DRAWING INSPIRATION

Menil Collection unveils impressive addition

HOUSTON — The new addition to the Menil Collection’s campus is, as one would expect, a thing of beauty. The building takes its place on the collection’s campus and, like Renzo Piano’s museum building, is a work of art in itself.

The building is dedicated to modern and contemporary drawings, defined as unique works of art on paper (which excludes prints). The institute focuses on the study of drawing through an artist-centered approach, director Rabecca Robinow said, adding that the Menil’s first drawing acquisition was a Cezanne watercolor.

“Art is an essential experience,” founder Dominique de Menil said.

There are 2,500 drawings in the Menil Collection, with the largest amount by any single artist being Ellsworth Kelly’s “Tablet.” It is a single work comprising 188 drawings and found pieces, which may be shown alone or in any combination.

The new Drawing Institute is 30,000 square feet and was designed by Johnston Marklee architects, with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates landscape architects. At the Nov. 1 press preview tour, architect Sharon Johnston said the objective was to have a uniform sense of scale, both with the other Menil buildings, as well as the houses in the surrounding neighborhood.

The $40 million facility features canopies of white steel sheets with crisp folds, echoing the feel of sharply folded paper. The lines are elegant and sweeping. Wherever one goes, there are large window-walls that look out on the carefully sculpted gardens. The workers are always just a glance away from open spaces. Similarly, the work of the institute is on view to visitors walking by.

The entry hall has been dubbed “The Living Room,” as it is the center of the Menil campus, which runs from Alabama to Richmond. The room will be used for lectures and gatherings and will also host art related to the philosophy of drawing. The room is inspired by Shaker meeting rooms, suggesting a place of community. The floor is European white oak with wider panels than one expects. Nothing draws attention to itself, except nature and the art, Johnston said.

The courtyard, 60-feet square, has a canopy to reflect and deflect direct light and features a garden room to ease entry. The crisp white canopy is supported by dark wood walls.

Ellsworth Kelly’s “Menil Curve” stands sentry by the front entrance, its glossy surface juxtaposed with the matte walls — a white-on-white abstraction.

The sloping roofs inside and out carry the folded paper motif, all working on the same modules.

Much thought has been given to the relationship to other buildings, and the Cy Twombly building next door is a perfect companion.

The Scholar Courtyard, adjacent to the curatorial offices, is designed to bring the feeling of outdoors to the indoors. As the trees mature, there will be no need for artificial shade.

The design also addressed the issue of light, utilizing as much natural light as possible, similar to Renzo Piano’s main museum building, but having to recognize the demands of works on paper. The design allows for natural light, so that one can feel the passage of time. It is important, Johnson said, that one can see the clouds passing by.

In the study room, where visitors can make appointment to study works from the collection, the light from the skylight is controlled according to the needs of the work by a series of scrims and shades. The light can be set exactly as it would be on view in the gallery to help the curators determine how the work can be exhibited. The walls are grey so that the paper stands out against them. The study room and the conservatory are close by each other to ease in the relationship between the two disciplines.

From a technical standpoint, the storage area is intriguing. It is underground, which seems like a strange choice. The architects consulted the Flood Institute at Rice University to design a space that is like a bathtub inside another room. This allows the room to have a space that will allow for drainage. The Menil campus is at a high point in the city, and Hurricane Harvey did not cause any issue — Johnston said the building was far enough along to give a good test of the system. In the unlikely event that flooding exceeds Harvey levels, there are four-foot flood doors that rise up — which do not require power — which will give time to remove the archives.

The gallery adjacent to the living room will host exhibitions. The current exhibition is “The Condition of Being Here: Drawings by Jasper Johns,” which features works from the Menil Collection or promised to the collection, as well as works borrowed from Johns.

The Menil Collection is a jewel in the Houston arts community’s crown, and the new Drawing Institute is a magnificent addition to the campus. The building not only houses art; it is art itself.

For more, visit www.menil.org/drawing-institute.

Story by Andy Coughlan, ISSUE editor