Judith Sutton ABR CRS IDS PMN ASP IAHSP SRES GREEN
Judy@JudithSutton.com 908 803-0472
EXPECT MORE
COLLECTING ART AND DISPLAYING IT
Interiors need not be a white box for displaying paintings or sculptures. Instead, designing your own room around an artwork brings a more personal and purposeful look
With art fairs taking place in October, many homeowners will be adding to, or building, their art collections. Though a white box gallery may be art’s stereotypical display, replicating that environment once a beloved work goes to a buyer’s home isn’t always possible—or necessary. A modern, pared-back room can certainly center attention on paintings, sculptures, or art installations, but so too can the juxtaposition of a historic house’s rich material palette, or a traditional home’s delicate details. What’s most important to a home with a great art collection of art is intentional design.
Your projects need not have any painted walls at all. If they’re white, they can be some other material as well; like fabric, wood, lacquered panels, or plaster. Instead of setting blank-slate backdrops, you can utilize interior architecture to the art collection’s advantage, matching pieces to existing features or purpose-building paneling, niches, or other structural environments you have to display them.
You want the art to be the feature and then the space around it to support it. For sculpture, you might want to have more of an apsidal [semicircular recessed] space where you can walk around it, like a niche. For paintings, flat walls are a must. Plinths can help sustain heavy pieces that need a platform to bring them up to eye level. A custom étagère shelving unit can showcase several smaller works while still allowing each one the square footage to shine. Don’t overcrowd the art by placing a lot of things around; you want to make sure it’s got its space to breathe and be seen.
Lighting is also an important factor, like those postmodern glass-and-stone homes built in the 1970's that blurs the lines between interior and exterior. With large, covered hallways surrounding a central skylight courtyard, it’s also filled with natural, non-direct sunlight, an ideal environment for protecting and viewing art. The home then becomes the perfect gallery space for your impressive contemporary (or any) collection.
Any architectural style can be suited to art. Having a traditional background can bring out contemporary art a little bit more because it’s such a juxtaposition between the two different perspectives. In a minimalist home, a sparse interior offers expansive walls for large paintings.
Strategic placement of works is imperative within an interior so that design cohesion can be created via complementary or differentiated relationships with the artwork. A lot of times the art will also influence the color of the rooms, the spacing within the rooms, or vice versa. The right material palette can be created to complement a collection—including across furnishings, wallcoverings, and accessories.
With all in harmony, art can add a different soul to a house. Art is an important aspect of any room because it brings in a dimension that you can’t get from the design itself. There is a connection to the story behind it; there is the relationship with the client/homeowner and how it was collected; and then there’s the history of the work. It gives the room substance and meaning. (like a beautiful dress that waltzes into a room!)
Adding value for my clients and loving where we live!
Judy@JudithSutton.com
COLDWELL BANKER...GUIDING PEOPLE HOME SINCE 1906
908 803-0472
"...the right relationship means everything..."
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