The De Luxe Show was an art exhibition held from August to September 1971 at the DeLuxe Theater in Houston's Fifth Ward. Organized by African American artist Peter Bradley and arts patron John de Menil with the mission of bringing contemporary art into a low-income, predominantly Black community, The De Luxe Show was one of the first racially integrated art exhibitions in the United States and featured some of the most acclaimed artists of the era as well as several emerging artists who would go on to become widely recognized.
Original exhibition poster
The DeLuxe Theater in 2009 prior to renovation
John de Ménil was a Franco-American businessman, philanthropist, and art patron. He was the founding president of the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) in New York. With his wife, Dominique de Menil, he established the Menil Collection, a free museum designed by Renzo Piano and built in 1986 to preserve and exhibit their world-class contemporary art collection.
John de Menil with Andy Warhol, Montreal, 1968
Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk in front of the Rothko Chapel, Houston