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Some Collectors Take a D.I.Y. Approach; Others Call in the Pros

In this case, the art-lovers own storage and shipping centers that meet all their needs to rotate, hang and pack away their pieces.

The SoHo home of Kathy and Steven Guttman with artwork from left: Arlene Shechet’s “Not Knot” (2010), Camille Henrot’s “Overlapping Figures” (2011) and Amy Sillman’s “PAT”(2017). The floor lamp is by Studio BBPR.Credit...Camille Henrot/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris; Brittainy Newman/The New York Times

Sometimes, it’s refreshing to mix up your surroundings, rearrange the furniture and shuffle the art. But few people have the flexibility that Kathy and Steven Guttman do.

“We’re always moving something,” said Mr. Guttman. The Guttmans frequently rotate works from their collection of more than 1,000 objects of contemporary art and eclectic design among their four homes in the United States and France.

Of course, it helps to own an art storage company that handles the shipping, installation and inventory. Mr. Guttman, a real estate developer, created the company, Uovo, five years ago to cater to collectors’ needs.

“We wouldn’t even have Uovo if it wasn’t for our addiction to collecting,” he said.

Having Uovo “allows us to consider things that maybe we wouldn’t otherwise consider — like big, big works or more difficult pieces of sculpture,” Mrs. Guttman said. In their SoHo apartment, that includes an oversized diptych painting by Amy Sillman, a large off-kilter ceramic sculpture by Arlene Shechet and a floor-to-ceiling framed knitted piece by Rosemarie Trockel. “It couldn’t come in and had to be taken apart and stretched here on site,” Mr. Guttman said.

He first got interested in art as a law student four decades ago, when he would walk his dog through Georgetown and peer into galleries and antique shops. Early acquisitions included abstract paintings by the Washington-based artists Gene Davis and Sam Gilliam and pieces of English furniture.

Over time, joined by his wife and influenced by work on the boards of institutions including the Brooklyn Museum and the Centre Pompidou Foundation, Mr. Guttman is ever expanding his purview. The furniture collecting has evolved from English to Americana, to midcentury modern, to Art Nouveau and contemporary design.

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A Pierre Chareau table in the Guttman home.Credit...Brittainy Newman/The New York Times
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From left, Martin Boyce’s “That Silent Sea” (2012), Gedi Sibony’s “One Round” (2017) and Urs Fischer’s “Pile” (2014).Credit...Brittainy Newman/The New York Times
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Left, Anne Collier’s “Smoking Portfolio II” (2007-12) and, center, Harold Ancart’s “Untitled” (2018).Credit...Brittainy Newman/The New York Times

In SoHo, a chair by Marcel Breuer — the first piece of furniture to be designed with plywood — harmonizes beautifully with another by Vincenzo De Cotiis, an end table by Pierre Chareau, shelving by Franco Albini and a rubber bench by Klara Liden. Works by established artists including Daniel Buren, Francis Alÿs and Huma Bhabha commingle with those by up-and-comers like Harold Ancart and Thea Djordjadze.

Across a large dining room wall, a mixed-media face by Nicole Eisenman, photographs by Andre Kertesz, a marble work by Nicolas Party, a wood-and-metal construction by Kishio Suga, wall reliefs by Phyllida Barlow and Craigg Kauffman and a painting by Purvis Young, among other artists, hang shoulder to shoulder in a dramatic salon-style installation.

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” Mr. Guttman said.

Following are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Did you design this dining room installation yourselves?

STEVEN GUTTMAN We took a viewing room at Uovo and taped off a wall to these dimensions and spent two days with art handlers moving pieces around until we had what we thought was right. We think it’s a nice mix of materials and different art methods.

Does it feel meaningful to have integrated your collecting passion and your business life?

MR. GUTTMAN All my art friends are so jealous that I found a way to merge the two.

Is collecting something you do together?

KATHY GUTTMAN He’s more compulsive. I have veto power. I’m a little more pragmatic.

MR. GUTTMAN She’s the brakes. There are a couple of times when I’ve overruled the veto. Like Franz West is someone Kathy vetoed. We eventually bought a couple of Wests.

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Far left on podium, Nicole Eisenman’s “Guy With Stuff on Toast” (2018) and behind sofa, Cecily Brown’s “Bather & Cops” (2017).Credit...Brittainy Newman/The New York Times

That Cecily Brown painting over the couch is more representational than most of her work.

MRS. GUTTMAN There was a famous news incident about a woman in the South of France dressed in a burqa who was on the beach and got arrested. This was a piece Cecily did after that event. We purchased it for the Pompidou. She really wanted this to go into the museum because of the French theme. They weren’t ready to hang it, so we said, “Well, we are!”

How would you characterize the kind of work you’re attracted to?

MRS. GUTTMAN We have an affinity for collecting emerging artists — someone like Lucy Dodd who’s very young or this Viennese artist Florian Pumhosl doing constructivist abstract work.

MR. GUTTMAN We love art people coming here and not knowing anything we have. Sometimes we have a painting we bought a long time ago and all of the sudden it’s become iconic. Generally it’s in storage now. That’s kind of our contribution to the art world. We can support young artists.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: It Helps to Own an Art Storage Company. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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