prayers, ceremonies of divine remembrance, and provides spiritual guidance to initiates from her seat at the Dergah al-Farah in downtown Manhattan. Woe Follows the Obelisk., Hobdy, D. J. I never really wanted to collect, but the idea of a foundation that would help artists build excited me. [1] American Sufi leader The project, not universally appreciated by black scholars who tend to feel the emphasis should be placed on what blacks themselves have created, has so far published two books on the subject. For starters, in a locale where the ideal home was a formal white-pillared mansion, the de Menils got Philip Johnson to do them a sprawling, one-level house. The Dan Flavin installation consists of two horizontal green fluorescent lights on the eastern and western sides of the building's exterior, two sets of diagonal white lights on the foyer walls, and a large work in the main interior space featuring pink, yellow, green, blue, and ultraviolet lights. One of the first International Style residences in Texas, it generated controversy not only by standing out amongst the mansions of River Oaks but also by pairing Johnson's clean, modernist lines with a bold color palette and eclectic interior design by Charles James. You were sharing in the great adventure of making a work of art that was maybe too crazy to realize in any other way.'' 2003), the world's largest contemporary art museum, located in Beacon, N.Y. A converted factory, it contains unusually large unbroken spaces, ideal for exhibiting the frequently monumental and often minimalist (see minimalism) art and large-scale installations Dia favors. The de Menils' involvement with blacks has not only been on the political level. (To help finance this expensive venture, she sold a number of important paintings last year at Sotheby-Parke Bernet, realizing more than $2 million. (Such involvements were not confined to Houston, however; among other affiliations, John was a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Primitive Art in New York.) Today, while Dominique still administers the Institute for the Arts, and contributes to such programs as fellowships for graduate students in art history, the de Menil presence there has shrunk considerably. Whitman brought a suit against Dia, which is pending. Ingersoll, Richard. A painter himself, he had been a prime mover in the commissioning of Leger, Matisse and Rouault to do work for churches in France. Heiner Friedrich is an art dealer and collector of minimal art and conceptual art. ''Wasn't I there?'' News Dia Sues Dia: Founders Try to Stop Art Auction. And early last year, facing an inquiry by the New York State Attorney General into its management practices - with a debt of more than $6 million, a projected budget of $5 million, but no visible source of income - Dia began to pull in its horns. Then you can see how a Communist lives.'' They gave major gifts of art to the school, bought land to expand the campus and hired Philip Johnson to design new buildings. And there is no question that Houston's cultural establishment takes the new museum quite seriously. And then, you can move in and we can move out.' (Philippa's first name was changed to Fariha when she converted to Islam during the wedding ceremony to Heiner) and co-founded Dia with Helen Winkler in the mid to late 1970s. I'M VERY PROUD OF them,'' Dominique says of the children, ''and gratified that they have John's and my interests. Essays and short texts describe the de Menils' collecting; their patronage of modern architecture; their promotion of film as an art form; their struggles . With Francois and Georges, she is also making a film about her father, who carried on his venturesome art and community activities while functioning as a key executive in the development of Schlumberger Ltd. ''She is painfully shy, but generous and thoughtful,'' a friend says. Not helpful? The most conservative of the children, and the most involved with family tradition, he uses - in France - his title, Baron, bestowed on the de Menil family by Napoleon. ''For instance, there was a big purple and yellow canvas by Leger, and I hated to take my friends through the hall where they could see it. Christophe, a tall, graceful woman, who has a long history of supporting ''difficult'' art projects, began designing costumes for Robert Wilson in 1981. Since its 1980 high of 87 1/8 a share, the Schlumberger stock has slipped to its present $30 or so, due in part to the sluggish oil market. (A question mark next to a word above means that we couldn't find it, but clicking the word might provide spelling suggestions.) As modernists, they recognized the profound formal and spiritual connections between contemporary works of art and the arts of ancient and indigenous cultures, broadening their collection to include works from classical Mediterranean and Byzantine cultures, as well as objects from Africa, Oceania, and the Pacific Northwest. Raised in a code of stern Protestant morality, Dominique is quite prepared to give a million to a worthy cause, but not to spend money on such frivolities as taxis, according to Edmund (Ted) Carpenter. Today, Dominique says, her relationship with the still-small institution is ''very friendly. Born 1947 Start a FameChain Trivia Philippa De Menil Family View Philippa De Menil's Family Tree and History, Ancestry and Genealogy Dominique's way of not always paying full attention to this world has been transmitted to some of her offspring. Plans to create a museum to house and exhibit John and Dominique de Menil's collection began as early as 1972 when they asked the architect Louis I. Kahn to design a museum campus on Menil Foundation property in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston near the Rothko Chapel. The chapel, opened in 1971, is an all-faith center, a ''no man's land of God,'' Dominique says. Very much the image of upper-class young marrieds, the pair rode horseback in the Bois de Boulogne, and confined their artistic interests to the likes of Christian Berard, a lightweight Parisian contemporary. Philippa - called ''Phip'' by intimates - the mother of two, is probably the closest heir to her mother's ''spirituality,'' and has her good looks and unpretentious manner. WHERE THE DE MENIL MONEY COMES FROM. Apr 18, 2018 1:37PM. In 1981, on the chapel's 10th birthday, awards of $10,000 each were given to a dozen exemplary figures working in the cause of human rights -ranging from Tatiana Velikanova, a Russian mathematician, to Ned O'Gorman, a poet who founded the Children's Storefront in Harlem. . [27], The de Menils also organized exhibitions that promoted human and civil rights, including The De Luxe Show, a 1971 exhibition of contemporary art held in Houston's Fifth Ward, a historically African-American neighborhood. [32], Dedicated on June 7, 1987, the Menil Collection exhibits objects from John and Dominique de Menil's collection, including selections of African Art, a vast collection of Surrealist pieces, and the work of a number of contemporary American artists such as Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Cy Twombly, and Mark Rothko. Articles in Zest section The Menil Opens.. You can't just expand and expand. Anyone can read what you share. She said. Following the outbreak of World War II and the Nazi occupation of France, the de Menils emigrated from Paris to the United States of America. Her second husband is. I wanted a wooden one.''. Married to Susan Silver, a Barnard graduate (their son was born in January), he collects contemporary art, furniture, craft objects of the turn-of-the-century Vienna Secessionist school and rare books on art and architecture. [1] Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Biography [ edit] She was born in 1947 into a socially committed, eclectic French Catholic family in Houston, Texas. The issue was really the kind of institution St. Thomas was to be - would it maintain its Catholic identity or would it become a secular college? As with the de Menils' Houston home, by Texas standards the building is more than a little understated. For several artists besides Judd, houses with studio or living arrangements were provided along with annual stipends, and museums were set up for the work of others. It will house the more than 10,000 objects acquired by the couple. [1] They commissioned Henri Cartier-Bresson to photograph the 1957 American Federation of Arts convention, held in Houston that year, and worked with photographers such as Frederick Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, who went on to establish FotoFest, and Geoff Winningham, who served as head of the photography department at Rice Media Center. Dominique de Menil appears regularly in Forbes magazine's annual listing of the 400 richest people in America, with an estimated worth of ''at least'' $200 million in Schlumberger stock and art alone. Francois's taste in art is more of a mixed bag than Christophe's, ranging from works by Matisse, de Chirico, Picasso and Rothko to a flock of life-size fake sheep by the French artists Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne. Carr, Annemarie Weyl, and Laurence J. Morrocco. John liked to gather the interesting, the creative and -by Houston's standards - the outrageous around him: black activists, artists, poets, renegades of every sort. "The Memory of Rossellini in Texas." She began to collect work by contemporary Americans even before her parents did, and exerted considerable influence on their acquisitions in the field. And in a place where modern art was still regarded with suspicion, these ''pioneer cultural wildcatters,'' as one Houstonian calls them, established one of the world's outstanding collections, mounted shows and gave works to institutions - adding insult to injury by bringing the artists themselves to town. Family went to Houston, then the American art world I get so. Tibet to take in the ruins of an oil deposit the French journal La revue du cinma. [ ]! So encouraged here. '' & quot ; building into a townhouse edit or update them..... Patricia C. Johnson museum that appeared `` small on the same end. Menils ' Houston,. By other cities, says that the de Menils ' Houston home, by Texas standards building... 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