Ever since Peter C. Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, died last December, I’ve been wondering what the museum would do to honor its longtime director. When Philippe de Montebello retired from the top job at the Metropolitan Museum in 2009, he was honored by an exhibition of works acquired during his tenure. When Anne d’Harnoncourt, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, died suddenly in 2008, works acquired during her tenure were given a special label as a tribute, among other things.
Marzio, having taken his post at MFAH in 1982, was the dean of museum directors when he died. He built that museum. As it is contemplating a new building, I actually thought for a while that trustees might be thinking about naming the building after him — assuming they can build it without a naming gift. But there is no news on that front.
But some individuals have paid their respects. The other day, MFAH announced that Frank Stella had donated a portion of his Palmito Ranch painting (1961) (at right), from his “Benjamin Moore” series that helped advance Minimalism in American art, in honor of Marzio (the museum purchased the rest with money from the Caroline Wiess Law Accession Endowment). Stella offered: “Peter Marzio was everything you would want from the director of a great museum. I got to know Peter when the MFAH invited me to create murals for the 1982 Stella by Starlight gala; from then on I counted him a friend.”
Which prompted me to again ask the MFAH about other gifts in Marzio’s memory. There have been, I learned, 37 works given, or purchased with funds given, in tribute to Marzio, according to Mary Haus, the director of marketing and communications. “With collection subcommittee meetings just starting back up, it’s anticipated that further works will be designated in his name by year’s end,” she added. Haus also said that the museum has received “more than $1 million in monetary contributions, designated for both programming and future acquisitions” in Marzio’s honor.
Among them:
- Annette Lemieux’s Sky Pile, from Karin and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
- Helen Torr’s Corrugated Building, from the Brown Foundation and Isabel B. Wilson
- Jules Olitsky’s Patutsky Embraced: Yellow, from Bradley and Lauren Olitsky Posner and Kristina Olitsky
- A Minoan octopus ornament, from Maria Doiranlis and Jasper Gaunt
- Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Transchromies Environment, from the artist
Here’s the full list: Peter C Marzio Memorial Gifts.pdf.
The search for Marzio’s successor, btw, continues. Haus declined to comment, but the gossip mill says the search committee is still in the interviewing stage.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of MFAH