Art (S( Soul

Peek inside the personal collection of Park West Gallery's director.

WRITTEN BY KHRISTI ZIMMETH I PHOTOGRAPHS BY GENE MEADOWS

Opposite page: Contemporary artist Igor Medvedev,

whose quietly elegant Late Fishing hangs above a

cherry-wood Ello sideboard in the dining room of Morris

and MaryAnn Shapiro's Novi home, says that his

work is about capturing "visual miracles."

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MARCH 2009 •

IN platinwn

A large work by Marc Chagall hangs in the front hall of
Morris and MaryAnn Shapiro's Novi home.
"It's definitely one of my favorites," the 56-year-
old Park West Gallery director says of Le Mariage, a
1976 aquatint framed in black that depicts a traditional
Jewish wedding. "We bought it for each other as a wed-
ding gift."
A tour of the Shapiros' contemporary home reveals
more than 100 other works, all with personal meaning.
Hanging over the living-room sofa is a large contempo-
rary piece by Miro; and nearby, the small gold-framed
Portrait of Jan Lutman the Goldsmith is by Rembrandt.
In the family room, a large piece by Detroit artist
Marcus Glenn hangs over the fireplace. Other walls
hold a Matisse-like drawing, works by 1998 World Cup
artist Linda LeKinff and mysterious and otherworldly
images by New York artist Robert Kipniss. Many share
Shapiro's Jewish heritage.
"I don't have a traditional art collection, per se," he
explains. "I'm immersed in art. My collection is eclectic
and based on personal experiences and relationships
with artists. Each means something special to me."
Working with Southfield's 63,000-square-foot Park
West Gallery has enabled Shapiro to meet many of the
artists whose work now hangs in the home he shares
with MaryAnn and 14-year-old daughter Amanda.
Three other children — Mia, Myles and Mason — are
grown. A family portrait by artist Peter Max hangs over
the living room's grand piano, and a tour of his collec-
tion is sprinkled with stories and reminiscences of artists
he has been fortunate enough to meet and work with.

Working directly with artists is one of the best parts
of the job, he says, and a dream since he was a child.
Shapiro grew up in Chicago in the 1950s and '60s. His
mother, he says, decorated the house with gaudy French
Provincial furniture and accessories. "It was really hid-
eous," he remembers. "There was no art on the walls,
so I made my own. I drew and painted in part to rebel
against my parents."
Thumbing through a book on the Holy Land one
day in his parents' library, he came across a woodcut of
Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer. "I was mesmerized
by the contours and lines and Durer's use of space," he
says. "From that moment on, I was smitten."
He eventually followed Durer into drawing, going
on to study at the Minneapolis College of Art and
Design. While there, he shifted his emphasis from
studio art to art history and art criticism, later working
at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts before returning to
the Windy City to pursue another passion — music.
After playing the drums professionally for a time,
Shapiro took a position as gallery director for Chicago's
Merrill Chase Galleries, where he worked from 1977-
1983. In 1983, he came to Detroit to head Park West's
retail gallery, where he's been ever since.
After 25 years, he's still passionate about the compa-
ny's philosophy of bringing art to the public.
"In many ways, art has been taken away from the
people and made less accessible," he says. "It's gratify-
ing to be able to swing the pendulum back and to allow
people to experience art firsthand."
While Shapiro is serious about his art, not all of his