A new home for Monument au Fantôme

Discovery Green, the unfortunately named park under construction in downtown Houston, has gained its first high-profile piece of artwork: Jean Dubuffet's Monument au Fantôme, which has stood in front of 1100 Louisiana for 25 years. Dan Duncan, the pipeline tycoon who owns the skyscraper, has donated the sculpture to the park, where it will sit along Avenida de las Americas across from the George R. Brown Convention Center.

"It's a fantastic piece of art," park director Guy Hagstette said, adding that the sculpture "will be an icon in the park and an icon in the city." Dubuffet created Monument between 1969 and 1971 as part of his Hourloupe series; the steel-and-fiberglass piece consists of seven abstract forms meant to represent an imaginary city. Developer Gerald Hines and architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill selected the sculpture specifically for the plaza at 1100 Louisiana because it was proportioned specifically for the building — so, naturally, moving it is the only thing to do. Hines brought the sculpture to Houston in 1983. "It set some precedent about art in public spaces," the developer said in a 2004 interview. "I think it put pressure on others to think about that."

Houstonians have been thinking about Monument for years: Though many people jokingly call it the "wrecked Metro bus" because of the sculpture's abstract forms and red, white and blue color scheme, the piece has become a downtown landmark. Fantome Tower, the group that owns 1100 Louisiana, will make a one-time cash donation to Discovery Green to cover the cost of restoration, relocation and ongoing maintenance of the sculpture; though that amount hasn't been determined yet, the gift of the sculpture itself is valued at more than $1 million. "I think [the park] will be a very sympathetic site for the sculpture," Wynne Phelan, conservation director for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, said.