George Gutenberg
The Guide: Palm Springs
May 1, 2007
Roger Hopkins (Stone Sculptor & Associates, North Palm Springs, 760.409.2210, www.rockartist.org). Rock sculptor Roger Hopkins creates "primitive modern" art and furniture out of stone. He recently built and installed a hot tub made from a boulder.
Shopping
Little gems are interspersed throughout the valley, but the
buyer’s mecca is El Paseo, Palm Desert’s ultra-chic shopping district with more
than 300 stores selling furnishings, clothing and art. For a more "found
treasure" experience, the antiques stores and consignment shops along Palm
Canyon Drive (or Highway 111) in Palm Springs offer everything from midcentury
furnishings to high-end couture.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Modern art is thriving in Palm Springs at galleries such as
Buschlen Mowatt, which shows works by artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Tom
Wesselmann and Robert Motherwell. (Click image to enlarge)
Maison Felice (73-960 El Paseo, Palm Desert, 760.862.0021, www.maisonfelice.com). This 18,000-square-foot antiques store specializes in
European furniture and accessories from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Imago Galleries (45-450 Hwy. 74, Palm Desert, 760.776.9890, www.imagogalleries.com). This gallery fo-cuses on contemporary sculpture, painting and photography, but is best known for glass works by such artists as William Morris and Dale Chihuly.
Modern Way (2755 North Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, 760.320.5455, www.psmodernway.com). Open Thursday through Monday, this shop specializes in midcentury modern furnishings from around the world.
Estate Sale Company (4185 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, 760.321.7628). Owner Sharon Dean checks out some six houses a day to keep her 60,000-square-foot consignment store filled with everything from antiques and retro furniture to patio accoutrement and oddities, such as bronzed fountains and gold-leaf columns that were acquired from Elizabeth Taylor’s home.
Buschlen Mowatt Galleries (45-188 Portola Ave., Palm Desert, 760.837.9668, www.buschlenmowatt.com). In business since 1979, this 7,000-square-foot gallery showcases modern and contemporary artists, such as painter Helen Frankenthaler, sculptors Sorel Etrog and Lynn Chadwick and Pop artist Robert Indiana.
Vivant Interiors (73-710 El Paseo, Palm Desert, 760.779.1010). Vivant focuses on traditional interiors and sells damask, toile and tapestries.
Events
Predictably, most of Coachella Valley’s annual events take
place in the cooler temps of winter. In mid-January, the Bob Hope Chrysler
Classic (January 14–20, 760.346.8184, www.bhcc.com) attracts professional
golfers and celebrities at courses throughout the valley. At the Palm Springs
Modernism Show (February 15–17, 760.219.4599,
www
.dolphinfairs.com/palmsprings) fine-arts dealers display and sell vintage
20th-century furniture and decorative arts. In March, the world’s best
tennis players gather at the state-of-the-art Indian Wells Tennis Garden for
the Pacific Life Open (March 3–16, 760.200.8000, www.pacificlifeopen.com),
the "most-attended non–Grand Slam tennis tournament in the world." The Palm
Springs Art Museum (760.325.7186, www.psmuseum.org) holds exhibitions and
concerts year-round. Feeling philanthropic? Do your part to save iconic
modernist structures by joining the Palm Springs Modern Committee
(www.psmodcom.com).
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