The Artful Life: 6 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week
From a stunning ring collection designed by Pae White for Vhernier to a selection of rare Willem de Kooning lithographs on view in the dining room of Santa Monica’s Muse
1. A Santa Monica Restaurant Displays Rare Willem de Kooning Lithographs
Since opening in late 2024, the Santa Monica restaurant Muse has drawn a devoted following among Angelenos for chef-owner Fardad Khayami’s contemporary French cooking and the moody, transportive dining room conceived by designer Marc Ange. The restaurant partnered with a private collection and presented works by Spanish surrealist Joan Miró upon its opening, but a recent rotation has introduced another blue-chip artist into the mix: Willem de Kooning. Timed to coincide with the arrival of collectors attending Frieze Los Angeles, a concentrated selection of rare lithographs by the Dutch-American abstract expressionist is believed to mark the largest public presentation of his work currently on view in the city. Drawn from the Quatre Lithographies series (1986), the works are mounted on fluted paneling above intimate dining banquettes, allowing de Kooning’s gestural lines to run across the walls. —Ryan Waddoups
2. Nikolai Haas Caps Tropa Tequila’s Mushroom-Shaped Bottle with a Beaded Top
To introduce its limited-edition Añejo, Tropa Tequila went back to Nikolai Haas of the Los Angeles-based duo Haas Brothers for artistic inspiration. In return, the he produced a collectible piece meant to be enjoyed long after the last drop is gone. Limited to just 300 bottles, each individually numbered and signed, the brand’s second expression is bottled in a gold vessel that is this time capped with a mushroom top hand-beaded by artisans in South Africa. “I’m not interested in making objects that just sit there and behave,” says Nikolai Haas. “I want things to start conversations—about pleasure, about desire, about being human. This bottle isn’t meant to be precious. It’s meant to touched, used, and brought into someone’s life.” Tropa Tequila, which made it’s U.S. debut late last year with a Reposado is crafted in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, and was founded by Australian friends Paul Solomon, Joost Poulus, and Nick Heine. The 300-bottle limited-edition release will be distributed via a ballot opening March 2 through March 9.—Alexandria Sillo
3. Francesco Clemente Maps Memory and Mysticism at Vito Schnabel Gallery
Renowned for blending Western art traditions with Eastern mystical philosophies and aesthetics, Francesco Clemente traces nearly three decades of pilgrimage as central to his painting practice at Vito Schnabel Gallery in Chelsea. Running through April 18, each work in “Travel Diary” corresponds to a distinct place and moment of the past, folding the artist’s nomadic life into a lyrical visual memoir. The earliest canvas, Dormiveglia I (1998), is from a series that takes its title from an Italian term for the threshold that lies between sleeping and awakening. Reminiscent of a tarot card, the canvas towers, featuring a fragmented yet radiant, goddess-like figure—an image of consciousness in flux.
In Trungpa (2012), Clemente draws on Buddhist tradition as an eight-spoked wheel encircles a bird perched on a human skull. The central red bird is one of many throughout the piece, though the rest are colored oxidized copper-green and recede into the background. The gallery describes this motif as “perhaps an analogy for the artist,” a clear point of focus in an otherwise shifting field of memories and places. —Gogo Taubman
4. Artist Pae White Designs a Stunning Ring Collection for Vhernier
While many jewelry pieces claim to be wearable sculpture, a new limited-edition collaboration between Vhernier and artist Pae White truly is. Each of the ten rings are crafted by the Italian house and designed by White, who had long dreamed of making bijoux that evokes the sea. This shared passion has resulted in rings inspired by the exoskeleton of a crab in form, while capturing the way light shimmers on the water. That distinct sparkle is conjured by artisans who masterfully combine faceted rock crystal, diamonds, sapphires, and gold. Unveiled at arts patron Eugenio Lopez’s Los Angeles home, timed to LA Frieze Art Week, they’re sure to catch the eye of discerning collectors everywhere.—Jacqueline Terrebonne
5. Matthew Fisher Debuts a Myth-Steeped Stone Diffuser and Fragrance
Matthew Fisher continues to expand the treasures offered within his Seaport District, New York, gallery with Demeter, a limited-run home fragrance that adds an alluring new dimension to the ballet dancer–turned–designer’s artisanal practice. Each set pairs a sculptural carved diffuser in silver sandstone with a cast plate and a 30 mL extrait de parfum, with the oil drawn directly across the stone to release scent into the room. Produced in an edition of 107, the fragrance is steeped in winter mythology, opening with cedarwood and sandalwood before deepening through fir balsam absolute drawn from the northern wilds, the smoked char of kiln-fired pine, and frankincense. Yellow mandarin cuts through with a flash of brightness, while pomegranate nods to the ancient myth that lends the piece its name. —R.W.
6. An Enlightening Tome Paints a Compelling Portrait of Artist John Constable
An insightful new book celebrating 250 years since John Constable’s birth explores how the painter’s upbringing in rural Suffolk, England, where he was trained to manage his father’s land, shaped the artist’s approach to painting. In Constable’s Year: An Artist in Changing Seasons (Thames & Hudson), author Susan Owens explores how his understanding of the countryside resulted in an insider’s feel to his paintings. The book, which follows his work and life through the changing seasons, also argues that Constable was a radical in his time, with his sketchbooks and paintings reflecting an intense scrutiny of nature-based works. “Susan Owens draws a multidimensional portrait of Constable, bringing him alive not only biographically but also meteorologically and geographically in his love of the skies above and the work-a-day East Anglican landscape,” says Martin Gayford. —A.S.