WALLS THAT TALK

Craig Starr lives with a museum-worthy art collection. But it took a collaboration with interior designer Charlie Ferrer for him to realize the power of creating a home that's as much a sanctuary as a set piece.

- Ted Loos

In the living room of Craig Starr's Manhattan apartment, which was designed by Charlie Ferrer, the daybed is by Charlotte Perriand and the side table is by Mathieu Matégot.

The breakfast area's vintage desk and chairs are by Jean Prouvé. Pendant by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen; artwork by Paul Thek.

Seated in a Jean Prouvé chair, at a desk by the same designer, the art dealer Craig Starr looks very much in his element, ensconced in his Manhattan penthouse’s breakfast area. Behind him is a midcentury abstract artwork by Paul Thek and in front of him a Charlotte Perriand daybed, but overall the look of his place is spare and striking, with no distractions for the eye. That makes it easy to focus on artworks by the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Ed Ruscha, James Rosenquist, and more.

A specialist in modern and contemporary artworks who has run his nearby eponymous gallery since 2004, Starr notes that the penthouse can feel like a cross between a gallery and a home. That’s just how he likes it—the paint on the walls, a putty with gray and green tones, is in a shade that Starr uses in his gallery, too. “It has so many colors within it,” he says, it flatters a wide variety of artworks.

An artwork by Myron Stout hangs over a bench by Pierre Jeanneret in the living room.