The Menil Collection

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The Menil Collection is a museum dedicated to preserving and exhibiting the art collection of Houston philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil. Its diverse holdings represent many world cultures and thousands of years of human creativity, from prehistoric times to the present day. Assembled over the course of many decades, the collection—which continues to grow—is widely recognized for its depth and eclecticism. At the Menil visitors view art in a tranquil, contemplative setting. Admission to the Menil is always free of charge.

The story of the Menil Collection begins in France with the 1931 marriage of John de Menil (1904–1973), a young banker from a distinguished military family, and Dominique Schlumberger (1908–1997), daughter of Conrad Schlumberger, one of the founders of the oil services company Schlumberger, Ltd. The de Menils left France during World War II for Houston, where John eventually directed Schlumberger’s worldwide operations. The de Menils quickly became key figures in Houston’s developing cultural life, as advocates of modern art and architecture. As patrons of architecture, they built one of the first International Style houses in Texas (Philip Johnson was the architect) and the Rothko Chapel. Surviving her husband by twenty-five years, Dominique built the museum that bears the family name as well as the Cy Twombly Gallery and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum.

Throughout their lives the de Menils were also champions of civil and human rights. They were early supporters of Mickey Leland, Houston’s first black congressman, and in later years Dominique de Menil became active in promoting human rights worldwide.

"Perhaps only silence and love do justice to a great work of art."
–Dominique de Menil

The de Menils began seriously collecting in the 1940s after their move to the United States and, aided by the growth of Schlumberger Ltd., continued to acquire art into the 1970s.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the de Menils promoted modern art through the new Contemporary Arts Association and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (to which they gave gifts of art), and by founding the Art History Department at the University of St. Thomas and the Institute for the Arts at Rice University. They also initiated a number of ambitious research and publishing projects, such as the catalogues raisonnés of the artists René Magritte and Max Ernst, and the multiple-volumeImage of the Black in Western Art.

“The Machine Show,” Rice Museum, 1969

John and Dominique de Menil were humanists who believed that art is a central part of the human experience. It is clear from their collection that they were deeply moved by the many ways individuals over different cultures and eras have revealed in art their understanding of what it means to be human.

This belief in the power of art explains the value the Menil Collection places on the primacy of the artwork, the individual artist’s intention, and the viewer’s unmediated experience in the gallery. That experience includes the contemplative, intimate quality of space and light, and the restrained aesthetic of display. Viewers will also note the absence of explanatory wall texts, docent tours, and acoustic guides: the Menil believes that a viewer’s encounter with a work of art should be immediate and direct, not conditioned by others’ thoughts and opinions about the work.