I could have spent the entire day talking to the charming designing duo Andrew Bottecchia and Hal Eisen, of Bottecchia Artistic Group Inc., when I visited them at their stylish penthouse last week. It was

inspiring

and refreshing to experience a space so dominated by art and see a collection replete with portraiture. While I slowly absorbed the works, the two passionately discussed the origins of individual pieces and their interactions with the artists and dealers. Hal, having been a collector of art since his teens, quickly passed on his addiction to Andrew when the two met. Though they have pretty much run out of wall space, they continue to aquire new works, inspiring creative new ways to display their growing collection.

"I don't know if anyone sets out to collect. I think something attracts your attention and then it stays in your thoughts until you get the feeling that you really want, even need, to live with it. Once you discover the joy that piece brings you, you start realizing that you want to do it again when something else crosses your path. It becomes a bit of a fabulous disease, a happy drug that brings you a constant and changing pleasure. Each piece brings a new voice to the collection and the ongoing conversation that art instills in your life." Hal Eisen
Notable artists in their collection: Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, Frank (Franz) Johnston, Harold Town, Henri Masson, Sorel Etrog, Christopher Pratt, Mary Pratt, Leonard Cohen, Atilla Richard Lukacs, Stephen Andrews, Cathy Daley, Douglas Coupland, Chris Curreri, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Henry Moore, Robert Mapplethorpe and Richard Avedon
Art Interiors artists in their collection: Kelly Grace and Elizabeth Lennie

For more information on Bottecchia Artistic Group Inc. contact:

Andrew Bottecchia and Hal Eisen 416.898.0229, bottecchiagroup@hotmail.com (website coming soon!)