Private Collections Showcases Amazing Art

For many of us, the closest brush with a collector of notable art comes from reading their name on museum signage, as in the small placard under a painting that reads "on loan from ____." But once a year, some of the best art collections in San Francisco are on view in the most intimate setting possible, the private residences where they hang. An event called (Private) Collections allows ticket holders to go behind the doors of a home on a roster that includes SF's most exciting art luminaries. What makes this a can't-miss happening is that the collectors are on hand to personally lead guests through their works and speak about them. This year, the challenging art of Jeff Dauber will be showcased in his home designed by Berkeley architect Thom Faulders. Purchase a ticket at privatecollections.org and you can see it in person, but here's a sneak preview.

Mary Jo Bowling

Photo credit: Ethan Kaplan

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Art Feeding the Intellect

Dauber likes his artwork big and in-your-face. "I was the kid who went to the library and looked up what society calles weird," he says. "I like art that pushes me out of my comfort zone, that engages me and causes me to think. The collector commissioned Faulders of Faulders Studio to remodel a house that could showcase some of his largest work. The architect named the house Framespace. "It's the essence of what the house is about," Faulders says. "It's a static frame that captures a dynamic and always changing collection." In the dining room, works by Wolfgang Ganter and Aaron Plant hang above the table.
Photo credit: Ethan Kaplan

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Artistic Details

During the (Private) Collections event, viewers will be treated to the monumental work by Travis Somerville and the epic views from Dauber's media room. The work is among a collection that features everything from Al Jolson in blackface to fawns sniffing and about-to-explode bomb.
Photo credit: Ethan Kaplan

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Accomodating Art

Many design features of the home are nods to the collection. For example, the stairway is designed to make it easy to get large art upstairs.
Photo credit: Ethan Kaplan

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Architecture Stands Up to Art

Many homes designed around art take the gallery approach: stark white walls, subdued floors and a hushed air. This home refuses to defer to the subject matter of the collection. Instead of cabinets that fade quietly into the background, the architect designed richly colored drawers and doors throughout the house which make a robust pattern that reads as painterly blocks of color.