Foundation Conversations: Barnstone and Johnson with Stephen Fox

Houston architect Howard Barnstone, author of The Galveston That Was (1966), and the New York architect Philip Johnson, one of the trendsetters of U.S. architecture during the second half of the twentieth century, worked together intermittently from the 1950s to the 1980s. This talk will examine their overlapping careers, their architectural collaborations, and their shared patrons, the Houston art collectors and philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil. It will focus on the problematic of history in twentieth-century modern architectural debate and Galveston’s surprise interjection into that debate.

You are welcome to bring your own lunch to enjoy. Lunch will not be provided.

This presentation will also be streamed free of charge for all Galveston Historical Foundation members as part of their #GalvestonHistory+ account. Access will start at 11:15 a.m. on May 6.

Virtual tickets are available for guests who would like to view the livestream but who are not members. A link will be sent prior to the event with instructions on viewing.

ABOUT STEPHEN FOX

Stephen Fox is an architectural historian and a fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. He is a lecturer in architecture at Rice University and the University of Houston. With Ellen Beasley, he was co-author of the Galveston Architecture Guidebook (1996). He was co-editor, with Barrie Bradley and Michelangelo Sabatino, of Making Houston Modern: The Life and Architecture of Howard Barnstone (2020), and wrote the text for Richard Payne’s book The Architecture of Philip Johnson (2002).