Welcome to the third installment of a new FIRST VIEW feature: Collector Stories. With Collector Stories, you get intimate portraits of incredible ARTWELOVE collectors. Collectors like Carlos Huber.
Architect turned perfumer Carlos Huber is a charming New York City-based Mexican-born cosmopolitan gentleman who can switch from Spanish to English to French or Italian all in one conversation. A world traveler and history buff, it’s no surprise that he owns three ArtWeLove artworks in his collection (Alumix Dust 1937-2008, Present and Paris.)
Trained as an Architect and Preservationist, Carlos has distinguished himself most recently as a perfumer in his own right. Tapping into his background as a historical preservationist (Carlos studied with architect and artist Jorge Otero-Pailos while at Columbia and was involved with some of his experimental projects), he recently launched Arquiste, a line of 5 unisex historical perfumes. He meticulously researched rare ingredients to create five olfactive sensations that each evoke a specific time and place. The venture has received rave reviews from W Magazine, GQ, Refinery 29 and Daily Candy, and can be found at Barneys and the Webster.
Carlos’ personal style is as sophisticated, vibrant, and inspiring as his perfumes. We recently asked Carlos for a tour of the New York home he shares with partner Nate Berkus to see how he integrated his ArtWeLove prints. While visiting, we could not help to ask the rising talent some rather Proustian questions. Answers to which follow.
ArtWeLove: What do you do for a living?
Carlos Huber: Architect, preservationist, and perfumer
AWL: Why do you buy art / collect?
CH: Art, in all forms, nurtures life.
AWL: What was your first art piece?
CH: My childhood sketches that my parents would frame and hang for my bedroom.
AWL: If you could own any piece of art, what would it be?
CH: I would love to own a masterpiece of architecture: a house by Legorreta, an interior by Jean Michel Frank, or a property like Charles de Beistegui’s Chateau de Groussay where I could build pavilions and follies. The Wounded Cuirassier by Theodore Gericault would make me very happy too.
AWL: When and where are you the happiest?
CH: When visiting a Museum that I love with someone I love.
AWL: Which artist do you admire?
CH: All artists devoted to making something out of nothing.
AWL: Which gallery, museum, or art-related space makes you the happiest?
CH: Here in New York, the Metropolitan Museum; in Mexico City, the murals of the San Ildefonso Museum; in Paris, the Musée de la Chasse in the Marais.
AWL: What quality do you most admire in a piece of art?
CH: The sublime: the ability to take your breath away.
AWL: What artwork would you love to see in person?
CH: Picasso’s Guernica
AWL: Pen or pencil?
CH: Pencil!!!!! I need to be able to erase when I write/draw/design
AWL: Abstract or Pop Art?
CH: Neither really. I like complexity.
AWL: Dark or milk chocolate?
CH: Milk chocolate
