Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1526978
D ateline Hunt Slonem. The Metropolitan-, Whitney-, a n d G u g g e n he i m - collected artist is more than a prodigious painter of bunnies, flora and fauna, and portraits of historic figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth. He may also be America's foremost preservationist, given the number of challenging restorations/transformations he's undertaken of grand manor estates from America's Gilded Age. His decorating prowess highlighting the impressive portfolio of palatial residences he owns is showcased in his newest book, The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem (Gibbs Smith). Slonem is a designer darling, with lines of fabric and wallcovering for Lee Jofa, a coveted collection of accessories and home goods stocked by Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, and, above all, paintings and sculpture that sing with color while making environmental statements that add importance and joie de vivre to interiors. This October, Slonem makes his Round Top debut at The Halles, presented by longtime dealer Laura Rathe Fine Art of Houston and Dallas. Gallerist Rathe devotes her entire Halles booth to the exhibition "Hunt Slonem: Larger Than Life," unveiling a series of the artist's paintings, sculpture (including recent works created in collaboration with Seattle glass studio Idlewild Union), home goods, books, and objects. Halles-goers can meet Slonem and acquire a signed volume of The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem and Butterflies Monday, October 14, 4:30 to 6 pm. The annual PaperCity Designer Dinner by A Fare Extraordinaire honors Hunt Slonem while toasting fall and the 50-plus-year tradition of Round Top Antiques & Design Show (tickets $225). Bunny Marks the Spot Slonem fluently speaks the language of public art, one of the hallmarks of The Halles' spring and fall show-time activations. (Check out the artist's "Huntopia" at San Antonio Botanical Garden, on view through November 3). For The Halles, a mammoth rabbit will be deployed: the sparkling 10-foot-tall bunny Pfluffle, formed from glass mosaic and traveling to Round Top from Seattle's storied artisan glassworks, Idlewild Union. Pfluffle holds court at a corner of The Halles facing Texas Highway 237. "Hunt Slonem: Larger Than Life," at Laura Rathe Fine Art at The Halles, Round Top Fall Antiques & Design Show, October 12 – October 26; Hunt Slonem personal appearance and book signing, Monday, October 14, 4:30 to 6 pm, gratis; PaperCity Designer Dinner by A Fare Extraordinaire Honoring Hunt Slonem, Monday, October 14, 6 to 9 pm, tickets $225; info and tickets, thehalles.com. Catherine D. Anspon DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE ARTIST HUNT SLONEM IN ROUND TOP JOHN NEITZEL Hunt Slonem Hunt Slonem's Totem Seattle Hutch, 2024, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles (Continued) 125