An Impressive Art Collection Calls Colomé Home

In yesterday’s blog, we shared the story of Bodega Colomé, one of Argentina’s premier wineries.

Part of the estate is dedicated to the James Turrell Museum of the Hess Art Collection, and spotlights the work of Turrell, regarded as one of the most important contemporary light and space artists. The museum is based on a plan created by Turrell himself.

For the first time anywhere, nine light installations representing five decades of Turrell’s career are showcased together over 18,084 square feet of exhibition space. Among the works on display are “Spread 2003,” a 4,000-square-foot walk-in environment of blue light, as well as “Unseen Blue 2002,” the world’s largest Skyspace which surrounds an interior courtyard and reaches its greatest intensity at sunrise and sunset.

The permanent exhibition is supplemented by numerous works on paper, drawings and prints.

All of the exhibited artworks belong to the Hess Art Collection. Donald M. Hess, one of the world’s major collectors of contemporary art, owns works spanning five decades of recent art history, from Abstract Expressionism through current positions. It contains more than 1,000 pieces by 65 international artists.

In 1989, Hess began sharing his passions with the public by exhibiting his art collection in museums built on wineries owned by the Hess Family Estates.

With Hess, the concept of “wine as art” is taken to an entirely different level.