NJ SHORE TOWNHOUSE - ART COLLECTOR'S MASTER BEDROOM - INVESTING IN ONE'S SELF
Interior design continues to be a means for living with fine art. It focuses on one’s personal investment in his or her home as a space to nurture the spirit and fuel the selection of beauty.The townhouse’s master bedroom overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is a representation of Yarosh’s philosophy that interior design is a hierarchy of layering home materials to create balances of beauty and quality and to curate all surfaces and collections with equal attention. The result of the layering of such elements allows the art to rise above mere decoration, standing apart as works that engage us intellectually. The result is a space that transcends superficial beauty and resonates in a deeper, more satisfying way.“Investing in one’s home space has become even more important in realizing the benefits of what ‘home’ can mean for one’s family,” Yarosh says. “Home is our sanctuary, and one of the most hopeful things we can do for ourselves is to remind us that beauty exists if we choose to create it.”
The layered, rich fabric throws stretch across the bed like waves, mimicking a shoreline, folding and creating patterns similar to those formed in the sand. Reclining among them, Butterfly, Yarosh’s cat, illustrates another philosophy of the artist-designer: Homes filled with fine art are meant to be lived in; they are a backdrop for memories, places where life unfolds.
To Yarosh, the intention of design, like art, is to look to the past and take the beauty of traditions and retell those stories in a way that resonates today. He proposes that sometimes the patterns and color used in the past was more forward than what we consider “modern” today. In the master bedroom, the dark walls lead the gaze outside, drawing attention to the view. Simultaneously, the greens and golds of the various surfaces and fabrics direct the eye to the synergy of colors that reside in harmony with nature, supporting the idea of rest and renewal.
The art collection includes works by Yarosh, including intimate pieces such as “A Family Portrait” series and “Holding on to Happiness (not Ilean too),” a new work created during the 2020 pandemic shutdown, which afforded Yarosh an opportunity to return to his roots as a painter.
“Road to Bethesda,” a large-scale work by Canadian artist Daniel Barkley depicting a modern interpretation of the Biblical story of the pilgrimage by those hoping to be cured, serves as a reminder that no matter where we are on our life journey, there are those among us who always choose to put one foot in front of the other to continue on with dignity and to find paths of grace.
The collection also includes six portrait studies of sailors painted in the 1950s by Russian Realism artist Pointer Maltsev, which depict his time at sea.
Established in 1996, the James Yarosh Associates Fine Art Gallery in Holmdel was founded upon and remains loyal to its vision: to represent fine art for art's sake and to curate gallery collections and thoughtfully present art with an artist's eye and understanding. As a gallery owner, Yarosh has received national critical acclaim for presenting Russian fine art collections and recognizing significant art movements in their early stages. Drawing upon both international and regional resources, Yarosh represents a variety of artistic voices of our times by showcasing the works of both new and established, museum-recognized, artists of merit in a space designed to replicate the intimacy of an artist's home.
Photos by Patricia Burke - James Yarosh 2021