Rothko Chapel At 3900 Yupon St.

[jm1fd]

The Rothko Chapel and assorted pieces by Rothko from the Menil collection will be featured tonight on Simon Schama's "Power of Art" episode about Mark Rothko. Show starts at 10 pm on KUHT. Mies' Seagram building and Philip Johnson's Four Seasons restaurant are also heavily featured. If you can, watch it in high def.

Was it broadcast in HD? I think they're in the middle of a switchover/consolidation at the station, and they're broadcasting the same signal from their HD digital and analog transmitters. I recorded this show from the HD channel, and about 2 seconds in it downconverted from HD to SD.

Not a lot of coverage of the Chapel or Houston.

[musicman]

Was it broadcast in HD? I think they're in the middle of a switchover/consolidation at the station, and they're broadcasting the same signal from their HD digital and analog transmitters. I recorded this show from the HD channel, and about 2 seconds in it downconverted from HD to SD.

over the air they have 3 independent feeds. the hd one, the sd one and the spanish one. are you getting it from satellite/cable?

Edited August 1, 2007 by musicman

[BenH]

Was it broadcast in HD? I think they're in the middle of a switchover/consolidation at the station, and they're broadcasting the same signal from their HD digital and analog transmitters. I recorded this show from the HD channel, and about 2 seconds in it downconverted from HD to SD.

Not a lot of coverage of the Chapel or Houston.

We watched it in HD.

You're right, not much coverage about the Rothko, but that wasn't the focus of the show; the Seagram paintings were. Funny, I was initially peeved that they didn't mention Barnstone & Aubrey, but it wasn't really needed.

[jm1fd]

over the air they have 3 independent feeds. the hd one, the sd one and the spanish one. are you getting it from satellite/cable?

Yes. Bastards at the cable company....

[lockmat]

I went to this today and did not expect what I saw at all. But I understand it I think, so it was cool.

[lockmat]

Went back this past weekend. Still cool, but I don't agree.

It's existentialistic. I don't believe in that. But it's still a nice place to go to if you like the peace and quiet. Plus, I like to giggle at the perplexed people who walk in and out in two minutes. I'll revisit in the future.

[arche787]

I used to always comment on "old" topics - I suppose this is installed (I was in the neighborhood yesterday and today and had no idea a new sculpture had been installed)? I have to wonder though if the artist was really looking at the surrounding neighborhood when they designed the artwork? It seems like it could easilly be out of place - but I will reserve judgement until I see it later this week. Nice to see that atleast the New York Times keeps up with our arts "scene".

[cougarbrent]

interestingly the broken obleisk sculpture was first exhibited in New York city in front of the Seagrams building before the Menils brought it to HOuston.

[Houston19514]

interestingly the broken obleisk sculpture was first exhibited in New York city in front of the Seagrams building before the Menils brought it to HOuston.

But before it came to Houston, it was at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC too.

[kylejack]

interestingly the broken obleisk sculpture was first exhibited in New York city in front of the Seagrams building before the Menils brought it to HOuston.

As I recall it was offered to Houston's City Hall, but City Hall had a problem with it being dedicated to Martin Luther King so it ended up at Rothko.

[editor]

Rothko, originally uploaded by Highway6.

Highway6 does a great job capturing the colors, intentional and otherwise, projected by the Rothko Chapel.

Highway6 posted this picture in the HAIF Photo Pool on Flickr.

You can add you photos to the group.  Just click here:  HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr .

[editor]

Rothko, originally uploaded by Highway6.

Highway6 does a great job capturing the colors, intentional and otherwise, projected by the Rothko Chapel.

Highway6 posted this picture in the HAIF Photo Pool on Flickr.

You can add you photos to the group.  Just click here:  HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr .

[bachanon]

phenomenal.

[Highway6]

phenomenal.

thank you, kind sir.

while it's debatable how "hidden" a gem rothko is, i currently intend this to be one of my 3 entrants for the new 600 sqmi..

[(Otto Mation)]

dangr.dave has added a photo to the pool:

DSC_9825

Click here to view this photo at the HAIF Photo Pool on Flickr

[102IAHexpress]

Not sure if this belongs here. Mods can move if you want. Saw this in today's WSJ. Renovations on the Rothko Chapel. 

 

Quote

Houston’s Rothko Chapel, the final masterpiece of one of 20th-century America’s most recognized artists, hasn’t led an easy existence. For a place meant to help visitors transcend their earthly travails, it has faced many. Mark Rothko died by suicide a year before the chapel opened in 1971, leaving his family and supporters to decide how best to foster his legacy in the face of the building’s subsidence, the city’s harsh sunlight, and humidity’s toll on his works.

In the latest and most ambitious effort to finally get it right, the ecumenical chapel is closing on Monday for renovation and expansion ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2021. The octagonal building, commissioned in the mid-1960s by Houston’s de Menil family, was designed as part of a total work with Rothko’s 14 enormous panels, in black and dark plum, to invoke a spirit of transcendence. That was always a delicate enterprise, and the aim of the current $30 million project is to do it better....

 

Full article with some cool pictures...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-push-to-preserve-a-rothko-masterpiece-11551283796

 

 

 

 

 

[Luminare]

I've looked everywhere on this site for a post about this, but haven't been able to find anything. With this being one of the more important monuments in the city I feel this should be in going up.

 

From the HoustonChronicle:

 

Quote

Neighbors in the Menil enclave were surprised and dismayed Monday to see one of the Houston neighborhood’s famous gray bungalows being dismantled by a reclamation crew.

That building and several around it are owned by the Rothko Chapel, whose board has launched a multi-phase, $30 million campaign to better define its two-acre campus and improve visitor experiences to the legendary sacred space, one of the world’s most important public art sites.

Construction begins early next year on the first of three new buildings on Sul Ross; and the chapel will be closed for major renovations during much of next year, beginning March 4.

 

Read more about which homes will be removed, what will take their place and how these renovations could affect how you see the Chapel’s famous art at houstonchronicle.com.

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/article/Why-will-the-Rothko-Chapel-be-closed-for-much-of-13455462.php#photo-16627134

 

Architecture Research Office (ARO) is the Architect.

 

Another article from Texas Architect:

 

https://txamagazine.org/2017/01/06/aro-working-renovation-master-plan-houstons-rothko-chapel/

 

Quote

To better serve as a venue for large groups, the chapel’s board, which is chaired by Rothko’s son, Christopher Rothko, decided it was time for an update.

“Their mission really encompasses both contemplation, which is the experience of being within the chapel, and action,” says Adam Yarinsky, FAIA, ARO principal and co-founder. “The impetus behind the project comes from trying to strengthen both of those aspects behind their mission. There has always been an issue with light levels within the chapel and creating better control of daylight within the space, so that’s [one] goal.”

In addition to improving the lighting, ARO will upgrade interior acoustics, address aesthetic differences between the walls and ceiling, and update weatherproofing and security systems. A new structure on the site will accommodate guest services, conferences, meetings, administrative spaces, and guest housing for visiting artists and scholars — leaving the chapel itself as a quiet, contemplative space. “The goal is to preserve an experience,” Yarinsky says. “Any adjustments made must be very carefully considered so you’re not changing any quality the chapel has now.”

 

 

 

 

 

The Rothko Chapel master plan pdf:

 

http://rothkochapel.org/assets/pdfs/2017_annualreport.pdf

 

 

Work has commenced on this project as promised in the Chron article. I work around the block and live a few blocks away, so I'll keep this one updated as it rises.

 

workers on site

 

 

work starting on the interior. construction fences have gone up all around the park.

 

 

The two bungalows across the street have been demoed.

 

 

The bungalows on the chapel side have not been demoed yet. They will be demoed when the admin building is complete.

[H-Town Man]

Like every museum in America, they need to expand and junk the place up with extraneous peripheral crap.

 

"guest services, conferences, meetings, administrative spaces, and guest housing for visiting artists and scholars"

 

It's never enough just to have the simple, original building. What are all these conferences and meetings that they didn't have the previous fifty years? How much administrative space does a single-room chapel need? Guest services? Other than a toilet and a coat rack? Could none of these have been done in the existing bungalows?

 

[Naviguessor]

Lighten up, Francis.  This is a good thing. 

[strickn]

I imagine among the priorities on the list, they just couldn't stand the popcorn ceiling.  Not hifalutin enough for their Houston on the world stage.  I think it grounds the proceedings more than a timely attempt to be timeless does.  That way, unlike the classy new Drawing Institute, they aren't trying so hard to out-Architecture the current anodyne institutional fashion in Los Angeles.

Edited March 5, 2019 by strickn

[H-Town Man]

1 hour ago, Naviguessor said:

Lighten up, Francis.  This is a good thing. 

 

Why? I consider losing the uniformity of the gray bungalows a bad thing.

 

[Avossos]

3 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Why? I consider losing the uniformity of the gray bungalows a bad thing.

 

 

They have not maintained those bungalows and they are looking rough, inside and out...

 

menil needs to renovate those buildings or else they should be considered a neglictful landlord, at least in my book.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Avossos

[bobruss]

You're right about maintenance of the bungalows, but they have seen the light and have been working on renovating the homes for the last two years. They are in the process of renovating all of the houses. They just put new windows in all of the houses that the Menil owns. I think they have finished restoring three or four of them now. We lived in four different Menil homes over the years up until two years ago. Our last backed up to the Drawing institute and they just fixed the rot and painted it. They are also raising the rent substantially. We paid roughly 1800.00 a month and one of the ones they just finished renovating and updating on Sul Ross was available for $3,400.00 now

They are planning on saving pretty much what is left around the Park and Menil building. 

The homes behind the chapel belong to the Rothko foundation. 

[Luminare]

Update:

 

Landscape is being dug up at Rothko

 

 

Construction fencing and efforts to protect the oak trees

 

 

Stakes are in the ground. Foundation work on the visitors center building should begin soon. Don't see stakes for the admin building yet.

 

 

Sign outside the bungalow next door to the Chapel (thought I saw people inside packing things up).

 

 

 

[Luminare]

Updates on this one (crap photo images warning):

 

Site of the Visitors Center

 

 

Landscape around the Chapel

 

 

 

 

 

The bamboo is gone (sadface)

 

They are also doing an incredible amount of site work. Way more than I thought would happen. The plans call for a massive update to the landscaping, but they are digging up the entire site right now.

 

Project is going both fast and slow. Probably won't update this again till they pour the foundation for the visitors center.

[Luminare]

They been getting a bunch of site work done at the chapel.

 

 

Piers being poured at the visitors center.

 

[Luminare]

Update (from my crappy phone camera):

 

More foundation work

 

 

Road Closed at the moment

 

 

This is why. They are doing some heavy duty utility work underneath

 

 

Major site work looks to be done.

 

[bobruss]

Went to the Menil today to see how the new installation of the Menil looked. It really is a nice new display with a lot of new work. They just installed Joseph Havel's newly purchased works. A body of 12 drawings. They look great. 

The steel has gone up on the new visitor center. looks to be a two story structure set back on the west side of the fenced lot.

[Luminare]

Site Updates:

[Luminare]

Don't know whether this is the city's doing or the Menil's, but looks like they have begun road reconstruction around the Menil campus and Rothko Chapel. I also don't know whether its simply a repave or a completely new street with new drainage. Either way this has been a long time coming. The streets around this area are awful.