Like her parents, who were among the founders of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Caroline Wiess Law (1918–2004) was deeply involved with the MFAH, becoming an important philanthropist and a lifetime trustee. She was also a founding benefactor of The Menil Collection. Law began collecting abstract and modernist works in the 1950s, assembling an important art collection of more than fifty works by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol, among others. Law commissioned her Warhol portrait in 1976. Arriving in Houston from California in 1955 as director of the Contemporary Arts Museum, with the help of John and Dominique de Menil, Jermayne MacAgy (1914–1964) organized celebrated exhibitions on a wide range of topics — “yard art,” film, Surrealism, and African art. Later she headed the newly created art history department at the University of St. Thomas where, until her untimely death five years later, she lectured and continued to present groundbreaking exhibitions. She exerted a strong influence on Dominique de Menil, who continued MacAgy’s tradition of innovative exhibitions. In honor of her friend, Mrs. de Menil posthumously commissioned a Warhol portrait of MacAgy in 1968.

A year later, Dominique de Menil (1908–1997) commissioned her own portrait from Warhol. Already, the de Menils were on close terms with Warhol, and by 1969 they had one of the largest Warhol collections in America. In 1967, Frederick T. Hughes, a protégé of the de Menils at the University of St. Thomas, met Andy Warhol and became his business manager and “gatekeeper” of the artist’s studio and salon, The Factory. Over the years, Hughes secured major portrait commissions for Warhol. These portraits along with other major works by the artist — including many flower and electric-chair silkscreens; Big Campbell’s Soup Can, 19¢; Double Mona Lisa; and a Marilyn Monroe portrait — constitute an important part of the Menil’s twentieth-century collection. Recently the museum acquired two more portraits as part of a generous bequest from David Whitney: David Whitney (1980) and Julia Warhola (1974), Warhol’s mother.

 

The Menil Collection is a unique museum environment located in the Montrose-area Museum District housing the collection of John and Dominique de Menil. The museum building is the centerpiece of a neighborhood featuring satellite gallery spaces and related cultural institutions set in a park-like setting.  The Menil Collection is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. - Admission and parking are free - 1515 Sul Ross Street, Houston, TX 77006 - tel 713 525 9400  Visit : www.menil.org