Broken Obelisk back at the Menil

Today's Chronicle notes the return of Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk to the Rothko Chapel's reflecting pool. The metal sculpture has been undergoing an 18-month restoration because it corroded faster than expected, but the interesting part of the story is how the piece got where it is.

In the late 1960s, the federal government offered grants to Houston, Philadelphia, Grand Rapids and Seattle for monumental public works of contemporary art. In 1969, John and Dominique de Menil offered to match the government grant to buy Broken Obelisk for the City of Houston. They wanted it designated a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., who had been assassinated the year before; the base of the sculpture would be inscribed with a quote from Jesus: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." The piece was to be installed in Hermann Square, in front of City Hall. But the forward-thinking City Council didn't really go for that:

Council members claimed not to see the point of the biblical quotation proposed for Broken Obelisk. They turned down the de Menils' proposal and asked that the couple pick a site other than City Hall.

"People who come down here don't understand these arty objects," council member Lee McLemore told the Houston Chronicle in 1969. "We would be better off with a nice drinking fountain out there."

Council rejected the sculpture as a King memorial and Houston ended up losing the federal art grant. The de Menils bought Broken Obelisk outright and announced they'd donate it, along with 14 Mark Rothko paintings, to the Institute of Religion — the foundation of the Rothko Chapel.

Broken Obelisk will be rededicated to King's memory Feb. 26, and conservators will keep an eye on it every year or two to make sure the sculpture stays in good shape.