Scope and Contents Whether your style is rough and tumble or refined and discriminating, the western United States is brimming with adventures and attractions sure to satisfy every itch, from theme parks and cowboy culture to train rides and world-class art. Here are seven destinations for a fun winter getaway.Washington ADVERTISINGDo you want to travel to the West Coast, but you’re not sure which destination you want to visit? Why not go to all of them? Amtrak’s Coast Starlight line...

Scope and Contents VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday praised two towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he made saints of Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.Francis canonized two men at a Mass in St. Peter's Square before some 70,000 faithful, a handful of presidents and 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims who traveled to Rome to honor a man considered a hero to many Latin Americans. Recommended...

Scope and Contents Five years after Mark Rothko completed Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum) in 1962, it caught the taste-making eye of collector Dominique de Menil, who swiftly requested the painting for an exhibition she was organizing of work by midcentury masters. A decade after that, Rothko’s painting again fell under the affectionate gaze of a de Menil family member—but this time it was Dominique’s son François and his wife Susan. This time, he bought it.Now, that beloved work is changing hands...

Scope and Contents The remarkable connections between the artist, one family of distinguished collectors, and a pivotal painting from 1962, which will be offered, along with four works by Joseph Cornell, from The Collection of François and and Susan de Menil In 1978, the Guggenheim Museum mounted the first major Mark Rothko retrospective since the artist’s death, eight years before. In his review of the show, the art critic for the New York Times, Hilton Kramer, took the unusual step of describing...

Scope and Contents The undeniable, jarring sounds of a Japanese shinoube flute disrupts the silence of an expectant audience at the Rothko Chapel, a Cooperation Circle member of the United Religions Initiative (URI). The music ushers in a message to "pay attention" as Ashley Clemmer, Director of Programs and Community Engagement for Rothko, described it in reflecting on this incredible event, which took place on September 21 to celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace (IDP).Rothko...

Scope and Contents Get a Sneak Peek at the Menil Collection’s New Drawing Institute Before It Opens Next MonthThe first show will feature Jasper Johns.Sarah Cascone, October 11, 2018 Johnston Marklee designed the new Menil Drawing Institute. Photo by Giulio Ghirardi for WSJ Magazine. Johnston Marklee designed the new Menil Drawing Institute. Photo by Giulio Ghirardi for WSJ Magazine.Drawings, which have long been a strength of the storied Menil Collection, will step into the...

Scope and Contents Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country—you’re likely to hear a dozen languages as you stroll through world-class institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts or the Menil Collection. Visitors to this buzzing metropolis should carve out time to absorb the city's incredible arts scene, which even extends outdoors, by way of James Turrell’s free-admission "Twilight Epiphany" Skyspace or the public works that dot Downtown (also home to Houston’s major sports teams, if sliding into...

Scope and Contents A coveted painting with Houston ties is set to fetch between $35 million and $45 million dollars when it's sold to the highest bidder at Christie's, a leading global art business and auction, on November 15. Christie's Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art will be highlighted by works from the private collection of Susan and François de Menil including Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum), a 1962 painting by post-war master, Mark Rothko. The...

Scope and Contents Mark Rothko’s “Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum)” is headed to auction next month and could fetch as much as $45 million.Architect Francois de Menil, an heir to the Schlumberger oil fortune, and his wife Susan, are the sellers. The painting will be among the stars of Christie’s evening sale of postwar and contemporary art on Nov. 15, joining a parade of trophies that include the late “Si" Newhouse’s Francis Bacon and Joe Lewis’s David Hockney, estimated at $80...

Scope and Contents Coming November, Mark Rothko’s masterpiece Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum) will be offered for sale for the second time since it was created in 1962, with an estimate of $35 million to $45 million.Rothko possessed the painting until his death in 1970 at age 66.The current owners, Francois de Menil, architect and filmmaker, and his wife, Susan, acquired the painting in 1978 from Pace Gallery, which represented the Rothko estate. Months later, it was...