The Four Seasons Hotel was our base of operations for the weekend.
We were welcomed to our room by formally-dressed chocolate-covered strawberries.
Sculptures appeared along Houston's streets.
Friday afternoon we began at the Byzantine Chapel. Elsian Cozens, administrator of the Byzantine Fresco Foundation, told us the fascinating story of how Dominique de Menil ransomed two frescoes, originally from a chapel in Cyprus, from black marketeers in Europe.
After painstaking restoration they were mounted in a chapel whose interior construction was identical to the one in Cyprus.
We were fortunate to visit when we did, because they were returned to Cyprus in 2012. Although no photography was permitted during our visit, the frescos can be seen here and more details about them and the chapel are here
Although the nearby Rothko Chapel had similar restrictions, the sculpture in the reflecting pool – Barnet Newman's memorial to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., "Broken Obelisk" – was available to all, and a view of the interior can be seen here.
Rothko's involvement with detail was such that he designed one-piece bricks for concave corners so that no cutting and fitting would be required.
After a brief visit to the Cy Twombley Gallery, we were shown some of the highlights of the Menil Collection by curator Matt Drutt.
The Director of the Menil Collection, James T. Demetrion, hosted a reception.
We also met some of the Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
our hosts at dinner that evening in the Menil Collection.
Mark assured that every aspect of our weekend proceeded smoothly.
Saturday morning we visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where we noticed a banner featuring a familiar work of art.