Art (Tribute 21) was created in honor of Dominique de Menil (1908–1997), an influential art collector and philanthropist. De Menil once reflected that she had “. . . a passionate curiosity for the past and also a vulnerability to poetry—poetry of images revealing the beauty and mystery of the world, whether the image is a small and tender Vuillard or a stunning Magritte.” The Menil Collection, a Houston museum she founded in 1987, owns important early works by Rauschenberg, such as Crucifixion and Reflection (ca. 1950) and Untitled (Gold Painting) (ca. 1953).
For a full list of the Tribute 21 portfolio honorees, see Felissimo’s informational brochure.