Kristy Stubbs, photographed in her temporary loft space last year.
The painting is by Mustafa Hulusi.
Text and Photos by Rebecca Sherman
Artistic Flair... From Claude Monet to Damien Hirst, 47-year-old Kristy Stubbs deals in some of the most significant art from the last 120 years. Her Fairmount Street gallery, which opened in Dallas in 1994, continues to exhibit 2-3 shows each year, while these days much of her inventory is kept in a private warehouse off Inwood Road, viewable by appointment. Her favorite works always end up at home, and she's found that displaying contemporary art in a residential setting helps clients picture how edgier pieces might look in their own homes.
Kristy finished the renovation of her wonderful 4,000 square ft. Monterrey style house in Greenway Parks earlier this year. "This house just lends itself to big works of art," she says. "It's not a mid-century modern, but it's still got clean lines, big windows with good light, and big walls that can hold large art. I've moved a lot of art in an out of here during the last 13 years."
Thomas Osika's sculpture was once in the museum at Yale, but now resides in Kristy's front courtyard.
"Most of what's here is for sale, and will go eventually, but there are five or six paintings in my house that move from wall to wall but never leave," says Kristy. The vitage mid-century Dunbar sofas were once in Dallas Mayor Stark Taylor's office. 
The resin artwork above the sofa is by Peter Zimmerman; Kristy purchased the Richard Meier designed coffee table at Christie's.
At far left is a painting by Walton Ford. "He's one of my favorite artists, but he's not prolific enough for me to deal in," says Kristy, who notes that Ford only paints two or three year. "He's today's answer to Audubon -- he incorporates nature into his paintings, but they always have a social message." Watch a video and slideshow on Ford's work here.
A coffee table book on the art of Roy Lichtenstein at left, and a detail of a bat from Ford's painting.
Kristy's glamorous dining room has a Jansen dining table, chairs from Dean Martin's house in Palm Springs, and a baby grand piano!
The 40s era Baccarat chandelier is original to the house.
The painting is by London artist Cecilia Stenbom, and features colorful fish all named from characters from American TV shows including Falcon Crest, Dynasty, and Dallas. "It's life in a glass box or fishbowl," says Kristy. "They still get the repeats in London, and people are always asking me if life is like that in America." 
Detail from Cecelia Stenbom's painting.
At left, a detail of a Klismos style chair from Dean Martin's house, which Kristy reupholstered in Donghia fabric. At right, a detail from the buffet in her dining room, designed by Dallas interior designer Barry Williams. "Barry brought me this piece after I told him about a (Jonathan) Adler buffet I admired. I loved this one even more."
The centerpiece on the dining table is by London ceramic artist Barnaby Barford, who creates sculptures with mass market and antique porcelain figurines. His work seems playful on the surface, but after some study you realize it's a little unsettling.
I pulled back a little in this shot so you could see the juxtaposition of the industrial looking horn at far left with the glamorous staircase and dining room. The horn is part of a sculpture by audio visual artist Paul Fryer, whose work Kristy discovered in a small London gallery by accident one rainy afternoon. She now represents his work in the U.S., and spends a good portion of her time traveling back and forth from Dallas to London setting up shows for Fryer and other London-based artists.
The WWI era horn is mounted on a stack of London chimney bricks, and broadcasts a beautiful, haunting melody of the artist singing on a video, which plays on a TV at far left out of the shot.
A wall niche holds a rabbit and top hat, by taxidermy artist Polly Morgan.
Kristy's daughter Lilly and a friend eating berries in the breakfast room, under a water lilly painting by Brian Clarke. Kristy is crazy about water lilly paintings and has several, including one by Roy Lichenstein (which unfortunately didn't come out when I photographed it). Her dream, she says, is to own one painted by Monet. 
Kristy discovered this fantastic chandelier at a garage sale. Looks like a wedding cake, doesn't it?
Kristy painted her tailored, sexy bedroom a stone color from Restoration Hardware. The silk satin linens and floor mirror are by Barbara Barry. The Christopher Brown aqua tints over the bed depict images from the Zapruder film, and that's an antique prayer bench at the foot of the bed.
In the master bath, a mirror reflects a painting of roses by Tony Scherman, one of Kristy's favorites. 
The bath is done in marble and Texas limestone, with a Kohler faucet that is both a ceiling mount tub filler and shower (look up). Pretty cool. Even the bathroom has a little unexpected edge.
