Audrey Jones Beck
Audrey Jones Beck (March 27, 1924 – August 22, 2003) was an American art collector and philanthropist who donated her personal art collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.[1][2] The John A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection included impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, and the museum named its Audrey Jones Beck Building in her honor.[3]
Audrey Jones Beck
March 27, 1924
August 22, 2003 (aged 79)
Art collector and philanthropist
Art collection
Jesse H. Jones (grandfather)
Audrey Jones Beck Building[edit]
The Audrey Jones Beck Building was designed by architect Rafael Moneo and opened to the public in 2000. It houses 158,150 ft² (14,693 m²) of galleries for the museum's permanent collection of antiquities, European painting and sculpture to 1900, American art, as well as temporary exhibitions. The Beck building makes intense use of natural light to illuminate the galleries. "The roof becomes the most characteristic image of the museum, showing the importance given to the light, the real protagonist of an architecture whose substance is found in the interior space."[6] It is one of several buildings on the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus, and one of the three primary exhibition spaces open to the public. The Beck building is joined to the Kinder Building with 20th-21st century art, and the Wiess Law Building of Asian, African, oceanic, and Pre-Columbian art, by an underground tunnel featuring the permanent installation of James Turrell's, The Light Inside (1999).[7][8]
John A. and Audrey Jones Beck House[edit]
The John A. and Audrey Jones Beck home was designated a Landmark by the City of Houston, Archaeological & Historical Commission in 2006. The house was originally designed and constructed in 1948–1950 by the Wilson, Morris & Crain architects of Houston, noted designers of the Astrodome (1962). It was later remodeled with the addition of a two-story "Great Hall" in 1960 by the same architectural firm. The Beck House integrates stylistic elements of English Tudor as well as French Norman architectural examples. The two story house is constructed with a masonry first floor and a wooden upper story, featuring an unusual side main entry. It is located in the River Oaks area of Houston and privately situated at the back of the lot behind trees, and not easily viewed from the street. Although the house has been designated as an historical landmark by the City of Houston, it is currently a private residence and not open to the public.[11]
Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia[edit]
The Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia are archived at the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas. The archives include 52 linear feet (16 m) of family records, photographs, artifacts, correspondence, documents on philanthropy, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston records, spanning from 1860 to 2004.[12]