Napa Art
Everybody knows the Napa region for all the fabulous wine it produces. But it has also become a magnet for art of all styles, shapes, sizes and colors.
One of the best spots for art in Napa is the di Rosa Preserve. It houses perhaps the most extraordinary display of works by Bay Area artists.
The art spans almost every medium imaginable, scattered throughout three galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden. If you visit, you’re sure to find many pieces that make you think, many that make you laugh, and some that make you scratch your head in wonder. All of it is in a spectacular setting that is a work of art in itself.
The di Rosa Preserve really is a treasure with its amazing collection of art and its variety of public programs. There are several other places in the Napa Valley where art has taken root, and we’re going to check out two of them.
Tucked away at the end of a quiet lane east of Napa’s Silverado Trail is a very whimsical winery. It is called Quixote, and its founder is a quixotic character named Carl Doumani.
“In my mind I had the idea that – a winery that was going to be fun, that was going to be colorful.” says Carl.
The building was designed by the late Austrian artist Friedrich Hundertwasser, who was originally known for his fanciful paintings. Eventually he expressed his creativity on a grander scale, with such unlikely projects as a rehab of an incinerator in Vienna and an unforgettable apartment building in the same city called Hundertwasser House.
Carl tells us, “I was in an architect’s office in San Francisco, and we were working on some plans for the winery. Behind his desk was this calendar, and on the calendar was Hundertwasser House. So I’m looking at the sketches that they’re doing, and I’m looking at this and I said, ‘You know, this is more like it.’ “
While Hundertwasser’s designs may look eccentric, to say the least, there’s a method to his madness, and a message, as you’ll learn if you take one of General Manager Lew Price’s tours of Quixote.
“He [Hundertwasser] was renowned for declaring, ‘The straight line is man’s worst enemy,’” says Lew. He adds, “‘Straight lines are, as a matter of fact, the devil’s tool.’ He said, ‘You don’t see ‘em in nature. Why do architects use them?’”
Carl says, “No two windows are alike. No two doors are alike, because that would be boring.”
Along with its color and lack of convention, the building’s design draws on the surrounding environment. Vegetation and trees grow out of the roof, and so does a shiny onion-shaped dome that is just visible from Silverado Trail.
Beyond Quixote’s atmosphere of fun is some seriously good wine -- Petite Syrah and Cabernet made from organically grown grapes. The winery is open for tours and tastings by appointment only.
Further up the Napa Valley, on the outskirts of Calistoga, is a veritable palace of art that has to be seen to be believed. It is a five acre collection of sculptures, fountains and more that is also the home, studio and palette of artist Carlo Marchiori.
“It is sort of what I call Italy without the airlines,” says Carlo.
Carlo named his place “Villa Ca’toga.” He loosely patterned it on the old villas from his native region of northern Italy, which in turn were inspired by ancient Greece and Rome.
Carlo makes his living primarily as a muralist, but his artistic abilities are far reaching. He designed virtually everything here.
“I’m a frustrated architect,” he says.
When he bought the property in 1987, it was empty.
“It was a flat field and I thought I have to give it a little bit of personality or whatever – or character,” explains Carlo.
He didn’t start out with a grand plan. Villa Ca’toga just seemed to fill his need to be constantly creative.
“Little by little, whatever I could, the ideas that came, the material that came on hand,” muses Carlo.
The scale of Villa Ca’toga is astounding. Around every corner is something new to see. From a giant Trojan horse to seemingly authentic Roman ruins, each object more impressive than the last
“But it’s all done with rubble that they bring me here. When they excavate sidewalks here, they know now that they have it easier here than going to the dumps,” says Carlo.
There’s a new pile of rubble in the back that Carlo plans to turn into an Etruscan tomb.
Carlo is the ultimate recycler, and not only of torn up sidewalks. If you look closely, you can see columns made of old flower pots, tea cups, or lord knows what. In Carlo’s hands, junk is transformed into a temple to the goddess Diana or a festive grotto.
Carlo is able to do all this because his talents have been sought after by businesses and individuals all over the world. When we caught up with him, he was working on a mural in downtown Calistoga. Carlo also painted murals throughout the inside of his house.
A walk inside Carlo’s home is like a journey to another century. He wanted to recreate the look of the 1500’s.
“In those days, whatever space they had, they capitalized. They put as much visual information as possible,” Carlo tells us.
Not everything at Villa Ca’toga hearkens back to Italy and Greece. Some of the bedrooms were influenced by the American west, and outside, there’s even an area devoted to Thailand. It’s a wonderfully eccentric hodgepodge connected by Carlo’s creativity, imagination and sense of humor.
“I’ve surrendered to disorder, still with a dream of sort of conquering chaos,” says Carlo.
“So far, chaos is winning?” asks our host, Doug McConnell.
Carlo responds, “Well, we are working together.”
Carlo offers tours of Villa Ca’toga by reservation only, on Saturdays from May through October. He also has a gallery in downtown Calistoga, where you can see more of his creations.
For more information:
di Rosa Preserve
5200 Carneros Highway 121
Napa, California 94559
(707) 226-5991
www.dirosapreserve.org
Gatehouse Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
Guided tours open Tuesdays through Fridays by drop in or reservation. Reservations are recommended. Saturday tours are reservation only.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
Quixote Winery
6126 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 944-2659
http://www.quixotewinery.com
Visits are $25 per person for a tour/tasting Mon-Thurs.
On Fridays and Saturdays, there are no tours. Tastings are only $20 per person.
CA’TOGA Galleria D’Arte
1206 Cedar Street
Calistoga, CA 94515
(707) 942-3900
www.catoga.com
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Tickets for Saturday tours of Villa Ca’toga are available here for $25.
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