Local Color: The Di Rosa Collection of Contemporary California Art

Rating:
Summary: What I'd do if I had the money
Review: Basically, Rene di Rosa took one of the finest pieces of property in the world--a vineyard in the Carneros region between the Napa and Sonoma valleys--and built himself a home and an art collection which is open by appointment. This book catalogues his collection which is heavily (or you could say patriotically) skewed toward Norther n Californian artists--Wiley, Arneson, Michael Alfe and others. The di Rosa art preserve is exactly what I'd do if I had the money; two medium sized galleries and a three story home covered from floor to ceiling with art works, surrounded by an inviting but unostentatious garden. A flock of more than 50 peacocks yelling their empty little heads off wander around the place. I don't think I've seen a place that sums up the creative, pleasurable side of what it meant to be in the Bay Area in the 1960s. This book gives you a taste of di Rosa's collection, but for the real thing arrange a trip out to see the preserve; you won't be sorry.