Civic Art

Art on Display at Jones Hall

Gemini II

Gemini II is a delicate, web-like sculpture made from polished aluminum and wire, stretched taut between focal point and axis. The play of light is an integral part of the sculpture. With the reflective and transparent appearance of the sculpture materials, Gemini II seems to dissolve into light. Richard Lippold, the artist, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 3, 1915, and was an American sculptor, engineer, and designer. The piece was commissioned by the Houston Endowment in 1966 and has been hanging in Jones Hall for 42 years.


The Edna Saunders Portrait

The Edna Saunders Portrait, a well-known impresario, can be found in the Green Room of Jones Hall. The artist, Charles Fox, uses oil paint on a canvas base, and was completed in the mid-twentieth century (the actual date of its completion is unknown). Mrs. Saunders was an independent presenter of cultural attractions and concert artists in Houston in the early 1900s. She died in 1966, three years before John T. Jones, Jr. founded the Society for Performing Arts. Her portrait is now located in the Jones Hall Green Room.


Lily Pads

Lily Pads is a large, oil painting executed in three sections and is impressionistic in style. The piece employs loose strokes of paint in layers to show the interplay of textures and light on the surface of the pond. Lily Pads has an overall shimmering quality and appears life-like in size, as it stretches over 22 feet horizontally and five feet vertically on the wall. Darker, muted colors of red, green and blue provide a nice contrast against the light yellow, reflective color of the water. John E. Alexander, an American artist, painted the piece in 1977. Lily Pads was donated to the City of Houston by Mrs. Susan McAshan. The artwork is located on the orchestra level in Jones Hall.


The Dancer

The Dancer is a cast bronze sculpture of a young female dancer that stands nearly 7.5 feet tall in front of Jones Hall. The smooth, bronze texture of the sculpture's surface and the pleated folds of her dress make The Dancer appear to flow gracefully. This abstract representation of a dancer fits in its location nicely, as it sits centrally in the theater district, which is the home of the Houston Ballet. The sculpture was created by Marcello Mascherini, an Italian sculptor, in the early 1950s and donated to the City of Houston in 1955 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Straus.


Pair of Horses

Pair of Horses is a Corten steel sculpture of two horses, which sit on the lower plaza floor of Jones Hall. The duo sculpture consists of one large and one small horse, both measuring less than four feet tall. The welding rods that make up the sculpture are intricately twisted, wrapped, and painted to form architectural representations of dark brown horses. The American artist, Robert Fowler, completed the piece in 1963. Pair of Horses was commissioned in 1963 and donated to the City of Houston in 1969. Robert Fowler died in November 2010.