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    Eye on Magritte

    Caught up in the mystery: Blockbuster Magritte exhibit questions love, reality and relationships

    Tarra Gaines
    Feb 15, 2014 | 10:17 am

    For many Houston art lovers René Magritte is probably something of an old friend, albeit one who seems perfectly normal but constantly makes statements that cause us to question the very nature of reality.

    Whenever we feel the need for our sense of order in the universe to be shaken up, we can make a trip to the Menil Collection where our chum awaits us with boulders admiring seascapes, skies within an eye, and reminders that a painting is not a pipe. (The museum holds the largest and most significant collection of works by Magritte outside of his native Belgium.)

    Yet for many people, Magritte might be known mostly as the bowler hat guy from postcards or posters. At least, this is the worry of Menil Director Josef Helfenstein. He hopes the new exhibition, Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938, which opened on Valentine's Day, will bring novices an appreciation of Magritte as an artist. Perhaps it will also bring Magritte lovers a better understanding of the artist as a mystery that will never be fully solved, and we kind of like it that way. (Full disclosure: Yes, I was one of those kids who had a The Dominion of Light poster hanging in my college dorm room).

    Within the exhibition Magritte aficionados will not only find many of his signature images and motifs but will now see the genesis of these themes.

    This exhibition of Magritte’s early work was organized by the Menil Collection, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art. Helfenstein, who is also one of the three curators, boasted during a preview walk-though of the show that this will be one of the most detailed shows of Magritte’s paintings from one of the most productive periods in the artist’s life in the years leading up to World War II.

    Within the exhibition Magritte aficionados will not only find many of his signature images and motifs — the musical notes, the metamorphosis of materials, human flesh to wood, sky to wallpaper, the word paintings — but will now see the genesis of these themes. Patrons will also see the very first of the word paintings, The Interpretation of Dreams, the rendition of four everyday objects, all but one labeled incorrectly.

    “The surrealist, and Magritte especially, were really interested in liberating the mind. That was their main goal. They felt painting was not interesting per se. It’s only interesting if it forces you to abandon what you already know, if you liberate yourself,” Helfenstein explained.

    Only in Houston

    The Museum of Modern Art was the first stop of this exhibition but there are several works, including The Interpretation of Dreams that are exclusive to the Menil’s version of the show. Helfenstein also believes that with the installation of the works within the Menil’s galleries, “The paintings start to talk to one another, but they talk in kind of a disturbing way.”

    Helfenstein believes that with the installation of the works within the Menil’s galleries, “The paintings start to talk to one another, but they talk in kind of a disturbing way.”

    Perhaps one of the best examples of this disturbing conversation is the arrangement on the same wall of Attempting the Impossible, Magritte’s casting of himself and his wife Georgette Berger into the Pygmalion myth, the covered kissing Lovers, and creepy overlapping female and male figures of The Titanic Days. Together they have a rather twisted discussion about love and relationships.

    Another Houston-only juxtaposition of works are three toiles decoupees from 1930 that have not been seen next to each other since 1931. According to Helfenstein, the placement of the three cut-up paintings the landscape The Depths of the Earth, cloudscape Celestial Perfections, and nude The Eternally Obvious, emphasis the pieces as objects as much as paintings.

    A fascinating reunion of paintings that have been apart for decades is a small room near the end of the exhibition of works Magritte painted for the British collector Edward James, including the immense On the Threshold of Liberty and two faceless portraits of James himself.

    Portrait of the Artist

    Near the end of the exhibition are two self-portraits, Clairvoyance and The Philospher's Lamp, depicting Magritte, ever in the guise of banality all the while contorting any notion of a solid, static reality.

    “He wanted to undercut the romanticized image as the artist as a Bohemian. That was maybe one of the most radical things he did. He dressed like a bourgeois. He dressed like the most normal Belgium nobody and of course that was his way to be quite subversive. I think it was a very effective way. It was also a fascinating way to show how anonymous we have become in modernity. . .It was a way to challenge the conventions,” described Helfenstein.

    But wait, that’s definitely not the last we’ll see of our good friend. The companion exhibition, Memories of a Voyage: The Late Work of René Magritte, is presented concurrently with Mystery of the Ordinary and will also be exclusive to the Menil.

    Special public programs will be offered in conjunction with the exhibitions, and for the first time in its history The Menil Collection will extend its opening hours until 9 p.m. on Fridays through the duration of the exhibition, which runs through June 1. Admission is free.

    René Magritte, Le faux miroir (The False Mirror), 1928, oil on canvas, 21 1 4 by 31 7/8 inches, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase

    The Menil Magritte The Mystery of the Ordinary February 2014 False Mirror
      
    Photo courtesy of © Charly Herscovici, ADAGP Artists Rights Society, 2014
    René Magritte, Le faux miroir (The False Mirror), 1928, oil on canvas, 21 1 4 by 31 7/8 inches, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase
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    Houston's iconic Rothko Chapel receives new grant to restore Beryl damage

    Jef Rouner
    May 12, 2025 | 10:30 am
    Rothko Chapel exterior
    Courtesy of the Rothko Chapel
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    Houston's beloved Rothko Chapel is one step closer to recovery after Hurricane Beryl in 2024. A substantial new grant from Bank of America will fund the restoration of Mark Rothko pieces damaged by the storm.

    “This grant comes at a pivotal moment – not only for the Rothko Chapel, but in the broader context of our changing climate and growing vulnerability to extreme weather events,” said David Leslie, executive director of the Chapel. “The conservation process will require extensive time, specialized materials, and expert technical support to stabilize and restore these works, ensuring they can once again inspire visitors within this sacred space. Bank of America’s support underscores the urgent need to preserve culturally significant artworks like these, especially as we face new environmental challenges that threaten our artistic legacy.”

    The Bank of America Art Conservation Project has been used to fund the preservation and restoration of culturally significant artworks since 2010. In 2021, the project also funded the restoration of an 13th Century Incan textile housed at Houston's Menil Collection. This year's other recipients include the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico City, Sir John Soane's Museum in London, and the Sydney Opera House.

    Since 1971, Rothko Chapel has been one of the best meditative spaces in Houston. Commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil in 1964, Rothko designed the space and painted its famous black panels. Rothko himself did not live to see the completion, dying by suicide in New York in 1970. Now, the chapel stands as a non-denominational spiritual center, hosting concerts, mindfulness clinics, and other events designed to promote mental healing in visitors.

    When Hurricane Beryl hit Houston on July 8, high winds and torrential hammered the chapel's roof. Water leakage damaged the walls and one of Rothko's black triptychs on the east side of the building. It took seven months of work before the chapel was reopened to the public in December, but the damaged art was still housed off site for restoration. Bank of America's grant should hopefully speed up the process of returning the iconic pieces back to public view.

    “It is devastating to see the domino effects of an event like Hurricane Beryl, jeopardizing the storied institutions and culturally significant works that provide so much context into the Houston identity,” said Hong Ogle, President, Bank of America Houston. “I am very proud that Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project allows us to support the arts in a unique and impactful way and preserve the works that mean the most to our community.”

    In addition to the restoration, Rothko Chapel recently broke ground on a $42 million campus expansion. Two new buildings to the north with house administrative services and an archive, and a meditation garden dedicated to Kathleen and Chuck Mullenweg. A new program center will follow after.

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