So it stands instead in the grounds of the Menil collection, at a site chosen by the artist himself. A monument to all that is broken. Newman's Broken Obelisk: the end of a political dream. Barnett Newman's inverted obelisk was dedicated to Martin Luther King after his death.
The symbolism was too much for the city of Houston. At the same time, there was sense that in living through these circumstances, life had triumphed over death, and the human spirit had triumphed over suffering. Newman and his contemporaries created art that responded to the experiences of the s, and their artworks often symbolized death, survival and rebirth.
For example, his series Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani references the agony of Jesus and the crucifixion. Newman translates the religious content of death and rebirth to the secular world.
The progression of the series of paintings, expresses the ability to transcend suffering through the process of self-awareness. The sculpture is influenced by ancient Egyptian monuments. Museum number Title Object: Broken Obelisk.
Description Limestone obelisk known as 'the broken obelisk'; carved panel damaged and restored shows the king, in front of the symbols of two gods, holding two pairs of prisoners on a leash; inscription. Authority Ruler: Ashur-bel-kala. Production date 11thC BC. At the time the HMAC was negotiating with the Houston Endowment, sponsor of Jones Hall, to provide matching funds for the commission; perhaps this is why the sculpture site was moved here.
By the late s, the de Menils had been prominent Houston art patrons for twenty-five years. They were involved with the Contemporary Arts Association now the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as well as the MFAH, using their influence to secure loans for exhibitions and the donation of important works of art. Following her untimely death in , they decided not to proceed with a proposed university art museum. Dominique de Menil visited Mark Rothko in New York in the spring of and asked him to create a cycle of paintings for the chapel; that fall, the de Menils formally engaged Johnson as architect Johnson was soon replaced with local architect Howard Barnstone and then Eugene Aubrey; the facility is currently under renovations led by Architecture Research Office.
It has been suggested that the HMAC had trouble securing the Sculpture Project matching funds because the city would have little control over the artist selected for the commission. The de Menils solved this problem by making a specific sculpture one condition of their gift. They may have had several reasons for choosing Market Square as their preferred site for Broken Obelisk.
Meanwhile, preparations were made to convert the old city hall into a bus terminal. By the end of the decade, an eclectic array of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, head shops, and other small businesses had gradually moved into the historic buildings, making Market Square the centerpiece of a burgeoning entertainment district.
By suggesting Market Square as a site rather than the civic center, the de Menils indicated their preference for a young, progressive audience over one of businessmen and civic officials. Thomas mall, another gathering place for young people, but balked at the price. Armin Zweite sums it up nicely:. The pyramid and the broken inverted obelisk afford, in their surprising combination, scope for interpretation, no more and no less.
The sculpture is not to be understood as a baroque allegory, in which every detail has a specific meaning, nor is it as empty of content as a work of Minimal Art, nor is it merely a trigger for vague experiences of self under the general heading of the sublime.
The de Menils rejected the convention center site, which was essentially a traffic island. We had wanted the monument dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King and, revoltingly, this created static. The Mayor told us that recently he had been voted down by the City Council on the resolution commemorating the anniversary of the assassination. We reluctantly substituted the quote from the Bible. Staunch supporters of civil rights in both their public and private lives, it seems the de Menils could not resist the opportunity afforded by the new site for Broken Obelisk to draw attention to an important issue.
Although the city never experienced the riots that devastated large parts of Washington, D. Though not remarked upon at the time, a Broken Obelisk dedicated to King and standing in front of city hall would have been a powerful corrective, given the history of public monuments in Houston.
0コメント