053COLLECTOR HOMEThe French connection continues with a painting
by André Minaux (1923-1986). The collector says,
“Minaux went through five or six different periods.
I’ve always liked his work. I found this piece on eBay
for $500. This painting is very geometric. It doesn’t
have to harmonize with what’s around it.”
He likes to learn about the artists he collects,
often reading their letters to learn more about
them from their unguarded moments. He explains,
“I want to learn what’s going on in their lives and
what’s happening in the world around them and I do
research on what they’re writing about. We also like
collecting California artists like Eric Nash.” Nash’s
2 :00 AM in the couple’s collection is typical of his
nocturnal scenes, film stills from what some have
christened “California Noir.”
Another California artist who takes a lighter
approach to the history of the region is Danny
Heller. Heller says, “I paint the reality of the
American environment: how structures once revered
for their groundbreaking ideas in design and social
planning have been perpetuated and how they have
been forgotten. Primarily focusing on the nation’s
midcentury identity, I play with lighting, dramatic
angles and specific colors to form engaging paint-
ings that capture architectural elements.”
Heller and his wife have become friends of the
collector and his wife who have collected his paint-
ings extensively. “We purchased one of his paintings
here in Palm Springs because we like his type of
realism that focuses on the midcentury modern
design of the area as well as that of New York City,”
the collector says. “His paintings have a special
light. There’s a coolness to the colors with a spot of
brighter color somewhere. You think you’re seeing
the real thing but, of course, you’re not. Up close
you can see his technique. We’ve since bought many
more of his paintings, working with George Billis
Gallery in Los Angeles.”
Also in their collection is Heller’s only Paris
painting. The two couples were vacationing in Paris
when the collector asked the artist to paint an image
of the city. Known for his paintings of houses and
cars, he painted a scene of a house and a car with a
self-portrait in the reflection in a window.
Unique among the Hellers in the collection is
a painted piano done for a fundraiser for the LA
Chamber Orchestra. In 2012, Play Me, I’m Yours
brought 30 pianos, decorated by area artists, to the
streets of Los Angeles for the public to play as they
wished. He notes, “My wife bought Danny’s piano
on eBay. We didn’t tell him, so he was pleasantly
surprised when he came to visit.”
Since the collectors are open to what moves
them, their collection is eclectic and personal. “We
don’t have a single philosophy of collecting,” he
explains. They saw a tramp art desk in an estate
sale shop. “It’s a wonderful piece but we didn’t know
what it was. We liked its lines and we had room for
it. We learned that during the Depression people
turned to making folk art to survive. They used
whatever materials were at hand. The drawers in the
desk are made from cigar boxes and we were able
to date the desk from the price of cigars printed on
one of the boxes.”
He continues, “We’re thrilled if the contemporary
works in our collection go up in value, because it
means the artists are advancing in their careers.”7
On the left are, from top, Kurt
Cyr’s One, Two, Three, 2014, oil;
Michael Chamberlain’s Jacks,
2016, oil on panel; and Rachel
Siegel’s Sip Time For Two, oil,- On the adjoining wall
are Zebras, 1965, lithograph,
by Victor Vasarely (1906-1997),
which hangs above Wayne
Jiang’s Autumn Back Road,
2016, acrylic on panel. Beneath
them are Vasa’s acrylic Cubes, - The three paintings on
the right are Ray Lanowy’s
Jake’s Red Velvet Cake, 2014, oil,
and Diane Morgan’s 2014 oils
Lemon Fresh Scent and Where’s
the Vodka. The Acoma Pueblo
olla on the counter is by
Beverly Victorino Garcia.
8
Danny Heller’s Self-Portrait
#1, 2015, oil on canvas, is on
the left. He can be seen in a
reflection in the window taking
the photo of a house in Paris.
On the right is Atelier 1, 1975,
oil on canvas, by André Minaux
(1923-1986).9
Danny Heller’s Plymouth in
Driveway, 2012, oil on canvas,
hangs in the bedroom.8 9