''John's feeling for the underdog really started in his childhood,'' says Dominique. ''Not only were they considered radical, but really different. 1974 by art dealer Heiner Friedrich and his wife, art patron Philippa de Menil. It is often cited as one of the most significant privately assembled art collections, alongside the Barnes Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Museum. 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. 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. 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. tion in 1974, run by Philippa de Menil, Heiner Friedrich and Helen Winkler. Philippa de Menil New York. And I loathed the black-tiled floor. They gave major gifts of art to the school, bought land to expand the campus and hired Philip Johnson to design new buildings. Dominique Isaline Zelia Henriette Clarisse Schlumberger. They helped make a black militant who hated white people into a humanitarian.'' Rites were performed not only by a Catholic prelate, but a black Baptist minister, a rabbi, and a Buddhist priest. [30], In the 1980s de Menil again began looking for an architect to design the museum, eventually commissioning Renzo Piano, a renowned Italian architect known for his provocative Centre Georges Pompidou building in Paris, to come up with a design that would fit her vision for the museum. 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. '', See the article in its original context from. The two met at a ball in Versailles, and were married in 1931, when Dominique was 22 and John was 27 and working in a Paris bank. They have been adventurous patrons, perhaps less concerned than many with the kudos and the cash that go with art patronage in American society. But we are definitely a collection of people very much influenced by John and Dominique. (A question mark next to a word above means that we couldn't find it, but clicking the word might provide spelling suggestions.) To suggest the institution's role in enabling such ambitions, they selected the name "Dia," taken from the Greek word meaning "through." Also on display in Richmond Hall are four examples of Flavin's "monuments" to V. Tatlin, created between 1964 and 1969.[1][36]. ''We didn't really buy art, because we didn't have the money and we didn't think of it,'' says Dominique, whose scientist father considered spending money on art frivolous. Fariha Fatima al-Jerrahi (born Philippa de Menil; 13 June 1947) is the spiritual guide and current Sheikha of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order in New York City. The foundation's extravagant expenditures have necessitated a family rescue effort. ''Life had been tough for him, and he saw how hard it was for some others.''. John listened patiently to the telephone tirade and then said, ''Listen, my friend, why don't you come to my house for a drink? 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. Soon the couple was on a collecting spree, venturing from Cezanne to Braque to Picasso, then - under the influence of the dealer Alexander Iolas - heavily into Surrealism. Adelaide wished that the starkly modern house, designed by the then-Mies-disciple Philip Johnson, could be like everyone else's. Says Dominique, ''The idea of the foundation was marvelous, and they've done great things. Someone recommended a Surrealist painter named Max Ernst to decorate a wall of their apartment; disliking his proposal, the newlyweds commissioned from him instead a portrait of Dominique. THE DE MENILS' IN-volvement in the Houston art world began in the 1940's - an inevitable consequence of Father Couturier's evangelism. You can't just expand and expand. 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. An informal art historian and teacher, Dominique has also organized some remarkable exhibitions, innovatively installed. 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. [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. 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. Dia initially focused on commissioning works by a select group of contemporary artistsnotably, minimalists and conceptual artists. Dominique, who maintains three homes herself, shakes her head indulgently over their ''extravagance.''. (Brought up a Protestant, she converted to Catholicism to marry John.) Sweeney, the de Menils' man, was eventually dismissed, partly because he questioned the attributions of works the Blaffer family proposed to donate. ''It was very grand and typically him,'' says Adelaide. Today, Dominique says, her relationship with the still-small institution is ''very friendly. (As one Texan commented, ''The de Menils have done so much good with so little money,'' pointing out that their wealth was ''really peanuts, compared to some fortunes down here.'') menil? Until very recently, Christophe also had a sizable house in East Hampton, but it burned down during Hurricane Gloria last fall. (Spookily enough, another dwelling she had built on the same site about 20 years ago met the same end.) Initially the stated aim as written in its first report was to "plan, realise and maintain public projects of artists. 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. ''Ted really started it - he saved an old house that was going to be demolished, and so we bought the land,'' she says. 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. 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. Not helpful? TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. ''I went to breakfast, lunch and dinner at their house and met every important person they knew. 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. Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston. "I dreamed of preserving some of the intimacy I had enjoyed with works of art," she wrote. In 1974, the two formed the Dia Foundation - the name is Greek for catalyst - subsidized solely by Philippa's shares in Schlumberger Ltd. Dia soon became one of the largest and most venturesome nonprofit funding sources in the field of contemporary art, buying up the works of certain artists -more than 125 of John Chamberlain's sculptures of crushed auto parts, for example - and sponsoring projects that range from Walter de Maria's permanent ''earth sculpture,'' comprising 280,000 pounds of dirt that fill a gallery in a SoHo building, to the vast ''Art Museum of the Pecos,'' in Marfa, Tex., a compound of more than 340 acres which has deployed an array of indoor and outdoor works by Donald Judd and other artists. "[8] Piano's understated design for the Menil Collection echoed the architecture of the surrounding bungalows, which had been painted gray by the Menil Foundation, and featured a roof of canopy leaves that allowed filtered natural light to fill the galleries. The Fathers, too, can now see both sides. 1584-1586 - Franoise du Chtelet. ''But there were all these weird paintings hanging on the walls,'' she says. Apr 18, 2018 1:37PM. 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. Institute of Religion Accepts Controversial Broken Obelisk.. Designed by the architect Charles Gwathmey and built at a reported cost of $6 million, the house - called ''Toad Hall'' by its owner - is a fantasy version of a luxury ocean liner, with a three-story greenhouse, screening room, game room, exercise salon, wine cellar and the obligatory swimming pool. Inheritance (oil) 20th-century art Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Overview Newswire RobbReport The family was met in Havana by John, who - having joined Schlumberger in 1938 - had been in Rumania, overseeing Schlumberger operations there, as well as putting sand into the gear boxes of Rumanian trains carrying oil to Germany. ''I was interested in art, but shy and out of contact with the art world. ''In the here and now, with great acuity and effectiveness; but also, at a moment's notice, in the Kingdom of Benin or the Byzantine Empire.'' 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. They hated the result, and hid it away. 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? ''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. With the guidance of the Dominican priest Marie-Alain Couturier, who introduced the de Menils to the work of artists in galleries and museums in New York, they became interested in the intersection of modern art and spirituality. 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.
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