Above the mantle is an oil and resin on wood panel painting by Kevin Kearns. On the far right is a photograph by the German artist Reinhard Görner. To the left of it, above an 18th-century Burmese Buddha, is an 18th-century Thai painting.

David Halperin’s New York apartment overlooks the East River and the 59th Street Bridge in a prewar building designed by Emery Roth who designed many of the city’s iconic residential buildings. “I’ve always lived in cities,” Halperin says.“I love New York but my main home is Hong Kong.” When I remark on his serene, light-filled home he comments, “Full credit goes to my interior designer Stephen James in Hong Kong, architect Tim Greer in New York and my contractor Mark Jameson.”On the left are two cityscapes by Nicholas Evans-Cato. The San Francisco cityscape is by Korean artist, Sung Eun Kim. The painting resting on the chest was purchased at a London art fair.He continues, “I grew up in an all-glass modern house in Brentwood, California. My stepfather, with whom I lived, collected works on paper, notably American woodblock prints, as well as Native American baskets and carpets. I was never drawn to his collections and didn’t start collecting until I moved to Hong Kong. As a naval officer during Vietnam, I was in and out of Hong Kong. After law school and working in New York I had the opportunity to move to Hong Cong joining Coudert Brothers.” He became a partner in Coudert and he continues as a partner in its successor firm, Orrick. During his service he was special assistant to Adm. E.R. Zumwalt, Commander of Naval Forces, Vietnam, and later Chief of Naval Operations.Above the sofa in the living room is Skyscraper LAX to MNL, by the Philippine photographer Jay Yao. The two Swiss mountain scenes are by an Australian photographer, purchased at an art fair in Hong Kong. Above the lamp is a small bridge painting by Nicholas Evans-Cato. On the right are two scenes of Brooklyn by Brad Aldridge. To the left of the lamp is Equus Metallifer, a collage of insect wings and parts of toy animals, by English artist Jane Edden.“By way of background,” he says, “I have lived in Hong Kong since 1976 but for some time I wanted to have an apartment in New York as I am intending to spend more time in the city. I have had friends and family who have lived in the building where I now have my apartment. I bought and finished renovating the apartment about 18 months ago.”Rafael Neff’s photograph Nationalbibliothek Prag, 2007/2008, hangs above the sofa. Against the window is an early-19th-century Burmese temple carving.

In the center, above the chest, is a 19th-century portrait of an English lawyer who practiced in India. To the left is an 18th-century still life. To the right of the portrait is Jackson Falls, NH by Rodrigo Mateo, and beneath it on the chest is Clear Afternoon by Sandra Sanchez. Both were purchased at Eleventh Street Arts, which is adjacent to the Grand Central Atelier.Referring to the art that graces the apartment, he comments, “I am particularly drawn to cityscapes. In the dining room is a large painting of the Manhattan Bridge by Roland Kulla, which I recently purchased from George Billis Gallery. I like the juxtaposition with the early-17th-century Dutch portrait. George brought the large bridge painting over to be sure I would be comfortable with it. When he delivered the two Brooklyn scenes by Brad Aldridge in the living room he helped compose that wall.”

On the left wall is Roland Kulla’s Manhattan I, 2016, acrylic on canvas. It echoes the view from the apartment’s windows of the 59th Street Bridge. Above the table is a 17th-century Dutch portrait.Halperin often combines older and newer pieces, such as in the bedroom where drawings by Anthony Baus, who teaches at Grand Central Atelier, are joined by a 19th-century French drawing and a 19th-century portrait. “I like to mix it up a bit,” he says. “Eleventh Street Arts is adjacent to the Atelier. They show the work of students and have wonderful neoclassical drawings.”Two paintings by Dan Gualdoni flank 16th- and 19th-century portraits in the entry.Prominent in the apartment are large-scale photographs. “I don’t generally collect photographs, but the large-scale images are appealing,” he says. “I’ve bought them from Lumas, which produces limited editions of about 100 which brings the price down.”

He adds, “I go to art fairs, and there are two galleries in New York that I frequent, George Billis Gallery and Kathryn Markel Fine Art. There are two paintings by Dan Gualdoni here and one in my Hong Kong apartment that I purchased from Kathryn Markel. There is a small number of dealers whose advice I value. They are good at developing relationships with viewers. They know a lot more than the collector does.”Two oil on linen cityscapes by Nicholas Evans-Cato are in the bookcase.He also gets advice from some of his artists. “I have some watercolors of imaginary cityscapes by Jimmy Chen. When he stopped painting I asked him for artists he thought painted interesting cityscapes. He wrote back and suggested Nicholas Evans-Cato. I found his work at George’s gallery and now have several of his paintings,” Halperin notes. “Above the fireplace mantle is a painting by Kevin Kearns, which I purchased from Stricoff Fine Art in Chelsea. I have two other of his paintings in my Hong Kong apartment.”On the top left is a drawing, Ganymede’s Rocks, by Anthony Baus, hanging next to an early-19th-century academic figure drawing. Beneath them are, left to right, an ink drawing, Surrogate’s Courthouse, commissioned from Baus and a 19th-century portrait. Another Baus drawing is on the stand on the table.The eclectic nature of his collection reflects his tastes and interests. “It gives me a lot of pleasure and my guests enjoy the eclectic nature of the art and objects,” the collector shares. “They remind me of places I’ve lived and the times I’ve been in those places. I have some Asian things here and some European things in Hong Kong. My apartment in Bangkok, though, is floor to ceiling Asian art.”In the hallway is a cityscape by Nicholas Evans-Cato. On the right is House of Louisa Faxas—Havana, a photograph by German artist Werner Pawlok.

He says, “I don’t have a theme.” When he says, “I like to mix it up a bit” he doesn’t mean only works from different time periods and places in the world. On a chest in the living room is an extraordinary assemblage of insect wings and parts of toy animals by Jane Edden, an artist whose work he discovered at Flowers gallery. David Halperin in his Sutton Place apartment. Behind him are two scenes of Brooklyn by Brad Aldridge.

He admits to being “slightly put off to the extent many collectors are obsessed with recalibrating the value of their collection.
I don’t look at paintings to translate into an increase in value. That’s not the point.” —

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