Stock homes featuring unusual architecture with customized art: when it comes to unique homes, particularly those with lots of windows and few walls for art, think outside of the box to keep potential collectors coming back

Art Business News, April, 2003 by Lisa Crawford Watson

"When placing original canvases in homes with a lot of glass, something has to be done to keep out the UV rays," said Myrna Hayutin, owner and director of Gallery M in Denver. "Other than that, we're always thinking of creative ways to enhance a unique area with art. If there isn't a lot of wall space, we suggest hanging the art salon style, with many works on the same wall. True collectors want to collect and enjoy art, and they don't want to be limited by what a designer would advise for household aesthetics. They want to see the art."

Hayutin also recommends ways of getting around stone and other textured surfaces by hanging paintings or photography from rods or suspending them from hooks anchored into crossbeams above the masonry.

"In the earlier days," she said, "they hung art from the coving in the ceiling. If the clients don't want to put nails into their stone or plaster walls, we simply have to work around them to find ways to help them enjoy their art."

Hayutin is also not afraid to advise clients to steal the show with a dramatic piece, as long as the wall can handle it. She's thinking of Jessica Rice's original "Man With Pipe," an 85- by 50-inch acrylic, which would make a bold statement in color and form in an open stairwell, dramatic entry or heroic living room wall. "We don't have art that blends into the walls," she said.

Scottsdale, Ariz., is another region that neither recedes into the landscape nor apologizes for a lack of space to present art. Also given to expanses of glass designed to take in the grandeur of desert scenery.

"A lot of homes in our mountainous areas have windows, windows, windows," said Joan Cawley of her eponymous gallery. "A home will have one or two places to hang something, maybe just one wall in the great room to hang an original painting or woven rug. This presents a wonderful opportunity for sitting or standing pieces, such as Robert Rivera's gourds or Molly Heiser's ceramic cuchinas. We also sell a lot of art baskets."

When they run out of room inside, Cawley wanders outside to place cortin steel sculptures in the garden, which create a striking complement to the natural texture of the environment.

"A lot of people collect art in keeping with the Southwest style of their home," said Cawley, "but there's no reason they can't experiment with a contemporary look and introduce some strong color to the setting. As publishers, we're into the bright and bold and beautiful that grabs us. It may be a man on a horse, and it may be the missions of the Southwest. We're definitely into high color in this area."

Whether your collectors are adding color to the muted tones of the great Southwest, an Asian influence to a Tuscan villa or modern, contemporary art to country French architecture, what's most important is that they enjoy the art. As a gallery owner, you should always keep that in mind and constantly remind your customers of that idea.

"If you love something," said Terwilliger, "if it touches your heart, inspires and thrills you, which is really what collecting art is about, it is so much more important than whether it matches your furniture or suits the style of architecture. Art is a very personal thing."