How a legendary Hamptons house was reborn as a refuge for women artists.
-
Loading... - Levi Wilson
- 12 Apr 2022
- 315 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Without Instagram, it’s likely the Hamptons’ newest art haven, Onna House, would never have come to be—and a modernist landmark may well have vanished to the annals of time. “There is this fantastic real-estate agent I was following,” says Lisa Perry, the fashion and interiors designer and art collector. The glass structure in East Hampton, New York, that the agent posted reminded her of the midcentury house of her childhood in Riverwoods, Illinois.
According to her broker, many buyers tear down vintage properties—and this one was in serious disrepair. But Perry, who has a weekend house in nearby North Haven, says she could “tell that the bones were great.” And it seemed the perfect setting for a new project: a center for woman-identifying artists and designers (on’na means “woman” in Japanese). It did not hurt that the house, designed in 1962 by the architect Paul Lester Wiener, is the stuff of art-world legend.
The home was built for the taxi mogul Robert Scull and his wife, Ethel, who were major collectors of Pop and minimalist art. (Andy Warhol’s first commissioned portrait, Ethel Scull 36 Times, was made in 1963 at Robert’s behest.) The Sculls’ Hamptons home was a nexus of the 1960s art world. “Just imagine all these people gathering there—​Rauschenberg, de Kooning, Pollock,” Perry says. “I want to bring that back.”
She enlisted Christine Harper, an architect with whom she had worked on several previous projects, to restore the home. The goal was to stay as faithful as possible to Wiener’s original vision, while making enhancements. For the kitchen and primary bathroom, however, Harper suggested adding new, larger windows to embrace the property’s recently landscaped garden. They also renovated the guesthouse, which Perry plans to offer to visiting artists.
This spring the home will officially get its second life when Perry opens the doors of Onna House. She has been busy gathering a permanent collection of art, objects, and furniture by women. The works include Almond Zigmund’s site-specific, punchy wall decals, Linda Miller’s mini-Dubuffet sculpture, and furniture by designer Anna Karlin.
On May 28, two inaugural solo exhibitions will open to the public: “Listening to the Thread,” a show of works by Mitsuko Asakura, a Japanese weaver whose practice melds traditional silk dyeing techniques and tapestry; and a look at designer and artist Ligia Dias’s jewelry, mirrors, and “Paper Dress” series, an ode to 1960s poster dresses. Read More...
