Down the Rabbit Hole — Artist Hunt Slonem Comes to Round Top

Painter, Preservationist, Personage to Make His First-Ever Appearance in Rural Texas

By Catherine D. Anspon // Oct 2, 2024

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Hunt Slonem will appear at the booth of Laura Rathe Fine Art at The Halles in Round Top. (Photo by John Neitzel)

Hunt Slonem will sign his newest release, "The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem," (Gibbs Smith) at his first ever Round Top appearance, Monday, October 14, 4:30 to 6 pm, at The Halles.

Hunt Slonem's "Pink Ascension Breakthru," 2021, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles

Hunt Slonem's "Abraham Lincoln," 2019, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles

Hunt Slonem's "Larkspur Belle Terre," 2024, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles

Hunt Slonem's "Totem Seattle Hutch," 2024, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles

Hunt Slonem's "Colorado," 2022, at Laura Rathe Fine Art, The Halles

Hunt Slonem makes his first-ever appearance during the Round Top Fall Antiques & Design Show at The Halles. (Photo by John Neitzel)

A bright yellow "Hutch" wallpaper for Lee Jofa brightens a bedroom in artist Hunt Slonem's restored Belle Terre, South Kortright, New York. The artist is one of America's greatest restorationists, with a tremendous portfolio of historic and important properties. (Photo by John Neitzel)

The second-floor hallway of Hunt Slonem's restored Watres Armory, Scranton, Pennsylvania. The vast 19th-century edifice testifies to Slonem's commitment to preservation. (Photo by John Neitzel)

A porcelain vase and the artist's "Cattleyas" in Searles Castle, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. (Photo by John Neitzel)

The two-story atrium at Searles Castle highlights Hunt Slonem's love affair with Gilded Age mansions. (Photo by John Neitzel)

Dateline Hunt Slonem. The Metropolitan, Whitney, and Guggenheim-collected artist is more than a prodigious painter of bunnies, flora and fauna, and portraits of historic figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth.

He may also be America’s foremost preservationist, given the number of challenging restorations/transformations he’s undertaken of grand manor estates from America’s Gilded Age. Slonem’s decorating prowess highlighting the impressive portfolio of palatial residences he owns is showcased in his newest book, The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem (Gibbs Smith).

Slonem is a designer darling, with lines of fabric and wallcovering for Lee Jofa, a coveted collection of accessories and home goods stocked by Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, and, above all, paintings and sculpture that sing with color while making environmental statements that add importance and joie de vivre to interiors.

This October, Slonem makes his Round Top debut at The Halles, presented by longtime dealer Laura Rathe Fine Art of Houston and Dallas. Gallerist Rathe is devoting her entire Halles booth to the exhibition “Hunt Slonem: Larger Than Life,” unveiling a series of the artist’s paintings, sculpture (including recent works created in collaboration with Seattle glass studio Idlewild Union), home goods, books and objects.

Halles-goers can meet Slonem and acquire a signed volume of The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem and Butterflies on Monday, October 14 from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. The annual PaperCity Designer Dinner by A Fare Extraordinaire honors Hunt Slonem while toasting fall and the 50-plus-year tradition of the Round Top Antiques & Design Show (tickets $225).

Hunt Slonem's<em> Totem Seattle Hutch</em>, 2024, at Laura Rathe Fine Art in The Halles events venue in Round Top. — Hunt Slonem’s Totem Seattle Hutch, 2024, at Laura Rathe Fine Art in The Halles events venue in Round Top.

Bunny Marks the Spot

Slonem fluently speaks the language of public art, one of the hallmarks of The Halles’ spring and fall show-time activations. (Check out the artist’s “Huntopia” at San Antonio Botanical Garden, on view through November 3). For The Halles, a mammoth rabbit will be deployed: The sparkling 10-foot-tall bunny Sky Dance, formed from glass mosaic and traveling to Round Top from Seattle’s storied artisan glassworks Idlewild Union. Sky Dance holds court at a corner of The Halles facing Texas Highway 237.

“Hunt Slonem: Larger Than Life” will be at Laura Rathe Fine Art at The Halles during the Round Top Fall Antiques & Design Show, October 12 through October 26; Hunt Slonem personal appearance and book signing is set for Monday, October 14, 4:30 pm to 6 pm, gratis. Find more information here.

PaperCity Designer Dinner by A Fare Extraordinaire Honoring Hunt Slonem, Monday, October 14, 6 pm to 9 pm, tickets $225. Get more information and tickets here.