Natural Habitat

Matthew DiVittorio and his partner collect artwork that reflects the nature that surrounds and inspires them.

By John O'hern | Photography by Francis Smith

Matthew DiVittorio spent time on the East End of Long Island when he was growing up and spent summers there during college breaks. Today, he and his partner live in a home on 2 acres that reflects the natural history of the island and is the site of ongoing projects to create habitat for local fauna from water turtles that lay their eggs in June to a “pet” seagull. “I was having a barbecue one day and a piece of chicken fell on the floor,” he relates. “I looked up and saw a seagull on the roof and tossed it up to him. He never stopped coming back. Now he knocks on the door and dances around until I open it and feed him from my hand.Above the fireplace is Waterlilies, 2019, an oil on linen by Darius Yektai. On the far wall is Nelson H. White’s The Fish, Nassau, The Bahamas, 2005, oil on panel. The south Pacific clam shell was purchased on Sanibel Island, a memory of collecting shells there with his father.

“When I would come out here in the summers, I could put my hands in the earth and enjoy all the things people used to come out here to do, enjoying the wildlife and the plant life—rather than shopping,” he adds. DiVittorio developed his interest in horticulture as a landscape architect working as director of landscape construction for the New York City Parks Department from which he has retired after 30 years. His interest in the natural aspects of the East End has evolved into collecting art that reflects it by the artists who feel the way he does. In the entry is Trees, 2007, by Ben Fenske, oil on canvas. On the table are an antique candleholder with a magnifying glass and an antique spyglass.

The ceramic crab in the kitchen was purchased in Nassau, The Bahamas. Marc Dalessio’s oil on panel Sag Harbor, 2015, hangs next to the doorway. On the far wall are two unsigned photographs of deer.“I’ve always been collecting something,” he says. “I enjoyed collecting old horticultural equipment and giving it a new purpose.” Prominent in his home is a large glass-topped coffee table. The base is a corn thresher with sharks’ teeth embedded in the wood, which would remove the kernels when the corn was run over them.

“When I got the home together,” he explains, “I could afford a little bit to open my house to the things I really love. Laura Grenning of Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor has been very instrumental as an adviser and a friend. I was very slow to make decisions and she would say ‘You waited too long and then it went. Let yourself go and treat yourself!’ The shadowbox on the right contains a design assembled from sea urchins. Beyond is an unsigned work depicting a school of fish.

“There was one painting of dunes at Amagansett. I know those dunes. It’s a unique landscape with plants that only grow in the dunes and it is being protected. There were houseguests visiting who thought the painting was too dark and said, ‘It doesn’t make you happy.’ Not every painting is supposed to make you happy, but I hesitated,” he continues. “A woman came into the gallery and purchased it in right away. She deserves it. She recognized it and acted quickly.”

He is thinking about putting in a pond at some point in the future but he has already begun to collect paintings that relate to ponds—Darius Yektai’s Waterlilies, for instance, and Tina Orsolic Dalessio’s Gold Fish.Paul Rafferty’s 2007 oil on canvas Three Sisters hangs above the table.

On the left is Paul Rafferty’s Brothers, 2008, oil. In the hall are Gold Fish 1 and Gold Fish 2, 2018, oil on panel, by Tina Orsolic Dalessio.

“Laura has introduced me to a number of artists such as Marc Dalessio, Nelson White, Ben Fenske and Ramiro, who capture the kinds of nature that I love—the quieter native landscape. Some of them have been to the house and have showed me where the best place would be to hang their paintings,” the collector shares. “Often I’ll see Marc and Ben out painting around the landscape. I like more than landscapes, though. I treasure Anthony Ackrill’s painting Enlightened. I’ve always loved shells and my family and I used to collect them when we vacationed on Sanibel Island. Something about his work is so different. He’s painted the nautilus shell floating in the air on a flat metal platter.”On the left is Anthony Ackrill’s oil on found object, Enlightened, 2018. Above the bed is Shelter Island Sailboats, 2018, oil on canvas, by Ben Fenske.

Nelson White’s Biareggio Bagno La Salute, 2005, oil on canvas, hangs above the bed in a guest room. On the right is Boys at Play, 2006, oil, by Paul Rafferty.

Some of the pieces in the collection have come from his travels. “After a 10-day visit to Santorini in Greece we went into a gallery an hour before we were going to leave. We saw The Swimmer by P. Kopunt,” he notes. “We struck a deal and had a Greek friend arrange shipping it to us here in North Haven.” The painting now hangs, appropriately, next to the doors to the pool.P. Kopunt’s 2005 painting The Swimmer hangs next to the doors to the pool.

Not all the works hanging in their home are original paintings. Two large, unsigned photographs of deer were purchased at English Country Home in Bridgehampton. The deer recall the real deer that have found a comfortable and secure habitat among the eastern red cedar trees on the property. There is also “whimsical fun stuff” like an antique spyglass and an antique candleholder with a magnifying glass to increase the light.Above the sink is Ramiro’s oil Cleaning Up, 2018.

A view of Fresh Pond and Shelter Island Sound from the back deck with geese on the right.

The house overlooks Fresh Pond and Shelter Island Sound. With windows and doors overlooking various parts of the landscape, “We’re always in touch with everything going on outside,” he says.

The home, the art and the landscape create a whole, a refuge from which the owners can sit quietly and watch boats heading for Sag Harbor at the end of the day and deer settling down among the cedars. “We feel one with nature,” DiVittorio says. —

John O’Hern, who has retired after 30 years in the museum business, specifically as the Executive Director and Curator of the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, N.Y., is the originator of the internationally acclaimed Re-presenting Representation exhibitions which promote realism in its many guises. John was chair of the Artists Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts. He writes for gallery publications around the world, including regular monthly features on Art Market Insights and on Sculpture in Western Art Collector magazine.