Every two years, Norah and Norman Stone organize a new exhibition of artworks selected from their private collection to be shown in a specially designed ‘Art Cave’ on their Napa Valley property, Stonescape. In addition to the ‘Art Cave’, an exhibition space excavated into the side of a hill, the property includes a farmhouse from the 1880s, a vineyard, a grove of redwood trees and other art works such as a sound piece by Alex Waterman and a Log Cabin sculpture by Cady Noland. This year saw the fourth exhibition since the space was inaugurated in 2007. Curated by Thea and Suzanne, Revealed is the title of the current installation and it focuses on an expanded understanding of portraiture in art. Showing the Stones’ preference for collecting artists in depth, terrific groupings of works by Ai Wei Wei, Henrik Olesen and Theaster Gates were highlights. The majority of the works on view were made within the last ten years, though a number of 20th century masterpieces are included as historical precedents, for example a rare edition by Marcel Duchamp and an Oxidation Painting by Andy Warhol.

The opening of the exhibition is celebrated with an elaborate event that combines the Stones’ enthusiasm for art and the friends and colleagues who are drawn to their vision. A casual dinner was held outdoors and a pool party followed. The pool is another special feature of the property and was designed around an installation by the highly regarded artist James Turrell, who was in attendance at the event. Turrell is currently the subject of  three concurrent exhibitions at the Guggenheum Museum in New York, LACMA in Los Angeles and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and is one of the most lauded of the so-called Space and Light artists who came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. Following the dinner, a musical performance was given by ‘The Black Monks of Mississippi,’ a group formed by Theaster Gates, which finds inspiration in the histories of gospel, spirituals, blues and jazz. The event is always a wonderful opportunity to celebrate art collecting at its most extraordinary and stands as testament to Norah and Norman Stone’s ongoing commitment to contemporary art and the artist’s who create it.