Jane Corkin is seen in her living room.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
Jane Corkin's 1970s-era townhouse, like her downtown Toronto art gallery, is filled with pieces that speak to the collector in her: "My collecting habit goes deep into several areas – of course, fine art, and also ceramics, design, sculptural objects and some native artifacts." Inside her Toronto home, the walls are covered with paintings by international artists whose work she recently showcased at the 16th instalment of Art Toronto, where the Corkin Gallery had a booth. The rooms of her home are generous enough to accommodate the large-scale dimensions of pieces by Giancarlo Scaglia, the Peruvian artist Corkin presented at the art fair, which this year shone a spotlight on Latin America. One of his works graces her living room, and every time Corkin gazes upon it she is reminded why art plays a dominant role in her life. "My living room is a spiritual place, like my gallery," she says. "There are visual treats everywhere the eye settles."
The fireplace
"This is cut from Kingston limestone and is a Shim-Sutcliffe design. Shim-Sutcliffe Architects designed my gallery in the Distillery District and oversaw the renovation of my home. Above the fireplace is a Gina Rorai oil painting, The Little Messenger, dating to 2014. "
The ceramics
"The square ceramic work on the coffee table is by Carlos Runcie Tanaka, a Peruvian clay artist. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston recently acquired a major work of his. It is next to a round early Peruvian painted clay object and another by Roxane Artacho who, incidentally, recently designed the dishware for Astrid & Gaston, a gourmet restaurant that ranks among the best in Lima."
The tables
"The coffee table and occasional table between the chairs are by Walter Knoll. The small round wooden table is by Danish designer Nanna Ditzel, and a Noguchi lamp glows there. I got the Walter Knolls at Studio B in Toronto. The Ditzel I found at Torp Inc. on Davenport. Torp are specialists in contemporary Danish furniture."
The chairs
"These are Ruhlmann chairs. I bought them in Chicago in 2000. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann worked during the early 20th century and this is an exquisite example of his 1920s work. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has some of his work in their permanent collection. This chair has a wooden skirt at the back. It's just beautiful."
The painting
"This is by Giancarlo Scaglia, an artist from Lima whose work I showed at Art Toronto and am now showing at my gallery. This work is about the constellations, and if I am sitting on my couch looking at it, it really pulls me in. It takes me to another dimension. It's a large piece, around 10 feet, created from ink on Japanese paper and mounted on canvas. This artist will be the focus of an exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2017. I will be there with the artist, the curator and my clients who also own his work."
The vase
"The steel vase is an Italian object from the 1920s, designed by Domus. The branches are also made of steel. I love that this is a piece of industrial design with free flowing branches in it."
The couches
"These were designed and made by the designer Dorothy Ames whose design studio was in Toronto. They're very comfortable. I wanted very long couches for the living room. I like their generosity. I both sit on them and lie down, listening to music, looking at a painting or the ginkgo trees in my backyard. Really, it is possible to have it all."