Home--and Work--Is Where the Art Is : Sherman Oaks Couple Sell Sculpture From Live-In Gallery
Carl Schlosberg herds his bronze-and-wool sheep into the center of the room. His wife, Judy, straightens a miniature bronze horse that looks like it is made of twigs.
Strolling among these and other pieces of sculpture, the Schlosbergs are obviously in their element, which is to say they are at home.
Their passion is seeking, collecting and living with art. But what really sets the Sherman Oaks couple apart from most collectors and dealers in Southern California is the way they exhibit and sell their works: in their home.
Sunday, the Schlosbergs will hold an opening for a group exhibition titled “Sculpture: Works in Bronze,” which features pieces by 20 artists, including George Rickey, Isamu Noguchi, Deborah Butterfield, Robert Graham, Fletcher Benton and Italo Scanga.
“We feel our home lends itself to our focus of contemporary sculpture which can be seen not only in a home environment but in a garden setting as well,” Judy said. “There are some people that have imagination and some people that don’t. When they see it in a setting they can relate to, they can more easily picture it in their own setting.”
The Schlosbergs, who are former schoolteachers and the original owners of Castlemont School in Tarzana, consider themselves pioneers of sorts, seeking to educate established and would-be collectors about the joys of contemporary sculpture by inviting them into their home.
“The San Fernando Valley has been a cultural wasteland . . . with the exception of cultural developments that are taking place now,” said Carl, who grew up in North Hollywood and is chairman of the 7-year-old Smalley Sculpture Garden at the University of Judaism on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. “And while I go out in the world and have lived abroad and travel a lot, I still reside here and have not given up.”
The off-white exterior of the Schlosbergs’ sprawling English-style home features colorful flower beds that flank a front entrance ringed with the greenery of a creeping fig. The house does not stand out from others in the neighborhood, and the only clue that art aficionados live inside is the gyratory George Rickey sculpture that moves gracefully in the front-yard breeze.
Throughout the white-walled interior, which has grown from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet over the years, sculpture and other artwork abound. An upstairs gallery with hardwood floors was added in 1975. The spacious back-yard garden contains larger pieces and a sitting area.
“It’s like going to a fine museum of contemporary art where the show’s changing every few months,” said Dr. Arthur Kahn, a Los Angeles collector whose interest in art was sparked by Carl. “It’s different, in that you can handle the art, touch it, or sit on it in some cases.”
Home galleries--a tradition in Europe, according to the Schlosbergs--are not common in the United States, but collectors in Los Angeles sometimes open their homes for shows.
The Schlosbergs hold two exhibitions a year. They do not advertise locally but send invitations to about 2,000 people on their mailing list. And unlike traditional galleries, they own much of the work they show and sell.
“The great advantage of working from your home is that you can pick and choose and do it on your own terms,” said Robert Gino, a longtime friend of the couple who is co-owner of the Orlando Gallery in Sherman Oaks. “You don’t have to worry about turnover. Your worries are a little less.
“The disadvantage is that people can’t drop by at any time. You have to wait until people contact you.”
There are other differences between home and traditional galleries. Collectors with home galleries, often referred to by traditional gallery owners as “bedroom art dealers,” are not reviewed by the press. Therefore, there is less opportunity to gain the prestige and opportunities that accompany launching and representing artists.
Those built-in pitfalls, however, do not seem to bother the Schlosbergs.
The couple’s approach has surprised more than a few apprehensive artists who have had their work displayed at the Schlosbergs’ home.
“I was very concerned about the arrangement but it was very skillfully done,” said Rickey, who was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Schlosberg home in honor of his 80th birthday in 1986.
Said Scanga, whose figurative sculptures, head assemblages and wood carvings were featured in a one-man exhibition at the Schlosbergs last year: “I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t think it would be so classy and well presented. In that kind of setting, that really helps out. Otherwise the work can just get lost and disappear.”
The Schlosbergs, and those who know them, say the partnership thrives because Carl and Judy recognize and perform specialized roles.
Carl, 52, seeks the pieces, contacts dealers or artists and supervises the placement and presentation of the work.
Judy, 49, a recording secretary for the Projects Council of the Museum of Contemporary Art, does the detail work necessary for a smooth exhibition, including the compilation of the mailing list.
Carl began collecting paintings when he was 13 years old. At 21, after graduating from UCLA and while he was beginning his career as a schoolteacher, he opened a gallery for a short time.
“I hated it,” he said. “I couldn’t stand the confinement and the restriction and realized very early that was not the area I was good at, so I went back to teaching.”
In 1964, Schlosberg opened his own elementary school in Sherman Oaks. The arts were stressed, with Carl arranging children’s art shows and field trips to galleries and to the beach where students would paint.
Judy, a schoolteacher and native of Kansas City, Mo., met Carl on a blind date in February, 1965, and the couple was married 10 months later.
In 1972, ready for a change of scenery and life style, the Schlosbergs and their two daughters moved to Europe for a year. While Judy studied French and the children attended school, Carl said he “discovered more about discovering,” by visiting auction houses, dealers and galleries throughout London and Paris.
“I could just see it evolving,” Judy said. “There was something about the magnetism of art and Carl’s taking to it. When we came back from Europe, he immediately wanted to build the gallery onto our home and get into that business.”
The Schlosbergs started small, exhibiting paintings that sold for as little as $75.
“The whole thing was a big loss,” Judy said. “There wasn’t any profit in it at all. It was the joy of doing it.”
But as their knowledge grew, so did their collection. An element of luck and their own whimsy fueled their pursuits.
They forged a relationship with Rickey, for example, after seeing one of his pieces in the Franklin Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA 18 years ago.
“We wrote him a letter saying we liked his work, would like to acquire a piece and were interested in representing him on the West Coast,” Judy said. “He wrote back and said he was already represented, but when he was in California, he would stop by and show us some more of his work.”
In 1976, while on the West Coast to assemble a piece at UC Santa Barbara, Rickey met the Schlosbergs and showed them some slides. Later, he consigned a piece to them for an exhibition.
The relationship continued over the years--the Schlosbergs have purchased about 30 pieces--and in January, 1986, Rickey was present for his solo exhibition.
The alliance with Rickey, and the placement of his work in their front yard, have contributed to the Schlosbergs’ contact with curiosity seekers and artists alike.
R. Bret Price, a sculptor based in Orange County, often drove by the Schlosbergs’ home on his way to another Valley-area collector’s residence.
“I always saw the piece and wondered what kind of people lived there,” said Price, whose work is included with Rickey’s and others in a Pepsico collection in Purchase, N.Y. “I figured they must be pretty interesting if they had a George Rickey in the front yard.”
One day, Price stopped to look at the piece and struck up a conversation with Carl in the front yard. The conversation led to a short exhibition of some unfinished work that Price had in his car, and a professional relationship followed.
“Carl and Judy are still educators, they’ve just become more specialized,” said Price, who has a piece in this month’s exhibition.
In December, the Schlosbergs will hold a David Hockney exhibition titled, “Images of His Model Celia.” Plans call for the exhibition to include about 20 prints and drawings by Hockney. Celia Birtwell, the subject in the pieces, will be present at the opening.
The opportunities and excitement of such events help fuel the Schlosbergs’ passion.
“It’s really an ideal experience to be able to look and seek and search and find wonderful, beautiful things and to show them to people and educate them about it,” Carl said. “It’s like being in heaven, having all of these fabulous things around you all the time.”
