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Home , Dominique de Menil

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ominique de Menil li.nl extraordi- to Jerry MacAgy. As we drove on toward nary talents that she used with Memphis later thai day, the dreary, flat Dgrace and wisdom in the lields of land of eastern Arkansas was miraculous- art, religion, human rights, and education ly transformed into a .Ylagntie world — to enrich the world. As she often remind- his blue sky and puffy white clouds; crisp, ed us, many of her activities would not basic forms .mA trees in a row. In QUI have been possible without ihe material family lore, we refer to this experience nift of inherited wealth. But, as everyone as "The Apotheosis of Arkansas." Domi knew, that wealth would have been of lit- nique continued to work her exhibition tle consequence without her internal gifts magic lor another 30 years. of character. She directed the details, too, as was The magnitude of Dominique's accom- manifest when I first observed her design- plishments was so great thai any effort to ing a "simple" program and accompany- reflect upon her life seems insufficient. I ing announcement. Never had I seen offer here a few observations and person- anyone so exacting about everything from al expr.rii.ncis with the hope of indicating the conception of the program to the bits of a far bigger, richer whole. wording and design oi the announcement: One feature that characterized Domi- from her concern for the audience to the nique from our first meeting was ihe ele- effect ol her standards on her co-workers. ment of surprise. In ! Vfvl, my wife, It w.iv .1 veritable course in graphic de- Ginny, and I traveled from Yale (where 1 sign, communication, and management was a graduate student) to ro tor the staff, as well as lor local printers meet someone described only as "a patron and photographers. of the University of St. Thomas in Hous- Some of the work rook place in the ton." We speculated about a Texan with de Menil I louse on San Felipe, and that i pi.,; i i i i ri in V v, V.i I.. Inn ihe iv.iliu home was another surprise. It was ,\ti was far from our speculations. We en- understated building — countered Dominique de Menil in an I asf on the front, a long low, unadorned brick Side towiihouse filled with an eye-opening wall punctuated only by a plane of glass collection of art. She was charmingly ill- containing the front door and a small at ease, gracious, and, at the end of the strip of windows, high up to the right of meeting, concerned about our late return the door. It did not look at all like what to New Haven without dinner. According- one expected of a wealthy family in the ly, she packed what we came to call the River < >.iks section of 1 Innston. Thai

Man fruit, portrait of Dominique dp Menil, 1934. "first Brown Hag I unch" — a grocer) doorway led into an exquisitely propor- bag of sandwiches, fruit, and Trench tioned foyer, installed with art and furni- Dominique de M e n i l

cheeses that provisioned us for two days. tnre but open on the left to a glass-walled Subsequently, 1 accepted the position interior garden that provided a glimpse .11 St. Thomas. Hut we had hardly un- through to the living room beyond. That 1 9 0 8 1 9 9 7 packed before the death in February 1964 In mg room — an ample yet intimate of Jermayne MacAgy, the Art Department space — was also filled with art and lur chair who first recruited me. In the after- niture, including -m inviting ottoman in math ol that shocking event, Dominique the center of ihe room and a desk piled William A C a m f i e I d was appointed chair of the department. high with diverse publications on art, lit She .issiiinrJ |err> 's projects with little erature, philosophy, and religion. This experience in exhibitions or administra- home was a serene, intimate museum- tion, insofar as I knew. Wondering how library-garden, where one could share my new job would work out, I lound that John and Dominique's excitement Over her surprises continued. "The first pending a recent acquisition or browse among the pro|cct Dominique took over was an art and books. exhibition of the work of Rene Magrirte (In other occasions, the de Menil for the Arkansas Art Center in I ittle I louse was an electric gathering place for Rock. t">n the trip north to receive my civic and business leaders, .mists, writers, I'll. D. from Yale, Ginny and I stopped to clerics, politicians, and civil rights acti- visit the exhibition. It is riveted in my vists. At thai time, in the mid-to-tate memory. In matters ol conceiving and l^hOs, the burning issues in politics and installing exhibitions, Dominique dearly human rights revolved around ihe war in possessed the magic that had attracted me Viet Nam and racial integration. Domi- The Menil Coll.'tlion, 1515 Sul Roll, Renin Piono orihilrct wiih Riihoid Filirjerald and Partners, aiwciale art.hiler.lt. 1987. CITE 111 W i n 1 1 1 I 9 9 I I 9 9 1 11

all cultures and callings, she did have a ing. The Piano building is a product ol bias tor people who could teach her prolonged thought and research. It is something, nourish or enlarge her. Thar meant to be inviting, accessible, and com- nourishment could come in many forms patible in scale and materials with the — through knowledge or examples of neighborhood. It is also designed to offer, courage or taiih or love — and from any- on a public scale, the serenity and intima- one. The giving of it was fostered by cy of the de Menil home. Like that home, y Dominique's ability to personalize her the museum building is long and low, moments with others, conveying the grati- with an elegant glass-walled foyer and a fying experience of being responded to as big ottoman for rest and conversation. ; u Again, like the home, there are interior .' > .i dividual, unencumbered In reputa gardens and walls of glass (for the conser- • tion or by stereotype as a member of some group, class, or profession. That vation lab, the frame shop, kitchen, and warmth functioned with (loran Miluri- library) that open the "white box" of the uovic as naturally as with . museum providing natural light and a After her first meeting with Andy Warhol, connection between inside and outside and between the statl and visitors. Every ; Dominique conveyed to me with a tew words and a radiant face that she was teat lire of the interior — architectural grateful for the opportunity to discover detail, lighting, and installation, without that Warhol was a person ol sympathy explanatory labels — is intended to and integrity. foster direct, personal contact with the art objects. In this rare museum, art dor .HI was ,i Yugoslavian student in i,. reigns. The is not a England who wrote us to ask for a schol- Interior, dp Menil House, 3363 San Felipe, Philip C. Johnson Astocialcs, arthilects, londcs Gore and Cowcll L Neuhaus, consulting monument to the architect or to the de arship. We had no scholarships at that OTthitHli, 1950. Dominique and John ie Menil hrakf with iiodition bctaming pioneering palroni al modnn In Houiton, Menils, but a place for a personal collec- time, and he had a mediocre record, so I tion that more than merits the attention turned him away. But he persisted (later given it. nique and John worked unremittingly for gram at the University ot St. Thomas, we he revealed that my response was the only peace tn Viet Nam and for social justice had one three-drawer metal cabinet of one received troni letters to over 200 The de Menil art collection is in America, opening their home in people slides, one case ol books, and, a little schools), and Dominique decided to gam- selective and personal, freed from a con- ot good will from every community in the later, a handful of cameras. We moved to ble on him on the basis that anyone so cern to be encyclopedic. It has notable city chimin scores ot local and national in I9(,y with seven faculty determined must have something worthy strengths in 20th-century art, especially campaigns. They were among the lirst to members in art history, film, and photog- ot cultivation. A gangling, sweet-natured, ; ; and the arts of perceive the potential ot young Mickey raphy, a well-equipped Media (enter, lethargic guy showed up who fared poor- Africa and . There are also small- I eland, urging him to run tor Congress approximately 20,1 HIM books, and 20,000 ly tlie first semester. However, he was so er but striking alcoves and vitrines of M\A providing hoth moral and financial slides. We merged handily with Rice's likable that each professor went out of his Northwest ( oast art; the metal work of support as he developed into a heloved largely studio art department, while w.n to help Cioran, and he improved sub- migratory peoples; Celtic objects; and representative tor this city and a symbol Dominique founded The Institute for the stantially in energy and grades the second I .ycladic sculpture. Many individuals tor the national Black community. Bur Aris at Rice. 1 lie latter provided her the semester. At the end ot the year, the art have contributed to the formation of they also supported Citizens for Good vehicle and the space (the Art barn) to historians were congratulating themselves this collection — lather Marie Alain Schools, Barbara Jordan, Kugene Mc- continue at Rice a program of exhibitions on the effectiveness of their extra work Couturier, family members, friends, and Carthy, , and many others. and publications, the Print Club [to with Goran when Dominique firmly an- curators ot the museum — but the vasl This devotion to human rights and social encourage and enable private collecting), nounced that (roran's progress was her majority of the works is the product of justice evolved into a global effort in and the tradition ol visiting artists and doing. "I've been giving him vitamins," decisions by John and Dominique them- 1986, when Dominique joined former scholars established at St. Thomas. The she said. Cioran went on to graduate and selves, and many observers have sought president in establishing opening exhibition at Rice was ,i memo- do goocl work in film making. to identify the taste that informs this remarkable collection. the Carter-Menil Awards. rable show from the Museum of Modern (In the face of it, this is simply a senti- A n titled The Machine as Seen at the I mi In the context of the truculent 1960s, mental story of "Goran's Scholarship," I ike others, I feel that there is a spiri- af the Mech-amca! Age. Visiting artists art was all the more susceptible to ques- but on a deeper level, it illustrates Domi- tual basis to Dominique's collecting which and scholars included Magritte, Ernst, tion as a luxury for the elite. More than nique's tar-reaching concern for the peo- is easier to sense than In articulate. A Duchamp, Tinguely, Matta, and Warhol, once, I observed Dominique address ques- ple around her. She was sensitive to their striking number of works originally had him makers Roberto Rosellini and Jcan- tions about justifying expenditures for the needs and helped, whether that meant vit- a religious function, and mosi still convey I IK < ioddard, and art historians Rudolf arts. Such questions, though received as amins, a morale boost, or professional something of that original purpose. Or, Wirrkower, Ceorge Heard Hamilton, earnest, were seen as naive. She did not counseling. She likewise had a keen eye when the works are not manifestly reli- Robert Coldwarer, Leo Steinberg, Charles regard art as a discrete entity but as an for talent and character. She kept in touch gious — as in most of the Surrealist Sterling, and Robert Rosenheim. integral part of life. To set art aside dur- with some students and later called on objects — they deal with mysterious, ing times ot trial was, tor her, tantamount In addition to the The Image of the them to take on major jobs. This included irrational realms ot experience that share to suspending faith, justice, or the quest Black in Western Art, the de Menils com- Paul Winkler, a student from St. Thomas something ol the truth and power of art tor knowledge under the same conditions. pletely, underwrote catalogue raisonnes days, who was recruited to shepherd the with a religious function. Art and religious faith were inseparable tor Max Ernsi and Rene Magritte, and construction of The Menil Collection Dominique de Menil did not begin in the de Mends' project for the Rothko they provided invaluable assistance for building and, later, to serve as its second her adult lite or her .in collection with a ( hapel; art and social justice came toget- countless additional studies hv supplying (and current) director. vision of The Menil Collection, the Car- her in the project for the Deluxe Theatre tree bed and breakfast in their homes in Of all the de Menils' accomplish- ter-Mcnil Awards, the Rothko and Byzan- on Lyons Avenue and in the multi-volume ] [ouston. New York, and for stu- ments, the most celebrated is The Menil tine chapels, and the arts programs study The Image of the Black m Western dents, professors, and museum curators Collection, a museum that encompasses at St. Thomas and Rice. She did, however, Art. Art and education were synonymous Ironi around the world. As one recipient their extraordinary art collection and the accept her gifts, her passions and power, in numerous de Menil undertakings. nl ih.it generosity, I looked forward to building that houses it. The and, with them, the expanding opportuni- Dominique had enormous respect for breakfasts that might include a Catholic Menil Collection is at the center of a cam- ties and responsibility to make of them a scholarship and teaching. She would priest from Lebanon, a graduate student pus with the , the Cy tangible legacy. It is our good fortune to abandon almost any task at hand to grap- in art history or anthropology from Cali- Twomhly Cillery, and the Byzantine Fres- have not only this legacy but the example ple with a knotty IrenchT.nglish transla- fornia, .\\n\ a curator from the Centre co ( hapel set amid open green spaces and of her committed life. • tion or a puzzling question of interpreta- Georges Pompidou in Paris. outdoor sculpture. These Menil structures tion. And she and John buili a program This incredible traffic of artists, stu- are surrounded by bungalows ot the of art history, film, and photography in a dents, religious leaders, and scholars was 1920s and 1 9.10s acquired by Dominique city that theretofore had no such pro- a stimulus for Dominique, not a drain. to protect the immediate residential con- grams. When I joined thai fledgling pro- I lowever, in her openness to people of text of the museum in a city without zon