Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1536611
Clockwise from top left: Henri Cartier-Bresson's Untitled (John de Menil in living room at 3363 San Felipe on Charles James chaise), 1957. Francesca Fuchs' Male Torso (Front) Sketch, 2022. Francesca Fuchs' Fleurs Coquillages, 2024. Francesca's father, Werner Fuchs (1927- 2016) chaired the department of archaeology a t M ü n s t e r University; he also held visiting professorships that brought the family to America. His specialty was classical Greek a n d R o m a n sculpture, yet he had never been to Houston. Determined to learn more, Fuchs reached out to the Menil, where she connected with curator of collections Paul Davis, who solved part of the mystery of the Hickey- Robertson photographs. Back in the day, typed business letters usually bore carbon copies. This was the case in the meticulously kept Menil archives. Davis soon supplied a copy of the original letter mailed to professor Fuchs. It came from the desk of John de Menil, dated January 7, 1970: an inquiry as to the subject of a Roman marble torso sans limbs and head, circa 1st or 2nd century CE. Was it of Apollo or Dionysos? This 50-year-old missive sparked a conversation that began two and a half years ago between Fuchs and Davis. Soon they were meeting weekly for coffee, and Davis invited Fuchs to visit the de Menil House. Over time, the idea for this show was hatched. "The Space Between Looking and Loving" amounts to a call-and-response between objects the de Menils lived with and loved, many of which ended up in the nascent museum collection as it was formed. It has been said if one wants to understand the raison d'être for The Menil Collection, its DNA lies in the de Menil House. Provided rare access, Fuchs pored over vintage photographs while doing a deep dive in the archives. She photographed original photos of works the patrons lived with, then made sketches from those. Revelations emerged, including the case of the red Matisse gouache cutout in the kitchen, which was gifted to one of their children on their wedding, then replaced with a green Matisse, which later ended up in the museum; Mrs. de Menil missed her Matisse, Fuchs conjectures. William Steen, an artist who worked at the Menil as the museum's framer, made a replacement for the kitchen, which he signed so as not to be confused with the original. The original green Matisse, Steen's inspiration, and Fuchs' ode to both the red and green all make it into the show. In "The Space Between Looking and Loving," echoes abound between the artist's upbringing in Germany, especially the way her family lived with objects, and the manner in which the de Menils resided with their treasured artworks alongside ephemera in their Philip Johnson- designed modernist home, with jewel- toned, fabric-swathed interiors by American couturier Charles James. These range from the rarefied (ancient, medieval, and modern masterworks) to beloved creations by the de Menils' grandchildren, which are elegiacally hung on a restored pin board from Dominique de Menils' dressing room, displayed as it was at the time of her passing. Correspondingly, there are photos of both the Fuchs' and de Menils' living rooms, with objects from each included, from the artist's childhood sculptures to the de Menils' 14th-century French Statue of the Virgin and Child. Fuchs writes of the parallels between the museum patrons' and her own family's interiors: "I grew up with my father's collection of antiquities, not thinking much about the stele in our entry. It was just there. I would touch the figures as a welcome home. We had prints on the walls — Piranesi, Biese, and a ceramic owl I made for my father when I was a child." Poignantly, this early Fuchs sculpture, circa 1974, is included in the exhibition. The Artist's Reply The gallery guide to this intricate, deeply layered exhibition contains a moving letter from the artist to John de Menil that will not be answered in this earthly realm. Read the letter online at papercitymag.com. Through November 2, menil.org. © FRANCESCA FUCHS. PHOTO BY THOMAS R. DUBROCK. COURTESY THE ARTIST; INMAN GALLERY, HOUSTON; TALLEY DUNN GALLERY, DALLAS 44 © HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON / MAGNUM PHOTOS, THE MENIL COLLECTION