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. When de Menil learned that a group of 13th-century Byzantine frescoes had been stolen from a chapel in Lysi, Cyprus, and cut up by smugglers, she paid the ransom and funded their restoration. Now it's a coalition of businessmen and minorities who run the city.''. ''John's feeling for the underdog really started in his childhood,'' says Dominique. ''It gives us a strong family feeling.''. Not helpful? The de Menils often personally recruited faculty members for the departments and brought many renowned artists and art historians to Houston, including Marcel Duchamp, Roberto Matta, and James Johnson Sweeney, whom they convinced to serve as museum director for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from 1961 to 1967. A more reticent, but still attention-getting, project is Adelaide's 40-acre housing complex, set in a former potato field not far from Francois's establishment. Their fervor spilled over into us. 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. She spoke at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel, inaugurating the Passionate Voices series, celebrating the 10th anniversary. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, they offered it to the city of Houston on condition that it be dedicated to the black leader. At that point, the de Menils began to drift away from the museum. In 1974, Fr 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. ''If only my father could see him now,'' his sister Adelaide has remarked proudly. Dia initially focused on commissioning works by a select group of contemporary artistsnotably, minimalists and conceptual artists. "The Memory of Rossellini in Texas." 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. When John de Menil walked into Alexander Iolas Gallery in Paris one day in 1964, Jean Tinguely's moving, noisy sculptures stole part of . (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.) They began to concentrate on the more established Museum of Fine Arts. News Dia Sues Dia: Founders Try to Stop Art Auction. Following Ozak's death, the tariqa was split into the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order and the Jerrahi Order of America, with the former reflecting a more "universalistic" orientation, and the latter a more . 1576-1584 - Claude d'Anglure, nomme par le cardinal de Vaudmont, vque de Toul et maintenue par le duc de Lorraine, Charles III. Sweeney, the de Menils' man, was eventually dismissed, partly because he questioned the attributions of works the Blaffer family proposed to donate. In 1986, de Menil deepened her involvement in social causes, establishing the Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation with former president Jimmy Carter to "promote the protection of human rights throughout the world". "I dreamed of preserving some of the intimacy I had enjoyed with works of art," she wrote. 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. ''He made us greedy,'' Dominique says, remembering that the priest once appeared for lunch with a Rouault painting under his arm. He remembers admiring a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson at Adelaide's house. Born 1947 Start a FameChain Trivia Philippa De Menil Family View Philippa De Menil's Family Tree and History, Ancestry and Genealogy While the two had mutual feelings for art and social problems, Dominique was reticent and understated, John was ebullient, opinionated, action-oriented. Dia was founded in New York City in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, Heiner Friedrich, and Helen Winkler to help artists achieve visionary projects that might not otherwise be realized because of scale or scope. And she goes on collecting - though at a much slower pace, she says, because prices have risen so high. An 11th-century abbey revamped during the 18th century, the chateau has perhaps 100 rooms. Dominique, who was courted by other cities, says that the museum is in Houston because ''I was so encouraged here.'' 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 . After his death, he lay in state, wrapped in a sheet in his own bed. [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. Sheikha. He was my particular nemesis. And Donald Judd has gone public with vociferous denunciations of the foundation, which is now but a shadow of itself. They were the first Americans to influence Europeans. '', Because Dominique saw ''collecting'' as pretentious, she was reluctant until recently to use the term. The artists previously collaborated with the Dia Art Foundation, which was founded by Philippa de Menil (Dominique and John's daughter), to realise their monumental immersive light installation. Schlumberger, Dominique. Playing savior to old buildings in the area, she and Ted Carpenter have rescued 15 of them and restored most, with the aid of the Houston architect, Howard Barnstone, a longtime family friend. They have been adventurous patrons, perhaps less concerned than many with the kudos and the cash that go with art patronage in American society. Photography became an important component of the collection, which includes works by Eve Arnold, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Danny Lyon, Hans Namuth, and Eve Sonneman. 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. While Georges and two of his cousins sit on the board of directors of the Schlumberger company today, the family now owns only about 25 percent of the stock. 1529-1538 - Philippa de Ligniville, fille de Jean de Ligniville et de Jeanne d'Oiselet. 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. Though designed by one of the architects of the flamboyant Pompidou Center in Paris, which wears its plumbing on its facade, it bears no resemblance to that outrageous folly. to find the word you're looking for. Most of the land and houses within a six-block radius, quietly assembled by John, are under de Menil ownership. ''It's absolutely crazy what they did,'' says one New York dealer. Georges and Lois de Menil have not lagged behind. ''Ted really started it - he saved an old house that was going to be demolished, and so we bought the land,'' she says. [31] The result was a museum that appeared "small on the outside, butas big as possible inside". [1], The de Menils, however, did not limit their acquisitions to modern art, and their eclectic tastes became a hallmark of their collecting practices. Ibish, Yusuf, and Peter Lamborn Wilson, eds. ''You support artists by buying their work, not by making shrines to them.''. 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. Indeed, Adelaide has recently given the museum an important piece from her collection. Hopps, a well known presence in the field of contemporary art, comes from California and made a reputation early on as director of the esteemed Pasadena Museum of Art. 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. 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. She also established the scar Romero Award, named after the slain El Salvadoran bishop. Shortly thereafter, she gave him a book of Cartier-Bresson photographs, inscribed to him by the master himself, who had been staying with her for the weekend. Essays and short texts describe the de Menils' collecting; their patronage of modern architecture; their promotion of film as an art form; their struggles . While fostering bonds with the greater Sufi & Muslim American communities, the role of women in Islam and spiritual ecology have been of special importance to her message. 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. Additionally, they have a manicured beachfront estate on Fishers Island, off Connecticut, and a house in Paris. Philippa de Menil New York. 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. [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. Inheritance (oil) 20th-century art Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Icon Link Plus Icon; Overview Newswire RobbReport 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. She badly needed a religion.''. The rest of John's and Dominique's estates would go to their own causes. [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. 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. de? Later in his life, spending more time in New York, he would give lavish dinners for them and make the rounds -in a chauffeured limousine -of poetry readings, performances and parties, bestowing gifts on those who interested him. THE NEW BUILDING will be close to another, even more un-Houstonian de Menil monument. The day and hour were set, with Dominique's agreement. Hewing to the European tradition of millionaire radicals, they came to be Houston's most rewardingly subversive citizens, bringing maverick ideas to the provinces about art, politics and what to do with money. Adelaide, two years younger and known as Addie to the family, is a photographer, and travels with Ted Carpenter on a far-flung anthropological and collecting beat. Indeed, shuttling among residences in Houston, New York and Paris, Dominique has a heavy agenda. Its basis was a device that was lowered by cable into the ground to measure the electrical resistance of formations in the earth. ''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. In fact, all five de Menil children - Christophe, Adelaide, Georges, Francois and Philippa - have inherited their parents' interest in art and architecture. 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. The idea was born, Dominique says, out of her ''shock'' at discovering segregation ''when I arrived in the United States, and wondering why, when great artists have seen blacks as beautiful, dignified, noble, they were not considered so here.''. 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. 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. She says now that she never imagined their acquisitions would someday fill a museum. You were sharing in the great adventure of making a work of art that was maybe too crazy to realize in any other way.'' [1] She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1986. And there is no question that Houston's cultural establishment takes the new museum quite seriously. 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. 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 . De Maria had traveled to Santa Barbara for his mother's 100th birthday in early June; however, he went on to . she asked, in genuine surprise. Heiner Friedrich is an art dealer and collector of minimal art and conceptual art. ''They came as intellectuals to an intellectual void,'' says Isaac Arnold Jr., chairman of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts and also of Quintana Petroleum. 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. (Brought up a Protestant, she converted to Catholicism to marry John.) Ironically, planned in a time of boom for Houston, the museum will be finished in a time of bust, due to falling oil prices. When the de Menils acquired the sculpture in 1968, the year the Rev. ''What I inherited was my mother's craving. Friedrich and his then wife Philippa de Menil, together with Helen Winkler, established the Dia Art Foundation in 1973. The two youngest children are Francois, 41, and Philippa, 39. The couple also has a house in Bridgehampton, L.I., and a 60-square-mile holding in Texas, known as Mesquite Ranch, that is being restored, possibly for use as a retreat or conference center. At the sale, Dominique bought a Barnett Newman and Adelaide picked up her first de Kooning.) "[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]. He remembers a rainy night in Paris, when he was ill with a cold but had a manuscipt to deliver to the noted anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss. Also on display in Richmond Hall are four examples of Flavin's "monuments" to V. Tatlin, created between 1964 and 1969.[1][36]. ''I'm extreme and I have strong tastes,'' says Christophe, who is also an excellent though unexhibited photographer. I'M VERY PROUD OF them,'' Dominique says of the children, ''and gratified that they have John's and my interests. The conflict, as is the case with most de Menil disagreements, actually reveals the strength of the family's ties, according to Ted Carpenter: ''It's like an Italian family arguing over the pasta. But one family member suggests that the figure ''could easily be twice that amount.'' Until very recently, Christophe also had a sizable house in East Hampton, but it burned down during Hurricane Gloria last fall. 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. '', AT 78, DOMINIQUE IS A HANDSOME WOMAN OF frail, unassuming presence, whose ''spiritual'' mien and austere garb evoke the image of a medieval saint. Her second husband is. Coordinated by civil rights activist and later U.S. In 1983, the foundation listed assets of approximately $30 million in art and real estate. ALTHOUGH DOMI-nique's children function in somewhat lower gear, they also have made ambitious forays into - and even careers in - the arts. But as a friend notes, ''She is maybe not so much a collector as a catalyst who makes things happen.'' For example, use She recently bought another place near Sag Harbor, and in Manhattan she has a splendid three-story former carriage house with a swimming pool on the ground floor, redone with help from the Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry and the ''light sculptor'' Douglas Wheeler. Adelaide wished that the starkly modern house, designed by the then-Mies-disciple Philip Johnson, could be like everyone else's. 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. 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. And then, you can move in and we can move out.' ''Mother lives at two levels,'' says Georges. 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 also set up a media center, an undergraduate film school whose instructors included the film directors Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard and Michelangelo Antonioni. ''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. 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. 1584-1586 - Franoise du Chtelet. She began to collect work by contemporary Americans even before her parents did, and exerted considerable influence on their acquisitions in the field. The work these artists made changed, or at least questioned, the nature of art: what it. [10] They bought more than two hundred pieces from Klejman's New York Gallery. 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? [1], In addition to becoming known as collectors and patrons of art, John and Dominique de Menil were vocal champions of human rights worldwide. WHERE THE DE MENIL MONEY COMES FROM. Anyone can read what you share. There was a moral obligation to get involved with their involvements. So hooked were they that, ''We went crazy,'' says Dominique. Brennan, Marcia, Alfred Pacquement, and Ann Temkin. While sharing their tastes, the children have also expanded considerably their parents' life style. ''She had a passion for art, and in later years she did buy it, but she gave it to her grandchildren - small things, a little Klee, a little Picasso, a little Rouault,'' says Dominique. A big show of the family's art collections was held at the Grand Palais in Paris two years ago. [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. (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.'') Ever since, Dia's mission has been to commission, support, and present site-specific long-term installations and single-artists exhibitions to the public. ''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. By Henri Cartier-Bresson at Adelaide 's house on Fishers Island, off Connecticut and. Because prices have risen so high much slower pace, she was the! 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