We absolutely love seeing how our collectors live with 20x200 art—it’s gratifying to see it situated in its forever home, and to imagine how it’ll become woven into that collector’s life. It’s also inspiring to get a peek at how collectors make our art their very own: how they frame it, where they hang it, what it’s surrounded by, and of course we love getting a peek at their beautiful spaces!
We reached out to long-time 20x200 collector—and renowned wedding photographer—Rebecca Yale. She’d recently moved, and she graciously gave us a virtual tour of her drop-dead gorgeous home. Working with the designers Lynden Lane, she made the finishing touches to its design and sent us photos. Read on to get the scoop on her experience collecting art and decorating her new space, and feast your eyes on the photos of the inviting enclave she’s created. (Featuring very good doggo Margo, namesake of the iconic Margaret Bourke White.)
1. How has it been settling into your new space?
It's been wonderful! It took some time for our house to really feel like a home and for the first few months it just felt like a big overwhelming white box, but we worked with the incredible designers, Lynden Lane, who helped us little by little tackle each space and transform it. It now feels so uniquely us and I feel instantly calmed the second I walk in the front door. When you walk in the front door you're greeted by a very long hallway and there's not a lot of natural light so it was originally the thing I hated most about the house and my husband and I discussed it and said if we bought the house we'd have to transform the thing we hated into something we love. So we went all out with fabulous wallpaper for the hallway and then Lynden Lane designed all the other rooms in the house around those colors and the pattern.
2. We loved hearing that you found your first 20x200 edition when you were in college. What advice would you give others looking to start their own art collection?
Follow your heart and buy what you love. More and more art collecting has become about investing and it makes me so sad to think about all the great works of art that sit in offshore storage units instead of being hung on display. I understand that art is a commodity, but it is created to be seen and to be enjoyed and I'm a big believer in that! When I was in high school and college I would tear pages out of Vogue and Bazaar and frame them and hang them on my walls as art and 20x200 was the first opportunity I had to invest at a price point I could actually afford at the time and I was so excited! The Wegman that now hangs in our guest room hung in my first apartment in college in New York and has proudly hung everywhere I've lived since and brings me so much joy. If you're just starting to collect don't think too hard about what's going to be a good investment or what other people will like and focus on what makes you smile every time you look at it.
3. What first drew you to 20x200 and what do you love most about it?
This was almost two decades ago now, but I think I visited the Jen Bekman gallery with one of my classes at NYU and 20x200 was just starting. I had been a fan of Wegman since I was a child and always had his calendars. In middle school I started getting into photography myself and I actually used to photograph my childhood dog who was so patient and sweet and would let me put funny wigs and clothes on her and I would create calendars for my parents. When I discovered that Wegman was part of the 20x200 series I knew I had to have one and it was the first piece of art I ever bought myself. It felt so special having what felt like a little piece of history in my own home and made me feel connected to the world as an artist and a lover of art.
4. What's your personal style? What types of art do you gravitate towards?
I love everything bright, loud and colorful. My husband and I joked that our interior designers biggest job with us was just reeling me in and keeping me from going too crazy. Because while I love bright patterns and colorful things, I'm also really affected by the spaces I'm in and wanted something peaceful and calming that felt both chic, playful and home-y at the same time. Not an easy task! Some of my other favorite art pieces include a 5-foot tall floral jaguar statue by Tricia Paoluccio that was created as part of a fundraiser for wildlife conservation, multiple oversized painted butterflies by Ashley Longshore that hang across the room from a couple of our 20x200 pieces, and a bright blue and pink Damien Hirst print from his limited edition series with the Heni Gallery. I don't believe in buying art just to fill a space or decorate, rather I collect art I love and have built the spaces around it to accommodate the art.
5. What's your favorite 20x200 piece you've collected and why?
I think it is likely still that original Wegman! We've since bought another Wegman and I surprised my husband with one of the Nasa prints of Saturn last year for his birthday and we love both of them, but that original Wegman is just so special to me. I plan to move it from our guest room into our nursery when we have kids someday. But they're all so special to us!
We wanna see—and share!—how you’re living with your 20x200 art too! If you’d be interested in being featured, drop us a line at hello@20x200.com.
Collected by Rebecca Yale:
Narrow Band, a 20x200 Space Edition
