By Michael McCarthy By Michael McCarthy | February 5, 2024 | People, Feature,
From incredible art to exceptional wines to savor, these Bay Area collectors are powered by passion.
DAVID AND PAMELA HORNIK
David and Pamela Hornik at home among their extensive art collection that spans every room. The couple often loans their art to major galleries and museums.
THE COLLECTORS
Palo Alto art collectors David and Pamela Hornik share a passion for artwork that blossoms in every room. David is a founding partner of the venture capital firm Lobby Capital (lobby.vc), and for the past 15 years, he has taught at Stanford Business School and Harvard Law School. He sits on the board of the ICA San Francisco (icasf.org) and is a commissioner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (americanart.si.edu). Pamela, who has spent a decade volunteering at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection, is on the ICA board and a member of the FOG Design +Art (fogfair.com) host committee.
THE PASSION
“Our art collecting falls somewhere between addiction and obsession,” says Pamela. "There’s nothing we would rather do on any given day than see art. And the more art we see, the more inspired we are by artists and their power to simultaneously make us think and make us feel.”
“We love living with art,” says David. “We spend an irrational amount of time appreciating everything about the art in our home. We’re wowed by artists’ ability to reflect the world they see in so many profoundly different ways. And if we’re lucky, we get to share that art with others, whether visiting our home or on loan to a museum. We think art is meant to be shared and enjoyed, not just accumulated.”
THE COLLECTION
“One of my favorites is a paint-and-pencil portrait of a nude woman by Joan Brown,” says Pamela. “It was a gift to me from David very early in our collecting. My love for art started with the Bay Area figurative art movement.”
“We recently acquired an amazing painting by Chase Hall (chasehallstudio.com). We have loved [his] work for many years. He has such a unique approach to depicting people with great empathy. In his most recent exhibition, Hall painted a series of portraits exploring beach culture and what he calls ‘Black adventurism.’ We had the incredible fortune to acquire a work called ‘Jarvis and the Grey’ depicting a man swimming with a whale. It is breathtaking.”
JOHN CONOVER
Conover surrounded by his gorgeous boards
THE COLLECTOR
John Conover is the managing partner, along with Gordon Getty and Gavin Newsom, at The PlumpJack Collection of Wineries (plumpjackcollection.com), which includes PlumpJack Estate Winery, CADE Estate Winery, Odette Estate Winery and 13th Vineyard by CADE.
THE PASSION
Conover learned to surf in the 1970s while spending summers on Waikiki Beach on the island of Oahu. “This was the beginning of the shortboard revolution, with equipment experimentation from long to shortboards well underway,” he says. “I caught the surf bug way back then, falling in love with the sport that lasted a lifetime.” Conover’s penchant for collecting surfboards was born.
THE COLLECTION
“I have about 25 surfboards,” says Conover, who notes that vintage boards like his have become popular among collectors in the past decade. “Each one is shaped differently for a specific wave or trip I will embark on. Like wine, each board holds a memory of a trip, a wave, friends and experiences. Surfboards are unique to the rider.”
The wine leader owns three favorite boards. “Two [9.6 Mavericks Balsa Gun, 8.0 Big Cat] were shaped by my friend Rusty Preisendorfer, and the third [7.8 Lighting Bolt Pipe Liner] was shaped by one of my surf idols, Gerry Lopez,” says Conover. “Rusty, who lives in San Diego, has been my friend and shaper for over 20 years. He understands where and how I like to surf, so each board is unique and holds the memories of the shaping process and adventures.”
Conover says he discovers boards via online auctions, garage sales and surfboard shops. “I’m always on the hunt, and I still surf!” he says. “One of the no-nos among surfers is to disclose surf spots, but [generally] here in California, I love the Monterey Bay south to Big Sur, the Sonoma Coast and Salmon Creek north to Point Arena. Outside the state, Indonesia and Fiji. If you know those spots, you know those spots. Discovery is the fun part.”
DAVID NASH
David Nash stands in front of several pieces from his extensive vintage fashion collection.
THE COLLECTOR
SF-based content pro David Nash, whose work has appeared everywhere from Architectural Digest to ELLE Decor to the London Telegraph, is an avid collector of contemporary and vintage fashion and accessories. His pieces have been loaned or donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (metmuseum.org), Drexel University’s Fox Historic Costume Collection (drexel.edu/foxcollection), Phoenix Art Museum (phxart.org), the FIDM Museum (fidmmuseum.org) and The Museum at FIT (fitnyc.edu). Nash’s archive of works by James Galanos—the most extensive private collection outside the personal wardrobe of philanthropist Iris Cantor—includes examples spanning five decades. Seminal pieces from Nash’s archive were included in Phoenix Art Museum’s James Galanos: Design Integrity. Last spring, Nash was the featured speaker at The Glory of Galanos: America’s Haute Couturier, a sold-out engagement for the Chicago History Museum (chicagohistory.org) and its Costume Council.
THE PASSION
“The inspiration behind collecting vintage fashion is the idea of preserving the work of great designers for future generations to study and enjoy,” says Nash. “I focus on the work of James Galanos and have built an archive that includes a few hundred pieces that date from the beginning of his label in 1951 to 1998 when he closed his atelier.”
The stash is worth a pretty penny considering the breadth of Nash’s collection (rarity, condition and documentation of most pieces) and recent auction sales. “But as with most collectibles, something is only worth what the right person is willing to pay. For me, though, the real value is measured in the context of fashion history and, eventually, it will be parsed out to several museums based on their existing holdings and needs,” he says.
THE COLLECTION
“I have a few favorite Galanos pieces, including a version of the seminal crystal- and bead-embroidered Firebird evening gown from 1971 modeled by Lauren Hutton for Vogue that year,” says Nash. “I’ve also acquired several crystal- and bead-embroidered pieces from his spectacular fall 1966 collection that are extremely coveted. Outside of Galanos, I have two rare Lesage-embroidered Guy Laroche haute couture evening dresses from the 1960s that are just incredible.”
KERRIN LAZ
Kerrin Laz says she holds most of her wines for up to a decade. She loved a recent bottle of 2006 Screaming Eagle cabernet and 2001 Abreu Madrona.
THE COLLECTOR
Kerrin Laz owns the K. Laz Wine Collection (klazwinecollection.com) and LAZ Wine (lazwine.com). For the latter, Laz selects and sources roughly a thousand cases annually for her clients. She’s also the founder of Inspire Napa Valley (inspirenapavalley.org), where some of Napa’s finest wineries and wine talents come together each winter to raise money to fight Alzheimer’s.
THE PASSION
“I collect about 300 bottles per year for myself,” says Laz. “I’ve been a collector for private clients who live throughout the country and internationally since the late 2000s, but I didn’t start collecting wine for my personal use until the last decade. I’m not a collector in the traditional sense. I don’t buy wines on futures or hold them for decades. I also don’t have the discipline or desire to lay wines down for the next 30 to 40 years. My window for collecting wine to drink is more like one to 10 years. The sweet spot for me, especially for French whites, is one to two years. I source older vintages knowing I’ll open them to share sooner rather than later.”
THE COLLECTION
Laz says she owns a few 1989, 1999 and 2000 Bordeaux reds she’s been holding onto for a while. “I’ve tried a few every so often, and they’ve been showing well, but some have still been a little tight and needed more time in the bottle,” she says. “Two special wines I’ve been holding on to for some time now are a 1989 Petrus and 1989 Haut Brion.”
The oenophile says the best part about collecting wine is opening and sharing with friends. “I’m not collecting wine to sell off later. I’m solely collecting wine for pure enjoyment with others. My favorite wine regions are Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Sonoma Coast and Napa Valley. Piedmont has become a newer love—affirmed after my recent trip there last month.”
“I love drinking older California wines and seeing how they’ve evolved through the years,” says Laz. “It’s a testament that we’re on the right track as an industry, which means a lot considering how young of a region we are compared to France and Italy. The 2006 vintage of Napa Valley red wines has been showing well in the last year, and they are drinking incredibly right now. I recently opened a bottle of 2006 Screaming Eagle cabernet (screamingeagle.com), which was unbelievable—fresh and vibrant. The same goes for the 2001 Abreu Madrona (abreuvineyards.com) red. Older vintages of Marcassin (marcassinvineyards.com) chardonnay are always a treat to revisit.”
JOE MINAFRA
Minafra (right) showcases his collection to the public regularly.
THE COLLECTOR
Joe Minafra knows the cosmos. As the lead of innovation and partnerships for the NASA Solar Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute at NASA (nasa.gov) in Silicon Valley, his work includes lunar surface systems and planetary soil mechanics, meteoritic studies, robotics and software development. He also produces introductory science books for people who are blind.
THE PASSION
Among the Bay Area’s techies and science buffs, meteorites offer high-stakes collecting. “I’ve been collecting meteorites for many decades and have found and acquired hundreds over the years,” says Minafra. “I’ve traded with museums and research institutions, including the American of Natural History (amnh.org), and I’ve provided specimens to NASA Astromaterials at the Johnson Space Center for years. I’m the point of contact at NASA Ames Research Center for NASA lunar specimens. I’m trained to certify K-12 teachers to borrow NASA’s Apollo Lunar and Meteorite Education Disks in their classrooms.”
“Collecting meteorites allows me to indulge in my fascination with nature and its wonders,” says Minafra. “It’s like embarking on a treasure hunt, where the excitement lies in the uncertainty of what I might discover. In their silent presence, rocks hold incredible stories that span millions of years. They provide a window into the past, revealing the mysteries of their formation and subsequent transformations.”
THE COLLECTION
“Among the meteorites in my collection [he owns 500], my favorite ones are [known as] Allende and Murchison,” says Minafra. “These meteorites have a special significance due to their unique characteristics and the knowledge they have provided us with. The Allende meteorite, which fell in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1969, is highly regarded for its abundant calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions and chondrules. These CAIs are the oldest recorded material we have ever found, and they’re interstellar dust grains that predate our sun and solar system. These components play a crucial role in understanding the early solar system.” Is there a holy grail for meteorite collectors? Minafra wants space rocks from another planet: Mercury. “While I already have specimens from the moon, Mars and the asteroid Vesta, the prospect of discovering that one of my meteorites originated from Mercury fills me with excitement,” he says. He's truly a rock star.
Photography by: HADLEY RAYSOR; COURTESY OF JAK WONDERLY; COURTESY OF DAVID NASH; COURTESY OF KERRIN LAZ; COURTESY OF JOE MINAFRA