Photo Friday: Moving from Luxury to Necessity

With modernism, the role art plays in a home moves from luxury to a necessity.  Modern homes have less ornamentation, and draw life and character from the selected art pieces.
Art guides your eye. An example is the above sleek black and white kitchen by Bridgwater Consulting with carefully selected pieces.

Another is this white living room put together by K Rocke Design, where the painting above the fireplace takes the eye to the back wall. Despite the windows, French doors and glass enclosed stairway, the room feels whole, intact and intimate with the anchoring of the furnishings by a dark rug. 

In another fireplace seating area also by K Rocke Design, the art creates a very different perception of space, as the eye moves to the perimeter of the room.


An engaging street scene enhanced by a dramatic bench make a transition space a memorable area of the Bridgwater Consulting home. Similarly, in the same home, the paintings above the headboards make this a remarkable guestroom.

A windowless hallway could similarly be unremarkable without dramatic artistic touches like the paintings, eye-catching bench, LED light sculpture and changing LED lights in the side hallway that combine to make the space exciting. Designed by MHR, Marion Rockwood Design. 

This hallway feels like a gallery stroll through the owners’ lifetime collection of contemporary paintings and sculptures. However, the architect, Jaffa Group, countered the gallery feel with a sense of home by careful openings to view the home as a whole and to present the art in the context of other owners’ many other pieces.

As in the Jaffa Group’s home design, I photograph other homes designed to present the owners’ art collection. An example is a seating area just of the dining space with a wall sized and carefully lit for a painting from the owner’s collection. Design by WOW Atelier. 

Modern architecture connects with the exterior setting where windows and light are important design elements. In Utah’s landscape, this sets up situation where the views are so exquisite, it must be a design consideration, perfected here by Rob E McQuay Architects & Associates and interior designers Ashley Johnson and Gregory Abbott.

As far as taking photos of the art in modern home, because of the importance of the art, I make every effort to show it in the context where it serves the design and to not crop it unless it can’t be avoided or sacrifices the architecture.

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