Monument Au Fantome by Jean Dubuffet
The large free-form red-white-blue sculpture on Avenida de las Americas is the park’s most well-known artwork and one of Houston’s great treasures. Its title means “Monument to the Phantom” or imaginary city in French.
There are seven individual forms that represent different features of this city, including a church, hedge, chimney, dog, phantom, tree and mast.
It is by Jean Dubuffet, an internationally-known 20th century French sculptor who passed away in 1985 (two years after the sculpture was completed). He liked to communicate fresh ideas without reference to “cultural clichés.” Dubuffet was inspired by the art of outsiders, which he called “L’Art Brut”. It is painted fiberglass over steel frames, and the tallest piece is 33 feet. The sculpture is part of his Hourloupe series, which has companion sculptures in New York, Chicago and Europe. For more than two decades, Jean Dubuffet’s sculpture, Monument au Fantôme, has sat among Houston’s downtown skyscrapers at 1100 Louisiana. In 2008 it was relocated to 1500 McKinney (Avenue de las Americas) in Discovery Green Park on the eastern edge of downtown. The tallest part of the fiberglass over steel frame stands 33 feet tall. Seven individual forms—chimney, church, dog, hedge, mast, phantom, and tree—included in the sculpture represent features of Houston.
