MASTERPIECE IN THE MAKING

A Marc Newson console sits beneath Andy Warhol’s iconic Jackie. An Allied Maker chandelier, a stool from Maison Gerard, and a gray rug from The Rug Company complete the arrangement. A work by Ugo Rondinone adds interest on the stair.

Time-honored architecture brings dimension to the homeowners’ contemporary art collection. Thomas Struth’s large-format print from his Museo del Prado series hangs to the left of the stairs featuring a mohair runner by Carol Piper Rugs.

Early 20th-century home provides a palette for 21st-century art.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN AND JOHN SMITH

Pumpkin-hued walls bring warmth and brightness to an interior space while a large black-and-white print by Jenny Holzer punctuates its walls. This cozy bar, with an onyx countertop flecked with earth tones to complement the walls, is nestled in the center of the house. It is one of many contrasts throughout this gracious Highland Park home. Originally built in 1919 and renovated several times since, its quiet elegance is a counterweight to the dynamism of the latest homeowners’ blue-chip collection of contemporary art.

Erin Mathews of Allie Beth Allman & Associates worked with a pair of newcomers to Dallas as they sought a beautifully located home that could accommodate their collection. They came with an open mind and a vision of the renovation possibilities. “They look for the good bones of a house and put a good team together to make if fabulous,” Mathews says. In this case, builder Randall Underwood, interior designer Chad Dorsey, and landscape designer Melissa Gerstle worked on its transformation, maintaining the home’s original footprint in the process. Together, in four short months, they seamlessly finessed a home that embraces the past while staying rooted in the present. “We tried to honor the architecture with the renovation and make it the perfect palette for the artwork, because that is the star of the renovation,” Dorsey explains.

The focal point of the entryway, for example, is an ebony wall that serves as a dramatic backdrop to Andy Warhol’s Jackie. This iconic image depicts a smiling Jacqueline Kennedy arriving in Dallas on that fateful November morning. Bathed in blue, it commemorates that sunny day with foreboding of the tragedy that would unfold just hours later. A custom monoscope chandelier by Allied Maker, with its astral form, along with a Marc Newson table lend an additional 1960s vibe that pairs cohesively with the art. “What’s really great with classical architecture is that you can embrace it with modern furnishings,” Dorsey suggests.

In an adjacent hallway, a large-format print from Thomas Struth’s Museo del Prado series offers its own portal into the Spanish museum. The collection began in the early 1990s with prints and photographs. In the intervening decades, it has grown not only in size but also in scope. “We’re migrating from almost all American artists to younger, more diverse and global artists,” the collector explains. It is worth noting that the couple enjoys collecting work on their own, though they will occasionally engage an advisor to provide condition checks for older works.

To be sure, their collection of American art is spectacular, with

A sunny day warms Mark Bradford’s Floor Scrapers 9 and Glenn Ligon’s Come Out Study 19.

Howard Hodgkin’s Asphalt is installed above a fireplace. A Lindsey Adelman Kingdom Chandelier hangs overhead. iconic work by luminaries such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, McArthur Binion, and Sam Francis, to name a few. And while these artists define postwar American art, the collection also incorporates succeeding generations of American artists, including Sam Gilliam, Glenn Ligon, Mark Bradford, Walter Price, and Julie Mehretu. Hans Hoffman and Ahmed Alsoudani, both foreign-born emigres whose work the couple owns, have made their own mark on American art. More recently, the collection is reflective of contemporary European artists, including Keith Tyson, the 2002 Turner Prize winner, as well as Sophie von Hellermann and Howard Hodgkin.

Between loans to museums and new acquisitions, the collection rotates on a regular basis. Dorsey appreciates this opportunity, remarking, “As a collector, being able to move your collection around makes the most sense. It makes it more fun and really interactive. Ultimately, you want to see your collection in new ways.”

Dorsey’s keen eye helps create visual connections between furnishing and art. A Zaha Hadid Aqua table in the dining room, for example, is placed under a Lindsey Adelman Kingdom Chandelier, whose branchlike shape further echoes the natural world. Dorsey paired these organic forms with dining chairs by Nina Seirafi. Their monochromatism is offset by the boldly colored circular paintings of Ugo Rondinone. Pulsing with their own energy, they counterbalance Sean Scully’s muted tones in an angular work on an adjacent wall.

The dichotomy between organic and geometric continues in a nearby sitting room, where a De Sede sofa undulates across the space. Behind it, a large work from McArthur Binion’s DNA:study series offers structured heft. Karl Springer’s Free Form coffee tables anchor the space, reflecting the room around them.

Clockwise from top: Known for his stunning kitchen design, Dorsey installed Christopher Peacock’s handsome cabinetry with lighting by Flos; Abundant with natural light, the breakfast room features Flos Aim Pendant lighting, Naoto Fukasawa armchairs, and a Marc Krusin table; Jenny Holzer’s The Hand Desired enhances the bar Dorsey had painted in a stunning orange shade..

On the upstairs landing a sculpture by Michael Steiner takes center stage with, from left, Robert Rauschenberg, Bellini V; Keith Tyson, Nature Painting; and Allan McCollum, The Shapes Project: Collection of Perfect Couples.

On the upper level, a dramatic chandelier hangs from the primary bedroom’s soaring ceiling. Julie Mehretu’s Six Bardos: Hymn (Behind The Sun) is installed above the Liaigre bed along with Gabriel Scott’s Luna fixture.

This space flows into the study. With its wood-lined walls and large bay window framing the garden, this room has a more rustic feel compared to the rest of the home. The center of the room is dominated by an Yves Klein cocktail table filled with signature International Klein Blue pigment. This iconic modernist work is offset by a more recent acquisition: a painting by local artist Jammie Holmes.

A frequent challenge of older homes is updating the kitchen. Dorsey transformed this formerly small work area into a roomy, light-filled atrium that offers plenty of space for the family to congregate.

The collection continues on the second floor. Among the works here is a print by Robert Rauschenberg that faces off with a suite from Allan McCollum’s whimsical Shapes Project. Included in the primary bedroom is an early work, as well as an early acquisition, by Pat Stair. As seasoned collectors, the couple commissioned Billy Sullivan to paint a portrait of their children, also installed in this space.

In the garden, Gerstle has devoted equal care to the landscape design. “It’s formal but whimsical in the space. Everything is a play on texture, form, and shape,” she explains.

The couple still maintains a home in their native New York City, where they frequent galleries and acquire much of their work. They are, however, embracing their new city and look forward to being involved in the arts scene in Dallas.

Their collaborative efforts with Dorsey, Gerstle, and Underwood have already paid off. As Mathews concludes, “What made this project sing was that it had wonderful people attached to it the whole time.” And that includes the homeowners, whom the city welcomes as new patrons of the local cultural ecosystem. P

An Osvaldo Borsani P40 lounge chair enjoys pride of place beneath a window.

Exterior views of the home feature Randall Underwood’s updates with landscape design by Melissa Gerstle.