When our collector was looking for a country home, she went to the East End of Long Island where she rented a house owned by James McMullen. McMullen designed the posters for Lincoln Center including shows such as My Fair Lady, Carousel, The King and I and South Pacific. There is now a permanent exhibition of his posters in the lobby of the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.On the top shelf is a double-sided painting, In Virginia, by the artist VR. Beneath it is Boat Cluster, 2017, acrylic, by Bob Noreika. On the shelf is Anthony Davis’ pastel All at Sea. On the desk is a painting on copper by E. Simkin.

Fortunately, for the collector, many of McMullen’s original works were in the house when she lived there. Spring Salt Marsh particularly attracted her because it depicted the local landscape and the animals she saw there every day. Years later, when she bought her own home, she was able to acquire the painting for her collection.

Her first home was in the arts and crafts style, and she decorated and collected accordingly, purchasing Stickley furniture and a group of ceramic plaques with a vellum glaze by artists at the Rookwood Pottery Company. Two of them grace the kitchen in her new condominium, accompanied by an arts and crafts vase she purchased in England.Transfiguration, 2016, oil on panel, by Joseph McGurl, hangs above the fireplace.

Two Rookwood plaques with vellum glaze are in the kitchen. On the left is Evening Glow, 1915, by Ed Diers and on the right is a piece by Lenore Abury. The collector purchased the arts and craft pot in England.

“I was hesitant, at first, about the art I was collecting,” she admits, “even though I minored in art history at university. Gradually, as the years passed and I bought work for the house, I became more confident.” Each piece she purchases has a special meaning for her whether it is of Moroccan slippers or the local landscape.

She saw Claudio Bravo’s paintings at Marlborough Gallery on a visit there with her friend, Sag Harbor art dealer Laura Grenning. “Laura has a good eye,” she explains. “I wouldn’t have known about many of the artists whose work I bought without her.” The collector purchased Bravo’s Babuchas Rojas y Lila to hang in her bedroom. “The slippers are rendered so beautifully and the light highlights them perfectly.” she remarks. “They look as though he has just stepped out of them. I have similar slippers that I bought in Morocco.”James MacIntyre’s watercolor The Flower Seller hangs above the etagere. The three glass pieces are by Elsa Peretti.

Purchased specifically to hang over her fireplace is Joseph McGurl’s Transfiguration, featuring his luminous light. The collector says, “I had seen the painting at the Salmagundi Club in New York. As soon as I walked in I knew I had to have it but it was in a traveling exhibition.” Her patience was, indeed, a virtue since she was able to purchase it when it returned. In the scene are osprey nests and duck blinds, which she sees around the East End. She learned about the duck blinds when workers who came to the house went directly to the painting to admire it and pointed them out to her.Mel Stabin’s watercolor Women of Tanzania, 2007, hangs in her “travel room.” Above the mirror is a photograph, Photo #1, 2014, by John Deng.

Island light is more palpable than the light she experiences in the city. The moist atmosphere, reflections from the sea and the wide-open spaces contribute to an experience that can’t be ignored. The light pours through the large windows of her condominium. “I love to watch the light,” she says. “It changes on an hourly basis.” As her collection has grown, she has become aware that the light, sky, water and the natural world she loves all appear in the works of art she has collected, from the misty landscapes of the Rookwood plaques, to the transcendental light of the McGurl.James McMullen's Spring Salt Marsh, 1979, pastel, hangs on the stairway. On the right is a watercolor by Yves Parent (1941-2011).

Babuchas Rojas y Lila, 2011, oil on canvas, by Claudio Bravo (1936-2011), hangs in a bedroom.

Viktor Butko’s Deer Park Lane (Shelter Island), 2018, oil on canvas, hangs in a bathroom.

Another painting of light is Viktor Butko’s Deer Park Lane (Shelter Island). “I’ve met Viktor,” she explains. “Knowing him I can see how he was able to express himself in the painting. The sun through the trees and reflected on the water are like a window on the wall looking out to the marsh. He creates a mood with that reflection. I take photographs myself and they’re always about the reflection in the water.”

She has also met Stephen Hannock and has two of his paintings. “I wake up every morning and the painting in my bedroom makes me happy. Stephen polishes the oil paint as he’s working and creates a depth and luminosity that’s so beautiful,” she says.

She purchased James MacIntyre’s watercolor Flower Seller in England. “I loved her pose,” shares the collector. “She seemed like such a solid figure.”Stephen Hannock’s oil on canvas Flooded River Rose Dawn, 2003, hangs in the collector’s bedroom.

Hanging in a bedroom is Louis Hill's 2004 pastel, Flower Pickers.

On an etagere beneath the MacIntyre are three glass pieces by her friend Elsa Peretti, perhaps best known for her jewelry designs for Tiffany & Co.

In her “travel room,” she has assembled pieces from around the world including Mel Stabin’s watercolor Women of Tanzania and a photograph by John Deng of women in Asian fabrics. They are complemented by actual Asian fabrics, a Welsh chest, a Bessarabian rug and an American tramp art mirror.

The collector’s love for her East End environs is reflected in her collection. She adds, “It’s a joy to see the nature I’m so familiar with rendered so beautifully in the art.” —

Powered by Froala Editor