A Thomas Moran oil hangs in the West Bank living room of a couple originally from Chicago. It’s flanked by Carl Rungius’ Moose in the Woods on the left and Frank Tenney Johnson’s Reflections on the right with Native American pottery on a Molesworth table.
old West and the beauty of our surroundings,” they said. Their Western collection ranges from Remington to Rungius, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Molesworth, and Stickley. “This collection skews Western for two people who began collecting Modern and European art,” Corona said. “But it includes ties to their beginnings as collectors and is completely earnest.” The couple said “quality and whether or not we both love the piece” are the most important factors in deciding to buy something new. “Our tastes have not really changed. We have expanded our interests, but remain true to our tastes.” Not that I ever thought about it before—
since I never thought of myself as a collector— but I can say the same for my tastes, even if my range has changed. (Recently I got my first abstract work, a mixed-media piece inspired by NASA photographs of the moons of Jupiter by Diehl Gallery artist Monica Aiello.) Most of the pieces in my collection exude energy and have a palette of bright, rich hues. “Gentle” does not describe a single thing on any of my walls. If the art has a sense of humor, all the better. A series of twelve drawings, Superheroes on the Toilet, is in the powder room. Each superhero hangs in its own IKEA frame. Down in the guestroom, that first painting of the countryside still hangs in its original frame.
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