A Peek Inside The Elite Homes of The Art World
Like a hand-colored atlas or a lavish birding guide, For Art’s Sake: Inside the Homes of Art Dealers ($85; rizzoliusa.com) hints at the riches of a larger experience—in this case, the international art circuit—without nudging the reader off the couch. Venezuelan-born collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian convinced prominent gallerists, including Paula Cooper, Marian Goodman and Barbara Gladstone, to open their homes for the book. “I wanted to see how major art dealers became who they are,” Atencio Demirdjian says, “and what art they privilege.” As chair of the Latin American acquisition committees at both the Tate and Guggenheim museums, Atencio Demirdjian is a regular at exhibition openings and global fairs, and she’s known most of her subjects for years. Their collective passion for art and design is clear throughout the book, and Atencio Demirdjian makes the case that they can be adventurous decorators as well. “Look at Gavin Brown,” she says, referring to the New York–based dealer. “His house is completely pushing the boundaries. He and his wife, Hope Atherton, an artist—they’re both imaginative, experimental, very nonconformist.” Did she spot any similarities across the featured homes? “A lot of Franz West chairs,” Atencio Demirdjian says with a laugh. “I happen to love Franz West.” In a quick Q&A, she shares a few discoveries from her four-year journey in putting together For Art’s Sake. WSJ.: What was your biggest challenge with the book? Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian: The logistics. These people travel a lot! This was pre-pandemic. Putting their schedules together was the difficult part. WSJ.: Was there a lot of persuasion on your end?
