A remarkable art collection
Entry Garden -
Introduction
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Welcome! And thank you for taking an interest in the contemporary art collection of the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club. The hotel, called The Pink Palace, opened its doors in 1885. Since then, royal visitors, celebrities, and guests from around the world have called the hotel ‘home’ for over a century. The Green Family purchased the hotel in 2012 and immediately started renovations by introducing their contemporary art collection. The collection is remarkable, featuring a museum level checklist of key modernists, American and British Pop artists, and contemporary provocateurs.
Bermuda’s homes have a particular architectural vernacular, or language of expression, which can be considered as the Island’s first art form. At the hotel’s entrance, in the context of nearby historical and modern buildings, we can identify classic features, like window eyebrows, decorative balconies, the white roof, and of course, here, the distinct pink hue. These elements have maintained over time and lend to the authenticity of the hotel’s structure.
When standing in the front garden, with Sylvestre Gauvrit’s blue wave-like sculpture ‘Princesse des Airs’ in polished stainless steel, we experience an evocative juxtaposition, or contrast, between post-modern art and an historical building. This is an effect experienced throughout the hotel, as old features, such as antique hand-blown glass fixtures, hand hewn antique mirrors, and mahogany paneling exist side by side the artwork of Robert Indiana’s ‘Love’ sculpture and Jeff Koons’s ‘Blue Monkey’.
Indiana’s ‘Love’ effectively sets the tone for the art collection experience. We may know this artwork already from our travels to New York or Chicago and this familiarity is comforting. If we are unfamiliar with the work, we can understand the simple, direct message, arranged in large scale wood block letters from child’s play.
Jeff Koons Spotlight
Inside the lobby, above the fireplace mounted onto huge slabs of polished white marble is a splash of dazzling blue in a comical shape that is called “Monkey (Blue)”, although many see other characters. Here is Jeff Koons having some fun with a beautiful material that appears delicate and precious while presenting a simple, undetermined shape.
Safe to say, our art experience has just begun….
Where it is
