Transformed Houston

Art world is stunned at news of Museum of Fine Arts Director Peter Marzio'sdeath

Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Just one highlight of his tenure, the donation of Rienzi in 1991
Alberto Giacometti's "Large Standing Womain I," 1960, stands before a granitetriangle, part of Isamu Noguchi's design for the Lillie and Hugh Roy CullenSculpture Garden, a 1986 accomplishment for Marzio.
Another Marzio contribution: the renovation of Bayou Bend in 1993
Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Audrey Jones Beck Building opened to acclaim in March 2000.
Peter Marzio with Jeanie Kilroy, left, and Cornelia Long at the Septemberopening of the Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center at Bayou Bend
Photo by Gary Fountain
Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center
Photo by Robb Williamson
A new book detailing Houston's most prestigious collection of American art,"American Art and Philanthropy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the Museum of FineArts, Houston," arrived on bookshelves in October.
"Head with Crown", 14th-early 15th century, copper alloy, from "Dynasty andDivinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria." The MFAH was proud to be the first U.S.venue for this touring exhibition.
Photo by Karin L. Willis; © National Commission for Museums and Monuments,Nigeria. Photo courtesy Museum for African Art/Fundación Marcelino Botín
Just this fall, the MFAH invited artist Cai Guo-Qiang to create a gunpowderdrawing to cover the walls of the new Arts of China Gallery.
Photo by I-Hua Lee/Courtesy Cai Studio
"Still Life with Apples and Peaches" by Paul Cézanne, part of the upcomingblockbuster exhibition, "Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces fromthe National Gallery of Art." The MFAH is the first— and the only — venue forthe exhibition.

Peter C. Marzio, who built the Museum of Fine Arts Houston into an art world juggernaut, passed away early Friday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 67.

Many in Houston's art and business communities were stunned to hear of his death because he had kept his illness extremely private.

During his 28-year tenure as director of Houston's largest museum, it rose from 30th to the sixth largest in the nation. Marzio doubled the museum in size with the Audrey Jones Beck building, which opened in 2000, increased the permanent collection from 13,000 objects to 62,000, and magnified the endowment by eighteenfold. He added full-time curators in Renaissance and Baroque Painting (1990); Prints and Drawings (1991); Textiles and Costume (1991); American Painting and Sculpture (1993); Film and Video (1996); Asian Art (2000), Latin American Art (2001) and Islamic Art (2008).

Among the many other highlights of his tenure: the completion of the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden (1986); the donation of Rienzi (1991); the addition of an off-site facility (1991) that houses the Museum Archives and Department of Conservation, established in 1984 and 1996 respectively; the renovation of Bayou Bend (1993) and the opening of the Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center (2010), and the construction of Central Administration and Glassell Junior School of Art Building (1994).

Under his guidance, the MFAH has committed to spending at least $80 million over 10 years to Latin American programs, much of which will be devoted to exhibitions displayed in a new building that will place the Latin American art collection within the global context of modernism.

He forged relationships with monied Houston art lovers. Caroline Wiess Law left the MFAH $400 million — one of the largest bequests ever to a museum — along with major artworks, Alfred Glassell Jr. donated his collection of African gold pieces; Beck left 47 Impressionist masterpieces and the museum maintains a permanent collection of Renaissance and Baroque art from the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation.

Marzio also believed strongly in a world view, supporting galleries and exhibits of art from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Korea, China, India, Japan and the Middle East.

"He was a visionary in that way," said associate director of investment and finance Gwen Goffe, who was named acting director after Marzio's death. "He believed in the whole idea of using art to educate about different cultures."

MFAH lifetime trustee Rich Kinder said that Marzio will be remembered as one of the finest museum directors of this generation.

"His accomplishments at the museum were just extraordinary. He took a relatively small museum and built it into one of the best museums in America today in terms of collection and endowment," Kinder told CultureMap. "He was a rare combination of a very well educated and knowledgeable art aficionado with business sense. There are very few nonprofits in America who can balance a budget."

Kinder also thought of Marzio as a great friend for more than 25 years. "We skiied, fished and collected art together," Kinder said. "He had a dry wit. He was just a wonderful person."

MFAH trustee Frank Hevrdjes admired Marzio's ability to transform the museum from a good regional center to a world-class institution.

"Peter's vision, knowledge, leadership and fiscal discipline were the envy not only of the museum world but of the entire business community," Hevrdjes said. "In addition to his large role in our community, Peter was a wonderful friend and a loving husband to his wife and best friend Frances. He was loved by all his employees and admired by the entire art world. We have lost an incredible man."

Marzio's untimely death reverberated throughout Houston's arts community.

"It's a huge loss," said Cecil C. Connor, Jr., longtime general manager of Houston Ballet." Peter was the leader not just of the museum but of the art world in Houston."

On the national level, the American Association of Museums also mourned Marzio's death.

“Peter was a leader in the museum field,” AAM President Ford W. Bell said in a statement. “His vision inspired legions of museum professionals. To say he will be sorely missed does not do honor to his influence and his character. His own life story was a case study on the power of art and museums, and their remarkable ability to lift spirits and enrich souls. Peter Marzio’s life did both, in ways that will keep him with us forever. ”

Marzio was a driving force behind bringing the 2011 AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo to Houston and had served as chair. The meeting, which will take place May 23–26, will be dedicated to his memory.

Marzio was born on Governor’s Island, New York City. He went to Juniata College in Pennsylvania on a football scholarship, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1965, and graduated from the University of Chicago with an master's of arts in 1966 and doctorate degree in 1969. He studied in Rome on a senior Fulbright research fellowship in 1973.

Prior to coming to Houston in 1982, Marzio was director and CEO of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and curator of Prints and chairman of the Department of Cultural History at the Smithsonian Institution.

Well known in the national art world, Marzio was president of the Association of Art Museum Directors from 1988 to 1989. He also served as chairman of the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities from 1997-2000.

He is survived by his wife, Frances; his daughter, Sara Marzio Podsednik in Houston; his son, Steven Marzio and wife Randi in Alpharetta, Ga.; and five grandchildren.

The museum is planning a memorial service after the first of the year to honor Marzio.

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Movie Review

Sheriff Bob Odenkirk is back in over-the-top new action movie 'Normal'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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