After years of buying serious antique Italian and European furniture for his Mediterannean-style house from blue chip dealers such as Craig Wright, art collector Richard Shapiro has gone to the other side. He has become a dealer himself, opening a gallery of treasures in Los Angeles on west Melrose Avenue.

“I had been living this dream privately for a long time," says Shapiro, 59, an art collector who serves on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art. "When I retired from business I was unhappy, and I decided to become involved in something stimulating. Opening a gallery seemed like the right idea because of my passion for art and antiques." Shapiro has amassed an enviable collection of 16th- to 18th-century Italian furniture, sculpture, mirrors, paintings and drawings, notably a carved Venetian Baroque giltwood throne (in picture below), a pair of monumental Renaissance bookcases, a Tuscan painted breakfront bibliothque, and a pair of Venetian giltwood figured torcheres.

Though he has a weakness for things Italian, Shapiro says he's bought an eclectic assortment of European antiques to go with the Venetian pieces, including a French 1940s Davin table with a mirrored top and gilded base (purchased from a notable Parisian dealer), an inlaid Biedermeier bed and a Viennese Secessionist stamped metal table.

With the gallery conveniently divided up into several spaces, Shapiro has arranged his holdings in ensembles, complete with objets d'art, Asian ceramics, urns and paintings on the walls, recalling rooms in a villa or chateau. Although known as a contemporary art collector, Shapiro has dedicated an entire room to an exhibition of Old Master drawings framed in Italy.

A goal is to integrate contemporary art and sculpture into the gallery presentation. At present, Shapiro is showing a postwar stainless steel sculpture by Ewerdt Hilgemann and an Anthony Caro abstract, minimalist welded-steel piece with bronze accents.