“A Modern Patronage: de Menil Gifts to American and European Museums”

“A Modern Patronage: de Menil Gifts to American and European Museums” reunites nearly 45 works the couple gave away as gifts — and we’re not talking insignificant hand-me-downs here. The National Modern Art Museum in Paris got Jackson Pollock’s The Deep, a “drip painting,” covered in white drops resembling feathers that surround an abysmal black hole. Paris also received Andy Warhol’s Electric Chair, a pink and blue print of an old chair in an empty prison. The de Menils also gave up artifacts like a bedu mask from a Ghana tribe — granted to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The collection also features works by Mark Rothko and Max Ernst and Oceanic, African and pre-Columbian artifacts.

Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Starts: June 8. Continues through Sept. 16

This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2007.