Take a tour of art collector Shalini Passi's New Delhi home

Shalini Passi, her husband Sanjay, and son Robin, live in a sweeping curve of a home in New Delhi's posh Golf Links neighbourhood. The house, shaped like a gentle boomerang, overlooks the 220 rolling, bucolic acres of the Delhi Golf Club; on some days you can even hear the whack of a Callaway on the 8th tee. Shalini's house, however, is anything but bucolic—instead it is astonishing, filled, as it is, with art from floor to ceiling.

The garden designed by Trevor Hiller of One Degree North Landscape Architects, features a 2012 brass, brass-utensil, and steel Buddha by Subodh Gupta.

On the wall in the lobby is a series of bindis-on-aluminium composite panels by Bharti Kher. By the window is a 2012 welded-nickel-and-stainless-steel Murmuration Bench by Johnny Swing

On top of the late-18th-century Italian walnut refectory table is a series of glazed porcelain Puppy' vases by Jeff Koons; flanking them are two 18th-century Gothic candle stands in gilt brass. On the wall behind the table is Rikshawpolis, a 2008 mixed-media-on-canvas by Jitish Kallat

There are paintings, video art, sculptures, installations, Fornasetti bureaus, Gio Ponti tchotchkes, gilt wood mirrors, étagère bookshelves, and so much more. It's an extraordinary collection by any standards—and a testimony to the near-magpie-like instinct of this very curious, voracious collector.

A GOOD EYE

“I'm an artist and always had an eye for art, for meaningful objects,” says Shalini. She's sitting in the dining room of her home, simple, in a blue cotton dress. The table is groaning under teatime snacks, with tea served in vintage Meissen porcelain (there's no hostess quite like a Delhi hostess). “I was,” she says, “and always will be obsessive; if I see something beautiful or interesting, I make a note of it, I research it endlessly. I go to museums, scour antique shops, look at fabric, feel the textures of stone, and seek the provenance, and the beauty of an object. One should have an eye for refinement,” she says.

In the passage, an exit leads to liquid-metal wall panelling by Based Upon. At the entrance is a 1989 oil-on-canvas by Manjit Bawa. To the right of it are two 2012 sculptures titled Victory Pillar in coin, cement, kumkum, and bronze by LN Tallur

On the curved wall of the corridor is Riyas Komu's 2010 Lost Resonance II, in recycled wood, automotive paint, and iron. A 2006 Ravinder Reddy head is placed right in the middle of the corridor. Mounted on the wall in the distance is a mixed-media work from Anita Dube's 1999 series titled The Theatre of Sade

Shalini keeps the art on a constant roller coaster; this home is not a museum and nothing is static here. New pieces are mixed with old; paintings in storage are pulled out, dusted off, and hung; the video art in the multiple sitting rooms—by Abhishek Hazra, Surekha, Rohini Devasher, and Sonia Khurana—glints and winks at viewers; just off Marc Newson's gleaming ‘Lockheed Lounge' (inspired by an aircraft wing) are two stunning metal-shutter and canvas works by Atul Dodiya.

In a few days, the Dodiyas could be dispatched to another room and replaced with a sensational oil-on-canvas by Subodh Gupta. Riyas Komu's Flowering History could make space for Mrinalini Mukherjee's wildly interesting Kusum, in twisting coils of hemp. Shalini abhors the word eclectic: “It's such a boring word, and it means nothing to me; I prefer ‘all-embracing'. To me, that's what these works are.”

In a sitting room, a Subodh Gupta oil-on-canvas (left) and a Ram Kumar oil-on-canvas are on adjacent walls. On the Based Upon coffee table is a Damien Hirst skull sculpture; above it hangs a Baccarat Mille Nuits' chandelier

On the left, atop a Hudson Furniture antique teak-root table, next to the Paul Mathieu Bianca' sofa, is a 1989 FN Souza. The enamel-and-metal Roland Mellan mirror on the wall is from New York store L'Art De Vivre. On the circa-1900 Feraghan Mahal carpet is a 1970 Cityscape' coffee table by Paul Evans

On the other side of the sitting room is a 1995 acrylic-on-canvas by SH Raza, titled Germination. On the wall adjacent to it is a 19th-century Italian gilded mirror. On top of the custom-made Based Upon coffee table are two Spin' candelabras by Tom Dixon

The house is made for art. Its cathedral-like central space has light pouring through massive, almost sculptural glass windows that also perfectly frame the works in the garden. At night, luminous in a pale amber light, it glows like a new-age museum, with specially designed track-lighting that highlights the art. Even the staircases inside the house are floating—to avoid distractions of any kind from the artistic mastery on the walls.

This is not mix-and-match; what it is, is fiercely original.

A 17th-century William and Mary style cabinet? Why not? A magnificent 19th-century French ormolu clock atop an Italian console? For sure. A life-size statue from the Terminator? Oh, absolutely. A commanding Shibu Natesan painting of a group of Bedouin overlooking a glass-topped table by Leon Francois Chervet? Done. This is sophistication—but of a slightly wild mind.

On the wall behind the yellow seater is an acrylic-on-canvas by MF Husain. The gilt, bronze and agate chandelier hangs above a centre table by Hudson Furniture, which in turn rests on a circa-1910 Garden of Paradise Persian Tabriz carpet. The lamp on the side table next to the sofa is in Murano glass

On the wall in the study is a 2004 oil-on-linen by Shibu Natesan, titled Existence of Instinct II. Shalini is sitting at a 1970 glass-topped Alain Chervet brass Ibex Head' desk. She's wearing an Emilio Pucci gown, Iradj Moini earrings, a Serpenti' watch from Bulgari, and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes

In the formal dining room, the copper pendant light cluster is by Tom Dixon. On the console, beneath the late-18th-century portrait, is a 1970s rock-crystal lamp. The 17th-century French porcelain and gilt bronze candle stand on the dining table is accompanied by Meissen dinnerware

In the bedroom, above the Ralph Lauren Clivedon' tufted bed is an Anish Kapoor. The gilt bronze chandelier is late-18th-century French; the lamp on the bedside table is solid rock crystal; and the candleholder in the shelf beneath it is from Soane Britain

The mosaic on the bathroom wall is Winter Flowers' from Bisazza, and the Pear' tub is by Patricia Urquiola

In the second bathroom, the 2009 inkjet print on archival paper mounted on a light box is by Daniele Buetti; the Eden' embossed leather panelling on the walls is from Atelier M riguet-Carr re, and the chandelier is by Claude Boeltz

On top of the Herv Van Der Straeten console for Ralph Pucci is a late-18th-century French clock; the candle stands on the wall are from the same period

The brass mirror frames lining the corridor were designed by Shalini. At the end of the corridor is a 19th-century Italian stand and, atop it, an 18th-century English lacquered gilt chinoiserie chest

Even more inspiring is the range of mediums used in the artworks throughout the house—be it oil-on-canvas, nickel, metal discs, light boxes, inkjet print, brass utensils, or bindis, among many others. And there's humour too—the Shilpa Gupta video work in the guest bathroom is a revelation. It is startling to say the very least, but then, that is the purpose of art—to startle, and to question the status quo.

SEASONAL, LOCAL

Shalini visited nearly 20 homes before deciding on this 20,000-square-foot residence, with 14 rooms—all of which are vastu compliant. “People ask me what I like the most about this house, or which are my favourite works of art, and I always say it depends on the season and how I feel,” says Shalini, who got British brand Based Upon their first commission in India. “I have collected things that allow me to connect with the artist; this is a very personal collection. It allows a certain amount of escape from the thrust of daily life. I travel extensively, but Delhi is home to me; I love the seasons, the culture, family, and of course, all this art.”

Shalini is wearing a Giambattista Valli dress, Chanel earrings and shoes from Gina

On the terrace, chairs by Ralph Lauren flank a Fornasetti tray table, on which are Baccarat Harcourt glasses; the carved Verona marble wall fountain is from Architectural Heritage

This corridor has two paintings by a contemporary Chinese artist, and a 2012 installation by artist Sakshi Gupta called Give Yourself To The Air, To What You Cannot Hold

And with that, Shalini walks out to straighten a painting, compose a table setting, adjust the plinth of a sculpture, “and wait”, as she says, for her favourite piece of art. “The one that's yet to come—whatever it is,” she says with a smile.

Fashion Stylist: Aaditya Walia

Hair & Make-Up Artist: Neha Chhabra

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