The Donum Estate is a paradise on earth for art and wine lovers. The Latin word Donum means the “gift of the land”. There one can walk around vineyards appreciating the sculptural works by Yayoi Kusama and Keith Haring while drinking one or more glasses of Pinot Noir — a multi-sensory experience. Currently housing over 50 works, the estate has had a fruitful year in 2021 that five artworks by Ugo Rondinone, Tracy Emin, Jeppen Hein, Thomas J Price, and Robert Indiana, have been added to the breathtaking landscapes.
LARRY’S LIST has the great pleasure to have spoken with art collector couple Mei and Allan Warburg, who explained why Donum is not just a sculpture park within a wine estate, the challenges when installing the artworks at the Estate, their 2022 plan to build a new pavilion in collaboration with artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann, and their visions for The Donum Estate in the years to come.
Background
How did you start collecting contemporary art?
We have been collecting for many years now. It started in China; my wife and I met in Beijing and lived in a burgeoning artist community for nearly three decades.
We got to know the artists, which naturally led to owning their works and building a collection. Collecting evolved into commissioning; and with our ownership of Donum in 2011, it felt like a natural merging of passions.
What motivated you to show part of your art collection at the Donum Estate? Why is it important for you to share your collection with a wider public?
It might seem unusual to place an art collection on a wine estate, but to us, it makes complete sense. A wine estate is special, it is a place not only for the production of wine, but also a landscape with its own personality and terroir. The works are placed in the landscape to complement and enrich the experience and the estate. We don’t want to be seen as just a sculpture park within a wine estate, it is more about putting great things together and watching them grow and interweave with one another.
What do you want visitors to experience at the Donum Estate?
The Donum Collection is not an institutional encyclopaedic collection, but a personal labour of love, that we hope our visitors find relatable, accessible, and inspiring.
The artworks are within the landscape and respond to each element and seasons.
How do you use various artworks to create such experience? Can you illustrate with some examples?
We have an evolving collection of a global community of artists, including works from leading practitioners from nearly 20 nations. We love and respect working with artists — many of the artworks take years to come to fruition. It starts with a conversation, ideally on site together, drinking our wine, walking the land. This is the start. Artists spend time to see how the estate operates, speaking with our wine maker and team. Seeing how the wind blows and where the sun shines.
The first piece we placed was “Artificial Rock” by Zhan Wang; we had previously visited Zhan Wang’s studio many times and already bought a sculpture. It is set right in between vineyard blocks: East Slope, a pinot block that goes into the Carneros Pinot Noir, and a block of Chardonnay grapes that make the Donum Carneros Chardonnay.
A couple of years ago, we commissioned Doug Aitken, the work is called Sonic Mountain and is sited within our eucalyptus grove. It acts as a giant wind chime and as the Carneros terroir blows, we hear it sounds its characteristic chords. When we launched the work post-harvest time (in September) in 2019, we brought friends from around the world and the art community from LA and the Bay Area. Doug worked with a fantastic multimedia artist and musician Hisham Akira Bharoocha to create a musical composition. Using the sculpture as its only sound source 20 Percussionists dressed in white “played” the work, to an audience of near a hundred, all of us with a glass of Donum in hand – this we will never forget. Recently, we finalised the redesign of Donum Home, working with award-winning Danish architect David Thulstrup, we set out to create an environment where one can enjoy our wines and collection while fully appreciating the land where we are so privileged to sit. The construction gave us the chance to reflect and rehang part of The Donum Collection and introduce new works. New additions included Jeppe Hein’s glass mirror balloons that hang from the ceiling. The piece moves subtly with the wind and reflects and multiplies the sunlight. Donum Home is surrounded by works, Ugo Rondinone’s “Nuns + monks” at the Northeast side of the Estate property; Lynda Benglis’ tinted polyurethane fountain “Pink Ladies” are immediately on the lawn, before you can catch a glimpse of Jaume Plensa’s “Sanna” as it pops in front of the rolling Sonoma mountains and San Francisco Bay as the backdrop.
The collection
How many artworks are currently displayed at the Donum Estate?
We have more than 50 works on the estate, these are mainly monumental and commissions. But we do also have some paintings within Donum Home.
What are the criteria to select the artworks for displaying at the Estate? Is there a theme that unites them?
As we mentioned, it is a private collection and therefore a reflection of us: where we are from, where we have lived, our travels, and our passions.
Among these artworks, how many of them are site-specific that the artists created especially for the Donum Estate?
Over 40% are site-specific commissions.
What are the challenges when installing the artworks at the Estate?
The placement of art on Donum involves a lot of thinking and land preparation. Our projects are long-term; we are committed patrons and have an evolving vision for our estate. We produce 8,000 cases of estate-grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay a year, everything we do has to complement one another, from harvest to sustainable farming. Also, Donum is part of a bird sanctuary and… well, the birds make their mark sometimes, this involves a lot of cleaning. But there is a beauty to this. There is no humidity or temperature control, once the works are placed, they are on their own to coexist with and within nature.
Any interesting stories or memories to share from the experience of commissioning/installing artworks with artists?
Oh many, a lot of our artists have been to Donum and visited more than once. Olafur [Eliasson] has been here several times, and we think back to 2019 when we were walking the land together. We discussed a range of possibilities and locations. Through our shared passion for sustainability, the pavilion, that will be finalised by Spring next year, blends perfectly with what we strive to achieve at Donum – a holistic sensory experience drawing on our passions of wine, nature and art, design and architecture.
There is nothing more exciting than working with leading contemporary practitioners — the studio visits, the calls. We want to keep discovering and working with new talent who make a visual response to our world. Since the start of the pandemic, we started to speak with artists even more. Zoom has worked so much better than we expected for keeping us connected. But nothing will ever compare to an in-person experience.
Which is your favorite piece at the Donum Estate and why?
We have no favourites. Each work we have a direct and meaningful relationship with. However, some have come to life through interventions and performances that have the ability to resonate.
Visions for 2022 and beyond
What was your happiest moment since you started incorporating art into the Estate?
We are across China and Hong Kong, with a strict quarantine in between. So it has sadly been a while since we had a moment to be on the estate. We often think back to happy moment — In the late afternoon, when the sun starts its descent on the rolling Sonoma vineyards, we’d love to take a seat up at the lake house. From there, one can see a few works from the art collection, Thomas J Price’s “Reaching Out”, Ugo Rondinone, “Nuns + monks” and Tracey Emin’s “All I Want is You”, with views of the Sonoma mountains and San Francisco Bay as the backdrop. It’s a moment to be mindful of the “gift of the land” (the Latin meaning of Donum) and the gift of collaboration with all our artists. As the Carneros terroir blows through the land, we hear Doug Aitken’s work sound its characteristic chords. Of course, all this while drinking some of our wines. This is the most magical hour — when all these elements come together on Donum.
Honestly, does owning an art site like this help you to get the best artworks or to get the works you want more easily?
Since our collection became accessible in 2018, we have steadily been growing our visibility within the local, national, and international art community. We have welcomed many patrons, curators, and artists. Concurrently, the collection has also been growing, all this activity attracts attention. Therefore, it has been a natural evolution for us to be approached by artists and dealers for works to be placed on the estate. It is an honour to hear from leading artists that they would want to see their works placed on Donum.
What are on your wish list of 2022 regarding artworks and your museum?
We have a major focus for the first half of 2022. We will unveil a landmark new pavilion by Studio Other Spaces, the office founded by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann. The pavilion is a significant addition to the development of the Estate’s bespoke architectural experiences, which includes a state-of-the-art production facility and hospitality centre, Donum Home; and finally, a white-cube conservation space that houses “Crouching Spider” by Louise Bourgeois. Located on a small hill, it will mark the start of a path leading to an elevated area of the Estate, offering visitors a special new vantage point.
There are a few sculptors we are also considering, but it’s a little early to mention any names.
What are your visions for the Donum Estate in the next five and ten years respectively?
Time is an important consideration for a wine estate. One naturally thinks around harvest and vintages. Purchased in 2017 and planted over the past year, we have developed a new Estate vineyard near the town of Bodega, at the far extreme of where grapes can be grown on the Sonoma Coast. We’re excited about our first vintage hopefully in 2023.
We hope to keep seeing a wide range of new audiences coming to enjoy what we have made.
Being outside, looking at art, and even after one (or three) glass(es) of wine, this is when the art and Donum really comes to life. To us, there is nothing more exciting than this combination.
What is your advice to other collectors who may be thinking about building a publicly accessible art space?
The moment one’s collection becomes publicly accessible, beyond your close family, friends and contacts, something changes. One moves from owning to sharing. There is a responsibility that comes with it. For our team on Donum, they have taken on the role of custodian, caring and conserving the works. For us, as we continue to add to the collection, we spend more time researching new artists we bring into the collection. Works find their own context, but one has to be cognisant of how that might take place.
This is all an honour and a privilege. The only advice that we wish to pass on is — belief. Have belief in artists, your collaborators. Never set out to limit artists and their capabilities of what is possible. Act as an enabler and something special is bound to happen.
Related: The Donum Estate
Instagram: @donumestate
By Ricko Leung
