Rotating Art

Written by Sherry Moeller Photography by Anne Gummerson

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Does your artwork evoke “ambivalence about chaos versus order, aging versus youth, and thoughtfulness versus spontaneity,” such as the work of Boston artist Amy Maas, according to the artist and Candace Kaller, owner of Kaller Fine Arts in Bethesda? Would it continue to do this day after day, year after year? Maybe so, if the art was rotated throughout the home.

Adrienne Lewis, who co-owns Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries with Ronald Trowbridge, and Kaller invited us into their homes to show how moving artwork around the house not only refreshes spaces, but also allows you to see the art in a new light.

“Rotating art” was the norm for Kaller, who grew up in Northern California as the daughter of gallery owner Robert Kaller. He founded Galerie de Tours and eventually owned five galleries specializing in contemporary realists and 19th century American art. “We always had rotating art because my dad would bring pieces home, we’d enjoy them for a while, and then they would go back to the gallery to be sold,” Kaller says. Following the art as it moved around the house trained Kaller to look at it carefully and made her realize that “you should move art around or else you begin to take it for granted, and stop really seeing it.”

“It gives you a whole new attitude” about the work, Lewis says. Maybe one piece should be replaced with two or three smaller paintings to balance the wall or room and bring energy into the space, Lewis adds. And don’t be concerned about the frames matching one another. If it’s a good painting, and more importantly one you love, it will coordinate with the surroundings.

Artful Conversations

As an art educator for 12 years in DC, including 10 years as a docent at the National Gallery of Art, Kaller says her tastes continue to evolve. “I have moved from a preference for 19th century work, particularly Hudson River School artists, to a love of abstraction,” she says. “I have a particular fondness for contemporary artists who use art history as an influence and inspiration, but still manage to convey something new and unique.”

When Kaller decided to open a gallery in her home, she knew she had to declutter the main floor to give it a gallery feel as well as paint in neutral tones for the clean backdrop needed to display revolving artwork. “I changed my furniture arrangements to floating groupings in order to free up larger expanses of wall space,” the gallery owner says. She also consulted Marci Brand of Marci Brand Interiors to assist her in selecting and arranging movable pieces of furniture, such as the sunroom’s window grate coffee table and American Eye leather living room chairs and ecru suede dining room seating. Pillows covered in Fabricut, Robert Allen, and Nina Campbell fabrics interchange from room to room to accompany whatever art is on display.

“People who have come to more than one of my shows always comment on how different the house looks depending on what kind of art I’m showing,” Kaller says. “I find that there is often a lively ‘conversation’ between my older landscapes and the contemporary ones.” Just as the artwork “converses,” so do Kaller and her youngest daughter, who has inherited an interest in art and art history. This inter-generational communication results in discussions about the art and artists on display at Kaller Fine Arts as well as pleas from her daughter not to sell a piece of art she has grown to love. “That, of course, is an occupational hazard,” Kaller notes, and can be a reward.

For instance, Kaller selected the treasured Ellen Kendall Baker work shown in the living room from her father’s gallery as her wedding gift from him, but only after her father dissuaded her and her fiancé from choosing two other higher-priced works. “Giving a gift of artwork to mark significant occasions is a wonderful way to create memories that truly do last a lifetime,” she adds.

The Past and Present in Parallel

Antiquities can co-exist with modern works, as shown in the Rockville townhome of Adrienne Lewis. Lewis, who splits her time between the Rockville home she shares with husband Mike and the house and cottage the company leases near Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries, began collecting art and antique horse figures as far back as she can remember.

After spending 26 years in the corporate world, Lewis partnered with Trowbridge to open Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries last year. She turned a favorite pastime and passion into a growing business. “I’ve unknowingly been preparing for this for years,” Lewis says. She kept files on artists, visited galleries, and read art books and magazines. When Lewis decided to open the gallery, she knew exactly what art she wanted to show, including the work of Ria DeWit, who was born in Holland and lives and teaches still life painting in Leesburg.

Lewis knows firsthand that one person’s enthusiasm for art is contagious and can rub off on friends and family. She often sees friends browsing her gallery and admiring the same works. But when it comes to purchasing art, Lewis offers these suggestions: Buy what you love and compromise if your partner loves something you don’t. If you can live with the other person’s selection, buy it. If you’re both compromising, don’t buy it. Another option is to dedicate a room just for your personal art collection.

Over the years, Lewis and her husband have given each other artwork for special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries, instead of other types of gifts. This is one way to start a collection that can evolve and rotate throughout the home. Antiquities, such as a Tang dynasty funereal jar, a Han dynasty horse and a Tang horse and rider, blend with both modern and traditional paintings in the dining room. Ed Gregor painted subtle horizontal stripes in alternating flat and semi-gloss finishes in the same color to create a backdrop for the art in this area of the home. In the upper level bedroom, Kristine Martin Designs color washed and painted walls to coordinate with Faux Effects’ quartzstone finish applied to the headboard wall and columns.

As a gallery owner, Lewis is often asked her opinion on art placement in a home. She recently visited a client’s residence where the challenge was to exchange a huge painting over the fireplace with something that would change the feel of the room. “We replaced the painting with one the client loved, but the space looked empty. Adding another piece to the wall perpendicular to it made all the difference in the space,” Lewis says. Also, with many two-story rooms in modern homes, Lewis suggests buying smaller pieces of art that can hang side by side or one over the other. This makes transporting the pieces easier and if a homeowner moves to a smaller space, the art can be placed and enjoyed in separate rooms.

How to Hang Art

Not all art-hanging hooks are created equal. Lewis uses OOK Art & Picture Hanging Hardware, ooks.com, available locally at The Home Depot, Sears, Ace, Linens-N-Things, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. The OOK Professional Picture Hangers, shown above, give art owners options based on paintings’ weights, from five to 75 pounds. After rotating art, walls need minimal repair when using these hooks.

How to Select Art

Adrienne Lewis suggests:

• Buy what you love
• Buy the best original art you can afford
• How do you determine its value? If you love it, it has value
• Spend time visiting galleries
• Expect a gallery owner to be knowledgeable about the art and the artist
• If you’re not sure about a piece, sleep on it. If you wake up thinking about it, go back and buy it
• If the art is expensive, ask if the gallery will accept payments
• Keep it moving. Try a contemporary painting in a traditional room and rotate it often.