Upper East Side Apartment

The owners are contemporary art collectors who wanted to integrate their art into rooms with color instead of the more typical all-white backgrounds used with modern art. One of them is an art curator who has amassed a collection of works by artists ranging from Warhol to Hockney and wanted that art to speak to their surroundings. In the end, we provided the perfect backdrop to set up their pictures, allowing them to eschew conventions like the typical large piece of art over the sofa in favor of smaller works placed in a casual but balanced way. The quality of the apartment is the works of art, or as Thomas Jayne noted, “In this case, the decoration is subservient to the art.”

We painted the walls a sunny yellow and arranged miscellaneous furniture for function and sculptural effect. With the help of architect Ben Olson, the space gained definition: the kitchen was remodeled, the dining room became a sitting room, and the living room became a place to entertain and dine.