Public Program
“The Force of These Images”: René Magritte, the de Menils, and the United States
René Magritte, Evening Falls (Le soir qui tombe), 1964. Oil on canvas, 63 ¾ × 51 ¼ in. (161.9 × 130.2 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston. © C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Adam Neese
The Menil Collection owns the largest collection of work by René Magritte outside the artist’s native Belgium. This lecture by Natalie Dupêcher, Associate Curator of Modern Art, explores the question of why. It begins with a chance visit to a New York art gallery in the late 1940s, where Houston-based art collectors John and Dominique de Menil first encountered Magritte’s work. Over the coming decades, the couple were responsible, both directly and indirectly, for purchases, exhibitions, publications and projects that brought the artist to Houston and to the center of the art world.
Attending the Program
This program takes place in the main building, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street. Additional information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.
As always, Menil programs are free and open to all.