Works in the Exhibition GERTRUDE DUBY BLOM (continued) EMIL CADOO (1926–2002) HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON (continued) SCOTT MICHAEL COBURN (b. 1950) WALKER EVANS (continued) DANNY LYON (continued) GORDON PARKS (1912–2006) 12. San Andres Visits Santiago , 1972 24. from the series Harlem, 1966 40. Nanking , 1949 [1973] 56. from the series Mardi Gras, 1972 70. Untitled [Studio Portraits], 83. The Line, Ferguson Unit, , 97. , 1952 Everyday People Unless otherwise noted, all works listed are [1982] 9 7/8 x 13 1/4 inches 14 x 9 7/16 inches 101/2 x 13 1/2 inches 1935 or 1936 1967–69 [1979] 20 x 29 7/8 inches gelatin silver prints owned by The Menil 91/16 x 91/16 inches 193/4 x 15 7/8 inches 8 3/4 x 12 15/16 inches 20th-Century Photography from The Menil Collection Collection. In cases where the photograph 25. from the series Harlem, 1966 41. Shanghai, 1949 [1973] 57. from the series Mardi Gras , 1972 Gift of Kenneth G. Futter was printed later than the date it was taken, 13. Official, Santiago , 1974 [1982] 10 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches 9 1/2 x 141/16 inches 101/2 x 131/2 inches 71. Sharecropper’s Family, Hale County, OGDEN ROBERTSON (1935–2004) the date of its printing appears in brackets. 91/16 x 91/16 inches Alabama , 1936 [1950s] 84. Stella, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1971 Dimensions describe image size. 26. from the series Harlem, 1966 42. Bali , 1949 [1975?] 58. f rom the series M ardi Gras , 1972 7 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches 91/16 x 13 7/16 inches 98. D eluxe Exhibition, 1 971 14. Chan K’in and Koh, Nahá, 1976 [1982] 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 97/8 x 14 5/8 inches 101/2 x 131/2 inches 11 5/8 x 10 5/8 inches EVE ARNOLD (b. 1913) 91/16 x 91/16 inches Gift of the artist 72. James Agee , 1937 85. Navajo Boy, Gallop, New Mexico, 1971 Gift of the artist 27. from the series Harlem, 1966 10 x 8 inches 8 7/8 x 13 1/4 inches 1. Integration Party , 1958 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 43. Environs de Burgos, 1953 [1973] BRUCE L. DAVIDSON (b. 1933) 11 x 14 inches BRASSAÏ (Pseudonym of Gyula Halász) 9 7/16 x 141/16 inches 73. Three Men Outside Bowling Alley, 86. Untitled [Orphans], 1972 W. EUGENE SMITH (1918–1978) Gift of Adelaide de Menil Carpenter (1889–1984) 59. Black and White Woman at Soda 28. from the series Harlem, 1966 Mangrove Coast, Florida, 1941 9 3/8 x 6 3/8 inches Fountain , 1966 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 44. Paris, Meeting , 1954 [1973] 6 1/4 x 5 inches Gift of the artist 99. The Walk to Paradise Garden, 1946 2. Philippa, 1958 15. Bal Musette , 1932 [1973] 51/4 x 7 7/8 inches 9 1/2 x 141/8 inches 12 x 103/16 inches 12 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches 11 7/8 x 9 1/8 inches Gift of Adelaide de Menil Carpenter 29. from the series Harlem, 1966 74. Corner of State and Randolph Streets, 87. Mary, Santa Marta, Colombia, 1972 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 45. Downtown – Bar , 1957 Chicago, 1946 [1979] 100. K.K.K. Member, ca. 1951–1958 3. and Daughter, 16. Christian Bérard and Lady Diana Cooper, 60. Nannies and Children on Bench , 1966 93/8 x 13 7/8 inches 103/4 x 10 1/2 inches 11 x 14 inches 11 1/2 x 8 inches Philippa, 1958 Wife of the English Ambassador, Pré 6 x 8 7/8 inches 30. from the series Harlem, 1966 Gift of Kenneth G. Futter 181/16 x 12 inches Catelan, Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 1946 Gift of Adelaide de Menil Carpenter 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 46. Jimmy Ernst & Jermayne MacAgy, 1957 75. Chicago, Street Portrait, 1947 Gift of the artist 19 3/4 x 153/4 inches 9 x 13 inches 121/4 x 173/4 inches 88. Abandoned Children, Santa Marta, JAMES VAN DER ZEE (1886–1983) 31. from the series Harlem, 1966 Colombia, 1972 4. Woman with Broken Statue, WALKER EVANS (1903–1975) 11 7/16 x 91/8 inches 47. New York , 1957 [1973] 76. “What, no garters?”, Chicago, 1947 9 x 13 1/2 inches 101. Whittier Preparatory School, Museum of , N.Y., 1959 LARRY BURROWS (1926–1971) 9 7/16 x 14 1/16 inches 61. Brooklyn Amusement Park, ca. 1929 14 x 11 inches Phoebus, Virginia , 1907 [1974] 7 5/8 x 11 3/8 inches 17. In Support of the South Vietnamese, 6 x 8 1/4 inches 89. Abandoned Children, Santa Marta, 5 7/8 x 73/8 inches Gift of the artist Mekong Delta, 1962 [1985] HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON (1908–2004) 48. Lourdes , 1958 [1973] 77. Elderly Couple in Their Living Room 1972 Dye transfer print 93/8 x 141/16 inches 62. Milk Counter, New York , ca. 1930 (Poverty), n.d. 9 x 13 1/2 inches 102. Kate and Rachel Van Der Zee, 32. Alicante, 1933 [1973] 16 1/2 x 21 1/8 inches 6 1/2 x 9 5/8 inches 91/4 x 13 1/2 inches Lenox, Mass., 1909 [1974] GERTRUDE DUBY BLOM (1901–1993) 14 x 9 1/2 inches 49. Lorraine , 1959 [1973] 90. Tw o Girls at Los Arbolitos, Santa 7 1/4 x 61/4 inches 5. Hunters, Arena, 1948 [1982] 18. U.S. Advisors, Mekong Delta, 1962 [1985] 9 1/2 x 14 1/16 inches 63. Lunch Room Buddies, New York City, Marta, Colombia, 1972 33. Alicante , 1933 [1973] 91/16 x 91/16 inches Dye transfer print 1931 [1974] SHEMS FRIEDLANDER (b. 1940) 9 x 131/4 inches 103. Garveyite Family, Harlem , 1924 [1974] 9 5/8 x 14 3/16 inches 16 1/2 x 21 1/8 inches 50. Havana, Cuba , 1964 [1973] 12 x 91/4 inches 9 9/16 x 7 11/16 inches 78. Mevlevis, Dancemaster and Sheikh, 6. Musicians; Chilil, Huistan, 1952 [1982] 9 7/16 x 14 1/8 inches 91. “Copa,” Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, 1983 34. Calle Cuatemoczin, Mexico , 1934 [1973] Konya, 1973 [1976?] 91/16 x 91/16 inches 19. First Aid Station, Near the DMZ, 1966 64. Bleeker Street, New York City, ca. 1932 9 5/8 x 13 7/8 inches 104. Swimming Team, Harlem, 1925 [1974] 11 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches 10 7/16 x 13 7/16 inches [1985] 51. Funeral Ceremony of a Kabuki Actor, 6 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches 2 5/8 x 93/8 inches 7. Classroom; Ichin Ton, Chamula, 1953 Dye transfer print 1966 [1973] 35. Anonymous, 1934 [1973] 79. Mevlevis, 1973 [1976?] [1982] 161/2 x 21 1/8 inches 9 7/16 x 141/16 inches 65. Park ed Car, Small Town, Main Street, JOSHUAMANN PAILET (b. 1950) 105. Wedding Day, Harlem, 1926 [1974] 141/8 x 9 1/2 inches 10 11/16 x 13 5/8 inches 91/16 x 91/16 inches 1932 93/8 x 6 13/16 inches 92. Mardi Gras, 1972 20. “Operation Prairie,” Near the DMZ, 52. Paris, Rue Réaumur, 1968 [1973] 51/2 x 8 7/8 inches 36. Detection of a Former Gestapo 13 1/2 x 103/8 inches 8. Praying, San Bartolome de los Llanos, 1966 [1985] 14 x 9 3/8 inches 106. Black Jews, Harlem , 1929 [1974] Informer by Prisoners Awaiting DANNY LYON (b. 1942) 1955 [1982] Dye transfer print 66. Coal Dock Worker, Havana, 1933 8 7/16 x 93/8 inches Repatriation, Dessau, 1944 [1973] 93. Mardi Gras, 1972 91/16 x 91/16 inches 18 3/4 x 14 1/8 inches 53. Aspen, Colorado, 1970 [1973] 10 x 8 inches 80. Route 12, Wisconsin, 1963 [1979] 91/16 x 141/16 inches 13 1/2 x 103/8 inches 97/16 x 14 3/16 inches 11 x 14 inches 107. Atlantic City , 1930 [1974] 9. Officials of Carnaval, Tenejapa, 1961 21. DMZ, 1966 [1985] 67. Truck Driver, New York City, ca. 1934 Gift of Kenneth G. Futter 6 1/2 x 3 7/8 inches 37. Burial of Sri Ramana Maharishi, 94. Untitled [Monkeys and Men], 1974 [1982] Dye transfer print 54. Victory Commemoration, Leningrad, 7 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches Turuvannamalai , 1947 [1973] 83/4 x 13 inches 91/16 x 91/16 inches 18 3/4 x 141/8 inches 1972 [1973] 81. Uptown, Chicago, 1965 [1979] 108. Portrait of Two Brothers and Their 9 7/16 x 141/16 inches 14 1/8 x 9 3/8 inches 68. Man in Front of Billboard, Mississippi, 14 x 11 inches Sister, Harlem, 1931 [1974] 95. New Orleans, Mardi Gras, 2 Women 10. Chamula Mother and Child, Mitontic, 22. Inspecting 122mm Artillery Piece Near 1936 Gift of Kenneth G. Futter 7 3/8 x 93/8 inches 38. Las Vegas, 1947 [1973] (1 Black, 1 White), 1975 1963 [1982] Laotian Border, 1968 [1985] 55. Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow, 1972 [1973] 6 3/4 x 81/4 inches 9 7/16 x 14 3/16 inches 9 1/8 x 13 7/16 inches 91/16 x 91/16 inches Dye transfer print 141/8 x 9 1/2 inches 82. Andy, Meeting at the Stoplight, 109. Couple, Harlem, 1932 [1974] 16 1/2 x 21 1/8 inches 69. Roadside Stand Between Tuscaloosa Cicero, Illinois , 1965 or 1966 [1979] 8 3/8 x 9 7/16 inches 39. Arizona, 1947 [1973] 96. Untitled [Mrs. de Menil, Kathryn 11. Eating Ices, San Juan Chamula, 1968 and Greensboro, Alabama, 1936 14 x 11 inches 9 7/16 x 141/16 inches Davidson, Sandra Curtis, , THE MENIL COLLECTION [1982] 23. 102’s on Dawn Mission, 1968 [1985] 7 3/4 x 93/4 inches Gift of Kenneth G. Futter 110. The Heiress, Harlem, 1938 [1974] Texas], 1975 91/16 x 91/16 inches Dye transfer print 7 3/8 x 93/8 inches 13 7/16 x 91/8 inches January 26–April 29, 2007 18 3/4 x 141/8 inches Gift of the artist W. Eugene Smith people. Echoing Steichen’s sentiment of “faith in man,” the de Menils looked to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1967 Lyon was one of the acquisition choices inspired by the friendships he had developed during the The Walk to Paradise Garden, 1946 © The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith figural photography as a means to communicate across different societies and cul- first professional photographers allowed inside Texas state prisons. For two 1960s and 1970s with photographers such as William Eggleston, William tures.3 Several photojournalists featured in “The Family of Man” appeared later in years Lyon documented the prisoners, a project that led to his 1970 exhibition Christenberry, and Walker Evans. Observing the de Menils’ dedication to The Menil Collection, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, and Brassaï, as well “Conversations with the Dead” at Rice’s Institute for the Arts. This joint display Cartier-Bresson, their fellow Frenchman, Hopps wished to construct an as works such as W. Eugene Smith’s The Walk to Paradise Garden (1946). Yet of Lyon’s photographs and watercolors by Billy McCune, an inmate sentenced to equally substantial American counterpoint in the collection through the work whereas Steichen celebrated humanity’s “oneness,” the de Menils often were more life, laid the groundwork for his relationship with the de Menils. Upon seeing of Evans. With his frontal portraits of individuals and architectural facades, interested in the disparities among us caused by race, economics, and geography. Lyon’s images of abandoned children from Colombia in 1973, Kathryn Davidson, particularly during the Great Depression, Evans became known as one of the For this reason, although the individuals represented in the Menil photogra- the Menil’s former curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, wrote to Lyon foremost photographers of the American cultural landscape. phy collection span many ethnicities, classes, and ages, the collection’s tone is expressing Dominique’s interest in his work: “She was not really turned on to Following Evans’s death in 1975 and the sale of his archives to the Lunn shaped by an overarching concern for disadvantaged and vanishing communities. your landscape views but to your ‘people’ insight.” In a telling exchange of corre- Gallery, Hopps collaborated with Harry Lunn in selecting 150 vintage prints for Gertrude Duby Blom’s photographs of Mayans in Chiapas, for example, demon- spondence, Lyon wrote to Dominique in 1974, saying, “We dream of works of art the Menil Foundation. Celebrating the completion of Hopps’s project in 1982, strate John and Dominique’s interest in photography that acts simultaneously as and social realism that have the power to change men and transform society.” Lunn wrote, “It has been the most exhaustive review of the Walker Evans an ethnographic record and a politically motivated plea. Their desire to represent Dominique responded to the news of his film “Niños Abandonados” (“Abandoned Archive undertaken by anyone, literally an examination of more than 3,600 people from around the world through photography also complemented their in- Children”) in kind: “It must hit people right in the stomach and I know it will.” prints in the Archive. Though I feel drained and more than put through the drill, terest in acquiring depictions of Africans and African Americans as part of their Lyon’s connection to the de Menils continued through Adelaide, who donated his I feel the process has been worth it to define in this collection the scope of research project The Image of the Black in Western Art, begun in 1960. During work to the Foundation, and through “Men’s Lives,” a 1988 exhibition of photo- Walker’s work.” Echoing the de Menils’ commitment to Cartier-Bresson, Hopps the 1970s the de Menils sought out works by African American photographers, graphs of Long Island fishermen. continued to acquire Evans’s work for the Foundation for the next ten years. such as Emil Cadoo and James Van der Zee, and images depicting black communi- Danny Lyon, Mary, Santa Marta, Colombia, 19 72 [1979]. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery With the arrival of as a consultant to Dominique in 1979, the This abridged review of the Menil photography collection is an exploration ties, regardless of the photographer’s race, such as Walker Evans’s prints of the photography collection gained fresh momentum and expanded to include color of its tenor rather than a full explication of its contents. The faces that consti- rural South. These holdings in African American imagery grew significantly with Bresson produced 114 prints, many of which John published the next year in the prints. Formerly the director of the Corcoran Museum in Washington, D.C., tute this collection are a medley of friends, colleagues, and—in a large part— eople, in many ways, are the essential building blocks of the Menil the help of the de Menils’ daughter, Adelaide de Menil Carpenter. employee newsletter for Schlumberger Ltd., the international oil field services Hopps, who would become The Menil Collection’s founding director, shared the strangers. The de Menils’ interest in people extended not only to their preferred photography collection. Chiefly comprising work by twentieth-century Appropriate to its focus on people from around the world, the photography corporation founded by Dominique’s father, Conrad Schlumberger. During the de Menils’ commitment to photography as an art form equal to painting and subject matter in photography, but also to their commitment to individual artists, it is a collection formed out of personal relationships, a commit- collection was born out of the de Menils’ relationship with one of the twentieth subsequent decades, Cartier-Bresson and the de Menils developed a lasting sculpture. In 1972 he was the first curator to introduce photography to the artists. Today, the photography collection stands as a reflection of John and Do- Pment to social issues, and an abiding interest in the human condition. century’s most influential photojournalists, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Best known friendship, which culminated in Cartier-Bresson’s decision to create a photo- Venice Biennale by exhibiting Diane Arbus’s work. Once in Houston, Hopps made minique’s desire to build a humanist kinship across geographic, racial, and social Acquired largely since the late 1960s, photography is a latecomer to, and a depar- for his concept of the “decisive moment,” Cartier-Bresson traveled the globe docu- graphic archive for their foundation. After spending two years reviewing thou- divides: a family linked through witnessing each other’s everyday moments. ture from, the majority of the Menil’s holdings in modern art. Whereas John and menting quotidian activities from Moscow to Havana.4 In 1957 the de Menils in- sands of contact sheets produced between 1929 and 1974, Cartier-Bresson Dominique de Menil sought out Surrealism and abstraction in painting and sculp- vited Cartier-Bresson to Houston to document the American Federation for the hand-selected 385 photographs. This grouping, his first archival collection, was NOTES ture, they were attracted to photography primarily for its realism and sense of Unless otherwise noted, all quotations come from correspondence located in the object files Arts Convention, which helped organize. While in Houston, Cartier- exhibited at in 1974 and now exists only in three other collections immediacy. In the words of Dominique, “people, things are snatched out of worldwide. The Menil Foundation continued to acquire Cartier-Bresson’s work of The Menil Collection, Houston. 1. Kathryn Davidson and Elizabeth Glassman, Transfixed by Light, Photographs from The Menil time.”1 Initially, the de Menils acquired prints from photographers they hired to thereafter, bringing its current holdings to over one thousand prints. Foundation Collection: Selected by Beaumont Newhall (Houston: The Menil Foundation, 1980), 5. record art events in Houston. Yet over time their collection grew to incorporate Although the de Menils hired professional photographers (including Eve 2. Quoted in Fred Winchell, The Family of Man (Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum, 1956), 1. people and places from around the world. Arnold) to document exhibitions at the CAA and the University of Saint Thomas, There is a rich discourse of critique surrounding "The Family of Man," one succinct example In 1956, before the de Menils collected photography, they were indirectly re- where they acted as patrons through the 1950s, they did not begin seriously col- being Roland Barthes's essay "The Great Family of Man," in Mythologies, trans. Jonathan Cape sponsible for bringing one of the largest photographic exhibitions to date to Hous- lecting photography until 1969. At that time they helped establish the Institute (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972), 100–102. 3.Edward Steichen, The Family of Man (New York: The , 1955), 5. ton’s Contemporary Arts Association (CAA, now the Contemporary Arts Museum for the Arts at Rice University and, together with Gerald O’Grady, then a scholar of 4. Henri Cartier-Bresson, About Russia (New York: The Viking Press), iii. Houston). During its international tour, “The Family of Man” was one of the first medieval literature, the Rice Media Center. Dedicated as a space for the teaching, exhibitions to appear under the aegis of Jermayne MacAgy, the pioneering curator research, and exhibition of photography and film, the Rice Media Center also be- Curated by Franklin Sirmans, curator of modern and contemporary art; text by whom the de Menils recruited to direct the CAA. “The Family of Man” originated came an environment for the de Menils to become acquainted with artists work- Miranda Lash, curatorial assistant. at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in January of 1955, and featured 503 ing in both mediums. Photojournalist Geoff Winningham and visiting professors photographs of individuals from 68 countries. Curated by Edward Steichen, head of such as Eve Sonneman taught budding young photographers, who in turn exhib- “Everyday People: 20th-Century Photography from The Menil Collection” is MOMA’s photography department, each image was organized into humanist ited at the Media Center. After seeing images of New Orleans during Mardi Gras generously supported by Molly Gochman, Michael Zilkha, and the City of Houston. themes such as childbirth, religion, and death, designed to celebrate “the essen- by Joshua Mann Pailet and Scott Michael Coburn there in 1972, the de Menils 2 Cover: Walker Evans, Untitled [Studio Portraits] , 1935 or 1936 tial oneness and goodness of man.” acquired work by both photographers and inquired after more examples of the © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art While “The Family of Man” was by no means a blueprint for the Menil photog- revelers in “those fantastic costumes.” raphy collection, it prefigured many of the hopes John and Dominique de Menil in- Another key photographer the de Menils encountered through Rice was vested in photography. Though the collection includes landscapes by artists Danny Lyon, who embarked upon his career in documentary filmmaking at the Henri Cartier-Bresson T HE M ENIL C OLLECTION ranging from Ansel Adams to Christo and Surrealist works by and Hans Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow, 1972 [1973] 1515 Sul Ross Street Houston, Texas 77006 713-525-9400 Media Center in 1969. A native of Brooklyn, Lyon had traveled through the South © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Bellmer, the vast majority of the Menil’s over three thousand photographs are of Emil Cadoo, from the series Harlem, 1966. © Estate of Emil Cadoo, courtesy Janos Gat Gallery, New York during the early 1960s photographing the civil rights movement as a member of Magnum Photos www.menil.org