The Menil Collection, operated by the Menil Foundation, Inc., opened to the public in June 1987 as the primary repository of John and Dominique de Menil's private collection of more than 16,000 works from the Paleolithic era to the present day. This new addition to the Art Spaces series highlights the influential building, designed by Renzo Piano, which houses the collection. The interior galleries and storage areas were to be spacious enough to accommodate the vast collection but also discreet, incorporating elements from the de Menils' single-story house designed by Philip Johnson. Piano created a system of ceiling louvers, skylights and expansive windows which modulate the bright Texan sun and gently suffuse the galleries with what Dominique called 'living light'. This exciting book also illustrates other important spaces accompanying the museum: the Cy Twombly Gallery, designed by Renzo Piano as an exhibition annex for a permanent installation of artist Cy Twombly's work; Dominique's last commission before her death in 1997, Richmond Hall, which holds one of only two permanent Dan Flavin installations in America; the Rothko Chapel founded by the de Menils and dedicated as a nondenominational sanctuary in 1971, now home to fourteen Mark Rothko paintings; and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel designed by Francois de Menil and opened in February 1997, a repository for the only thirteenth-century Byzantine frescoes in the western hemisphere. This combined campus of buildings remains a place of pilgrimage for art enthusiasts from around the world. AUTHOR: Clare Elliott is Assistant Curator of The Menil Collection Miranda Lash is Curatorial Assistant 51 colour A12 b/w illustrations
