Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden


The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden is a sculpture garden located at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, United States. The garden consists of 25 works of the MFAH, including sculptures by Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, David Smith, Frank Stella, and Louise Bourgeois. There are also sculptures created specifically for the site, including Ellsworth Kelly's Houston Triptych and Tony Cragg's New Forms. The garden also features works by local Texas artists, including Joseph Havel's Exhaling Pearls, Jim Love's Can Johnny Come Out and Play?, and Linda Ridgway's The Dance.

History

In 1969, The Brown Foundation, Inc provided the funds to purchase two city blocks making it feasible for the MFAH to construct a formal sculpture garden. The garden was designed by New York-based artist, landscape-architect Isamu Noguchi. In 1978, Houston City Council motion number 78-986 declared the museum to be named The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden in recognition of Hugh Roy Cullen and Lillie Cullen's contributions to the city's art and medical communities. Construction of the garden began on February 6, 1984, and the garden officially opened to the public on April 5, 1986.

Works