Designer Holiday Lead-Up

With the holiday season approaching, it is again high time to reenvision interior spaces for a fresh atmosphere, and one that welcomes guests warmly and celebrates good spirit in the home. Having inspiring art on the walls that complements personal taste serves to reveal one’s best facets and foster an environment that aligns with the soul and makes a statement. For a selection of feel-good art that elevates the mood in the room, look to what makes you feel good.

Dynamic and simplified line art is a never-fail as it communicates quickly yet with fullness of expression. Masters of this style are Matisse and Picasso, though many artists have ventured into this territory with great finesse. Pablo Picasso’s Equestrian, a 1959 stone lithograph, has simultaneous charisma and sophistication, as do these other three popular works in the group.

Pop Art always has the power to delight and transport, with an effortless freedom and indelible sense of fun— not to mention the common ground it can create with any visitors from family to friends to the occasional celebrity cameo. A work like Andy Warhol’s 300 Sl Coupe (1954) can simultaneously amplify a host’s depth of persona and cool factor, while bridging the gap to the in-laws as well. Other art that can similarly boast as such are works like the many Monaco Grand Prix posters, Roy Lichtenstein’s sense of humor and Rauschenberg’s unrestricted arrangements.

For versatile abstracts, Franz Kline’s work seems to be a good fit for nearly every aesthetic, with works like this Untitled having austerity and complexity, sparseness and richness all at once. And similar motives can be found in works from Joan Miró, Mark Rothko and Sam Francis to name just a few.

And for lyricism and touches of nature, paintings that feature both man-made elements and forms of flora can create wonderful contrast, bringing the great outdoors into the curated interior with a distinct measure of charm. This beautiful work by Wolf Kahn, Barn and Forsythia III, a 2003 silkscreen, emanates a coveted sense of lightness and calm, as do works by Marc Chagall and David Hockney.