John de Ménil (January 4, 1904 – June 1, 1973) was a Franco-American businessman, philanthropist, and art patron.Helfenstein, Josef, and Laureen Schipsi. Art and Activism: Projects of John and Dominique de Menil. Houston: The Menil Collection, 2010. "John de Menil, 69, a Patron of Art; Schlumberger Officer Dies—Financed Rothko Chapel," The New York Times. June 2, 1973. He was the founding president of the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) in New York.Glueck, Grace. "Art Group Is Set Up To Judge Attribution," The New York Times. May 8, 1970. With his wife, Dominique de Menil, he established the Menil Collection, a free museum designed by Renzo Piano and built in 1986 to preserve and exhibit their world-class contemporary art collection.
Life De Ménil was born Baron Jean Marie Joseph Menu de Ménil in Paris. After emigrating to the United States during World War II, he began using the name 'John Menu de Ménil' which is an anglicized version of 'Jean Menu de Ménil'. Over time he stopped using the 'Menu' portion of his surname and began using shortened forms of the surname such as 'de Ménil' or 'Deménil'. John's children also usually spell their surname as 'de Ménil' (sometimes they use the form 'Deménil'). After becoming a U. S. citizen in 1962, de Ménil officially changed his first name from 'Jean' to 'John'.
De Ménil was a son of Baron Georges-Auguste-Emmanuel Menu de Ménil (April 20, 1863 – 1947) and Marie-Madeleine Rougier (1866 – 1929). The Menu de Ménil family was a French Catholic family, many of whose men had been officers in the French military. The title of Baron, which de Ménil inherited from his father, had been bestowed on John's great-great-grandfather Paul-Alexis-Joseph Menu de Ménil (July 17, 1764 – December 30, 1834) on September 11, 1813 by Napoleon Bonaparte – thus making him a 'baron de l'Empire'.John and Dominique de Menil in Depth
In the 1920s de Ménil earned a degree in political science from Sciences Po (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris) and a degree in law from the Faculté de droit de l'Université de Paris.
In 1930, de Ménil met French heiress Dominique Schlumberger, whom he married on May 9, 1931.John Russell, "Dominique de Menil, 89, Dies; Collector and Philanthropist," The New York Times. January 1, 1998. They had five children. Although the full surname of these children actually is 'Menu de Ménil', in practice they all use the shortened anglicized spelling 'de Ménil' (or sometimes 'Deménil') instead, so that is what is given here:
Christophe (Marie Christophe de Ménil) (1933-2025) – The first wife of Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman (they married in 1960), and the grandmother of artist Dash Snow. Adelaide (Louise Adélaïde de Ménil) (born 1935) – A photographer who was the third wife of anthropologist Edmund Snow Carpenter. Georges (Georges François Conrad de Ménil) (aka George de Menil) (born December 4, 1940) – An economist who is married to historian Lois Ames Pattison (born May 15, 1938). Georges and Lois were married on August 3, 1968. François (François Conrad Thomas de Ménil) (born April 12, 1945) – A filmmaker and architect. He married Susan Kadin Silver (born May 8, 1958) on January 18, 1985 in Harris County, Texas. Philippa (Anne Caroline Philippa de Ménil) (born June 13, 1947) – A co-founder of the Dia Art Foundation.Glueck, Grace. “The de Menil Family: The Medici of Modern Art.” New York Times Magazine, May 18, 1986: 28–46, 66, 106, 113. Her first husband (whom she married on May 14, 1969, in Harris County, Texas) was Italian anthropologist Francesco Pellizzi (born July 14, 1940). Her second husband (whom she married in 1978) was visionary German art dealer Heiner Friedrich (born April 14, 1938).
In the early years of his de Ménil was a banker, serving as vice-president (1932–1938) of the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie in Paris. Following the outbreak of World War II and the Nazi occupation of France, the de Ménils emigrated from Paris to the United States. They maintained residences in New York City and France but settled in Houston, Texas, where de Ménil 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.
Building an art collection John and Dominique de Ménil began collecting art intensively in the 1940s, beginning with a purchase of Paul Cézanne's 1895 painting Montagne (Mountain) in 1945. The de Ménils' Catholic faith, especially their interest in Father Yves Marie Joseph Congar's teachings on ecumenism, would become crucial in the development of their collecting ethos in the coming decades. With the guidance of the Dominican priest Marie-Alain Couturier, who introduced the de Ménils to the work of artists in galleries and museums in New York, they became interested in the intersection of modern art and spirituality. They ultimately amassed more than 17,000 paintings, sculptures, decorative objects, prints, drawings, photographs, and rare books.La rime et la raison: Les collections Ménil (Houston–New York). Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 1984.
The de Ménils were particularly interested in modern European art, and a core strength of the collection was the many Cubist, Surrealist, and other Modernist works they acquired. By the 1960s the de Menils had gravitated toward the major American post-war movements of Abstract expressionism, Pop art, and Minimalism.The Menil Collection: A Selection from the Paleolithic to the Modern Era. New York: Abrams, 1987. Rev. ed., 1997. Over the years the family enjoyed close personal friendships with many of the artists whose work they collected, including Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, Jasper Johns, Yves Klein, René Magritte, Robert Rauschenberg, Dorothea Tanning, and Andy Warhol.
The de Ménils, however, did not limit their acquisitions to modern art, and their eclectic tastes became a hallmark of their collecting practices. As modernists, they recognized the profound formal and spiritual connections between contemporary works of art and the arts of ancient and indigenous cultures, broadening their collection to include works from classical Mediterranean and Byzantine cultures, as well as objects from Africa, Oceania, and the Pacific Northwest.Van Dyke, Kristina. African Art from The Menil Collection. Houston: Menil Foundation; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008. Influenced by the teachings of Father Couturier and Father Congar, the de Menils developed a particular humanist ethos in which they understood art as a central part of the human experience. Their collection was motivated by their shared interest in the many ways individuals over different cultures and eras reveal through art their understanding of what it means to be human.
Plans to create a museum to house and exhibit the collection began as early as 1972, when the de Menils asked the architect Louis I. Kahn to design a museum campus on Menil Foundation property in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston near the Rothko Chapel. Kahn did produce some preliminary drawings, but the project was suspended in 1973 after de Menil's and Kahn's deaths less than a year apart.Elliott, Clare. The Menil Collection: Art Spaces. London: Scala; Houston: Menil Foundation, Inc., 2007. The de Menils' vision was finally realized in 1987 with the opening of the Menil Collection, designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Patron of the arts 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, recognizing that the city lacked a substantial arts community.de Menil, John. "A Provincial Town." In Houston: Text by Houstonians, 127–29. Marrero, La.: Hope Haven Press, 1949. Responding to a friend's observation that Houston was a cultural desert, de Menil is said to have quipped, "It's in the desert that miracles happen."Colacello, Bob. "Remains of the Dia," Vanity Fair. September 1996. During his lifetime he was a member of the board of directors or a trustee of the Amon Carter Museum, the American Federation of Arts Committee, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Institute of International Education, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Museum of Primitive Art. He also served on the International Council and board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In 1949 John and Dominique de Menil commissioned the architect Philip Johnson to design their home in the River Oaks neighborhood in Houston. One of the first International style residences in Texas, it generated controversy not only by standing out amongst the mansions of River Oaks but also by pairing Johnson's clean, modernist lines with a bold color palette and eclectic interior design by Charles James.Middleton, William. “A House That Rattled Texas Windows.” The New York Times, June 3, 2004. The de Menils filled their home with art and hosted many of the leading artists, scientists, civil rights activists, and intellectuals of the day.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the de Menils promoted modern art in Houston through exhibitions held at the Contemporary Arts Association (later the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston), such as Max Ernst's first solo exhibition in the United States, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to which they gave important gifts of art.Brennan, Marcia, Alfred Pacquement, and Ann Temkin. A Modern Patronage: de Menil Gifts to American and European Museums. Introduction by Josef Helfenstein. Houston: Menil Foundation; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007. They were instrumental in the Contemporary Arts Association's decision to hire Jermayne MacAgy as its director, who curated several groundbreaking exhibitions, including "The Sphere of Mondrian" and "Totems Not Taboo: An Exhibition of Primitive Art."Jermayne MacAgy: A Life Illustrated by an Exhibition. Exhibition catalogue. Houston: University of St. Thomas, 1968. 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."Menil Foundation – Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
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. In an effort to provide a strong art history curriculum in Houston for students and adults, they founded the Art Department at the University of St. Thomas in 1959, inviting Jermayne MacAgy to teach courses and curate exhibitions held at Jones Hall. They established the university's Media Center in 1967. 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.