NATURAL HABITAT

Dedicated Dallas Art Fair exhibitor Beatriz Esguerra’s Bogotá townhome finds harmony between nature and built environments.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY OSCAR MONSALVE

This page: The luscious patio features a yellow tiled decorative work from Seville, Spain. Opposite: Beatriz Esguerra stands in front of a bookcase that houses paintings rather than bookends. Accompanying Esguerra’s literature are works by Pedro Ruiz, Cesar Romero, and Margarita Gutiérrez.

Nestled in a lush verdant landscape, Beatriz Esguerra’s townhome is an urban oasis. Though it is minutes from the bustle of one of Bogotá’s main avenues, this home to the gallerist and her husband is a corner of calm. Their three-story townhome takes advantage of its natural surroundings with three patios where the couple regularly enjoys breakfast and lunch. Here, amid well-established landscaping, these restorative refuges are serenaded by the babbling of a nearby brook. Built in 1990, the townhome retains vestiges of that era with its polished Venetian stucco walls in the main living areas. The sheen of the golden patina serves as a warm backdrop to the couple’s art collection. It also adds, according to Esguerra, “instant sunshine.”

Visitors to the Dallas Art Fair may be familiar with the serene presence found at Beatriz Esguerra Art. She is a fixture at the annual event and has garnered a large collector base. Her home exudes the same quiet splendor while reflecting Colombia’s creative community. “I believe in supporting my people,” she says, adding, “I promote my country and promote the talent here. I believe that Colombia is a resounding subtlety.” Citing her country’s diverse geography, Esguerra talks about how these dissimilar environments bring a richness to the region’s art. The diversity of that talent is on full view in her home, where the work of her gallery’s artists is well represented. “I wish I could buy everything that comes through here!” she enthuses.

Beyond nationality, there is another common thread throughout the collection. “Art should feed your soul,” Esguerra emphasizes. It should come as no surprise then that the work in her collection is suffused with a calmness that also offers windows into her life. In many ways, Esguerra’s home is an extension of her own elegance, warmth, and charm.

For example, Santiago Uribe-Holguin’s Explorer, she says, “Reminded

Above: The lively color palette of the home mixes well with literature and art, such as Bullfighter by Cesar Romero and Fernando Botero’s Woman. The focal point of the space is a collection of antique apothecary jars that surround Guillermo Londoño’s painting Fire, from his series Under the Shade of a Walnut Tree. Bottom left: The walls display Sin titulo, or Untitled, by Carlos Nariño. Bottom right: Displacement by Pedro Ruiz overwhelms the east wall yet balances well with the sun’s rays. Opposite: Esguerra’s townhome is an oasis for the collector, with works such as Luz Helena Caballero’s Vase of Flowers with Red Background and a pair of blue works by Jorge Cavelier and Cesar Romero. Above: The serene sense of the townhome captures the light with monumental windows and enough wall space for Esguerra’s voracious appetite for diverse art. Beside the window is Santiago Montoya’s Dream a Little Dream of Me.

me of an ancestor of mine who came to Colombia as an explorer in the 17th century.” Placing it in an antique frame imbues it with an heirloom quality. While Uribe-Holguin is known largely for his abstract paintings, he took a brief detour when he created a small body of representational work. Inspired by the past as well as by Spanish artists, this work is a nod to Joaquín Sorolla’s brilliantly lit paintings.

Nearby, Esguerra has installed a pair of paintings by Pepe González and Elsa Zambrano. González’s Still Life without a Ruler depicts a sparsely filled shelf set against a mottled black-and-white background. Far from solitude, it reflects a thoughtful, well-ordered space. “I’m quiet in my life so I need that quiet,” Esguerra explains. Zambrano’s filled solitary Teacup set atop richly patterned table linen reveals another personal detail. It is perhaps with this work that life and art merge harmoniously, reflecting Esguerra’s enjoyment of creating elegant tablescapes. Using linens that she collects in her travels, each tableau is enriched by a profusion of fresh flowers. As flowers are one of Colombia’s top exports, their easy availability makes them a constant fixture throughout Esguerra’s home.

And just as flowers nurture her spirit, splashes of red throughout the communal spaces infuse her home with positive energy. In her dining room, for example, Tata Navia’s March depicts a procession of chairs that echo the ideal number of guests that Esguerra enjoys seating around her table. Preferring intimate gatherings, she advises, “There should never be more than one conversation.” Installing Carlos Nariño’s Sunset across from a window, Esguerra has placed her dining table seemingly at the center point along the arc of the sun’s daily procession.

With harmony and balance as guiding principles, Esguerra’s home seamlessly blends old and new, family treasures and travel finds, each selected by Esguerra and her husband. In the living room, kilim and Oriental rugs tastefully adorn floors, furniture, and half walls, reflecting the couple’s many sojourns. Other objects in silver and ceramic present an endless array of Colombian craftsmanship.

In this space Esguerra has also threaded the natural world, as seen through her large picture windows, to the imagery indoors. Another work by Nariño depicts voluminous clouds. With its inspiration

Above: A set of two fruit paintings by artist Hermann Camargo greet guests to the dining room. Below: Luis Fernando Roldan’s paintings show the artist’s interest in color and blurred lines.

rooted in Dutch 17th-century landscape painting, it represents what she calls an “immensity of space.” It is flanked on one side by three smaller oil sketches that the artist made on paper. On the opposing wall, Pedro Ruiz’s Displacement No. 162 accentuates a solitary figure on a skiff bearing a riot of bird-of-paradise flowers, all set against a black background. It is balanced on an adjoining wall by the vibrant simplicity of Luz Helena Caballero’s Vase with Red Background.

Esguerra has devoted one corner of this room to a portion of her growing collection of 19th-century French apothecary jars. They line shelves that surround a landscape from Guillermo Londoño’s series Under the Shade of a Walnut Tree. “I received one as a wedding gift,” she says, adding, “These are objects that you see a lot in houses here.” Once widely imported across South America, each one has the name of the component it held. Apothecaries would mix these ingredients together according to ailment. Esguerra enjoys researching the names on these jars, written mostly in Latin, and learning how each component would be used. With her well-trained eye, it is the design on each jar that she values most. “Each pharmacy had its own design,” she explains. Now with a collection of over 60 jars, she continues to hunt for them all over the world. “It has to have complex decoration. I only buy one of each [design],” she says. As the daughter of a doctor, Esguerra finds another layer of personal significance in these objects.

While full of art and antiques, Esguerra’s is a home that is well lived, well loved, and comfortable. “We enjoy our house. We use every single space,” she says. “If we have the good fortune to live like this, then we have to be thankful for that every day. All I have are words of gratitude for life,” she concludes. P

The primary hallway is home to antique artworks: six nautical prints and and equestrian painting in an ornate gold frame.

Santa Sofia by Pedro Ruiz brings the hallway to life.