Vanessa Bell & Patti Smith

Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, London SE21, until 4^thJune 2017

Vanessa Bell,
Virginia Woolf, c. 1912,
oil on board, 40 x 34 cm,
National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 5933.
© National Portrait Gallery, London

This exhibition celebrates the work of Vanessa Bell who, whilst regarded as a member of the Bloomsbury Group, was also very much a stand-alone artist in her own right.

Vanessa Bell,
Asheham House, 1912,
Oil on board, 47 x 53.5 cm,
Private Collection.
© The Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy of Henrietta Garnett. Photo credit: Photography by Matthew Hollow

The show traces her move from her earlier Impressionist-based training to her more radical approach featuring form, colour and abstraction. Often Bell gets somewhat overshadowed by the circle she lived in – Virginia Woolf (sister), Clive Bell (husband), and fellow artists Duncan Grant and Roger Fry. We see how she rejected Victorian concepts of motherhood and home-making to create a place of freedom as her work with the Omega Workshop reveals.

Vanessa Bell 1879–1961,
Design for Omega Workshops Fabric, 1913,
Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper, Image: 53.3 × 40.7 cm,
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund. 3353 – B1992.14.2
© The Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy of Henrietta Garnett

Sarah Milroy, the show’s curator, says: “Unconventional in her approach to both art and life, Bell’s art embodies many of the progressive ideas that we still are grappling with today, expressing new ideas about gender roles, sexuality, personal freedom, pacifism, social and class mores and the open embrace of non-British cultures. This is the perfect moment in which to re-evaluate Bloomsbury, and Bell’s legacy within it, and we look forward to affirming her importance to a contemporary audience.”

Vanessa Bell,
The Other Room, late 1930s,
161 x 174 cm,
Private Collection,
© The Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy of Henrietta Garnett. Photo credit: Photography by Matthew Hollow

Brandon Camp, 1913. From top left: Julian Stephen, Daphne Olivier, Noel Olivier, Noel Olivier, Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell
Photographs by Vanessa Bell and others, in Vanessa Bell’s album, Tate (TGA 9020/3)
© Tate Archive, London 2016.

Alongside this exhibition is Legacy: Photographs by Vanessa Bell and Patti Smith (until 4^th June 2017) which features photographs by the famous musician, writer and artist, Patti Smith alongside albums belonging to Vanessa Ball. In 2003 Smith had a residency at Charleston and her comments reflect her interest in the works of the Bloomsbury Group. – “Art was a part of everyday living. Their cups and saucers were designed by themselves, their utensils, the wallpaper, tapestries. When I first came here I found it just like home […] I felt a real longing to document this place in the same manner that I document my own home because it is very much how I live: books everywhere, things that seem very humble, very sacred, a simple wooden box, a shell, a paint tube – everything has significance.”

Patti Smith,
Vanessa Bell’s Library, Duncan Grant’s painting of Vanessa Bell in her Mother’s Dress, 2006,
Gelatin silver print, edition of 10, 25.4 × 20.32 cm,
© Patti Smith. Courtesy the artist and Robert Miller Gallery

http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

BOOK REVIEW: Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court

Feb27

Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court

gouthiere-lo-res-frontcover

Christian Baulez and Charlotte Vignon. Contributions by Anne Forray-Carlier, Joseph Godla, Helen Jacobsen, Luisa Penalva and Emmanuel Sarméo

UK£54.95 / US$79.95

ISBN — 978-1-907804-61-8

Published by GILES in association with the Frick Collection

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in 18^th century French decorative arts and interiors. Published to accompany an exhibition – just closed at the Frick Museum but opening in Paris on March 16^th – it is a detailed consideration of Gouthière’s work in every way.

9781907804618_interior_03

The essays by leading experts and scholars reveal his life and work; the architects and designers for whom he worked for and the craftsmen he used for the production of the finished commissions. There is a fascinating section on techniques and skills used in the creation of these stunning mounts. Indeed Gouthière is believed to have invented dorure au mat – a matt finish for which his work is noted. The last essay considers the appeal of Gouthière’s name to 19^th century British collectors and how things were often wrongly attributed to him.

gouthiere-0422-90

The last major work on Gouthière was published in 1912 and so this beautifully illustrated volume is extremely welcome, especially as it includes a catalogue raisonné of the forty-nine pieces that are definitely attributable to him. It’s interesting to note that he only once made furniture mounts and that was for a jewellery cabinet for Marie Antoinette which was sold after the French Revolution and most probably dismantled. I also hadn’t realised that he worked in silver-gilt on a dessert service and toilette set.

9781907804618_interior_04

It is sad to think that Gouthière (1732-1813) never regained the popularity he enjoyed up until the French Revolution in his lifetime but this book allows us to fully understand and appreciate just quite how talented a man he was and what a stunning legacy he left for us to enjoy today. While I will probably not get to see the exhibition I am more than consoled by the fact that I have a copy of the book – possibly the next best thing to owning a Gouthière piece!

The authors: Charlotte Vignon is Curator of Decorative Arts at The Frick Collection, New York. Christian Baulez is an historian of French 18th-century decorative arts and architecture and former Chief Curator at the Château de Versailles. Anne Forray-Carlier is Chief Curator of 17th- and 18th-Century Decorative Arts at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Joseph Godla is Chief Conservator at The Frick Collection. Helen Jacobsen is Chief Curator at the Wallace Collection, London. Luisa Penalva is Curator of Gold, Silver, and Jewelry Collections at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon. Anna Saratowicz-Dudyńska is Curator of Silver and Bronze at the Royal Castle, Warsaw. Emmanuel Sarméo is an independent scholar.

gouthiere-0422-9-1

Paris Exhibition: Or virtuose a la cour de France: Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) will open at the Musée des Arts décoratifs,, 16^th March – 25^th June 2017.

gilesltd.com

The Palais Rose recalled

Feb26

Boni de Castellane & Anna Gould, La Mémoire Du Palais Rose, Christie’s Paris, 9 avenue Matignon, 75008 Paris, 7^th March 2017

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

This sale takes us back into the Belle Époque where Boniface de Castellane, known as Boni, was one of the more famous dandies of the time and regarded as a tastemaker. In 1895 he married the American railway heiress Anna Gould and her substantial dowry allowed them the following year to start building the Grand Trianon inspired Palais Rose which was completed in 1902. It became a major centre in Parisian social life where Kings, Queens and aristocracy were received. The house was sumptuously furnished with old master paintings and drawings, furniture and porcelain of the best quality.

LOT 19
NÉCESSAIRE DE BUREAU ART DÉCO « JARDIN JAPONAIS », PAR CARTIER
Estimation : €1.000.000-1.500.000
AN ART DECO ‘JARDIN JAPONAIS’ DESK SET, BY CARTIER
Mouvement no. 2968872
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

However this idyll was not long-lived for in early 1906 Anna filed for divorce with Boni’s extravagances and expenditure being a major cause. Some of their collections were disposed of after the divorce and more after Anna’s death in 1961. Anna however did leave a mixture of wonderful things to her grand-daughter Diane de Castellane and she lived surrounded by these elegant pieces, including the group of Boulle furniture which so evocatively recalls the interiors, sadly not photographed for posterity, with the exception of the staircase and a fireplace of the Palais Rose. The building was demolished in 1969 but its large Salon des Arts decorated with marble carvings celebrating the arts by Jean-Paul Aubé are remembered in the four tinted plaster preparatory studies which hung in the dining room of Diane de Castellane’s apartment.

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

I think you will agree with me that the photographs of the apartment show what a beautiful place it was, filled with great treasures and giving us a fascinating glimpse into a world gone by.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

LOT 74
JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD (GRASSE 1732-1806 PARIS)
L’heureux ménage
huile sur toile, circulaire
Diam.: 34,2 cm. (12.3/4 in.)
Estimation : €500.000-700.000
J.-H. FRAGONARD, THE HAPPY HOUSEHOLD, OIL ON CANVAS, CIRCULAR
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

LOT 52
PAIRE DE “VASES” EN PORCELAINE TENDRE DE SEVRES DU XVIIIe SIECLE, A MONTURES EN BRONZE DORE
CIRCA 1770, MARQUE EN CREUX P
Hauteur totale: 44 cm. (17.3/8 in.)
Estimation : €80.000-120.000
Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris
A PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY SEVRES PORCELAIN “VASES”, WITH ORMOLU MOUNTS
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

LOT 142
PAIRE DE MEUBLES À HAUTEUR D’APPUI
DU DÉBUT DE L’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XVI
ESTAMPILLE DE JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, VERS 1770-1780, RÉEMPLOYANT DES ÉLÉMENTS DE MARQUETERIE D’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XIV
Estimation: €1.000.000-1.500.000
Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris.
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED TORTOISESHELL AND COPPER BOULLE MARQUETRY AND EBONY MEUBLES-A-HAUTEUR-D’APPUI STAMPED BY JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, CIRCA 1770-1780, REUSING SOME LOUIS XIV MARQUETRY ELEMENTS
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

www.christies.com

London – Adam Style

Feb14

Robert Adam’s London, Sir John Soane’s Museum: 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2, until 11^th March 2017

Adam office, drawing made for publication showing the Admiralty Screen, Whitehall, 1759

It is hard to believe that this is the first time that the work of Robert Adam (proposed and realised) in London has been focused on in a London museum. Whitehall’s Admiralty screen, Portland Place, the Adelphi, Lansdowne House, Buckingham House (now Palace), Kenwood and monuments in Westminster Abbey are among the projects on show. The Museum has the largest collection of Adam’s surviving drawings.

Adam office, finished drawing showing a funerary monument to Major John André , Westminster Abbey, c.1780-82

As one contemplates these designs one is reminded how Adam designed complete, detailed schemes for his projects whether exteriors or interiors. I could not but wonder what he would make of these modern-day buildings with their huge expanses of glass which so clearly reveal the detritus of office or domestic living to passers-by and thus lose their aesthetic appeal.

Adam office, finished drawing showing a longitudinal section through the interior of an unexecuted scheme for Lloyds Coffee House, probably on Freeman’s Court, Cornhill, c.1772

Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am-5pm. Last entry 4:30pm

Adam office, design for door furniture for 31 Hill Street, c.1777-79

Adam office, design for an unexecuted urban palace for the Earl of Findlater on Portland Place, c.1771-73

www.soane.org

Maarten Baas

Feb11

Maarten Baas – ‘Run & Hide’, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, 4 Albemarle Street, london W1, until 3^rd March 2017

Courtesy Carpenters Workshop Gallery

This, the first solo exhibition in the gallery’s new spacious London premises, celebrates the work of the noted Dutch designer Maarten Baas. It features pieces from four of his major design collections.

Carapace is an interpretation of the protective shells found on the backs of turtles and beetles while Smoke comprises pieces that are completely carbonized by blow torch. There is a bronze version – marking the 10^th anniversary – of his well-known Clay chairs and Grandfather clock from his Real Time series.

Courtesy Carpenters Workshop Gallery

It is a striking celebration of his work and do not forget that there is a retrospective exhibition of his works at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, until 24^th September, 2017

Courtesy Carpenters Workshop Gallery

http://www.carpentersworkshopgallery.com

www.groningermuseum.nl/en

This January two fairs, one venue:

Jan22

The Winter Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, London SW11, 24^th-29^th January 2017

Pair of Louis XV Painted Bergere Armchairs – Adam Calvert Bentley

While I am sure that many of you will already know about this exciting regular event I always feel that it is worth reminding you that it is on. It is a magnet for homemakers, antique collectors and, of course, interior decorators. It is the sort of fair where you find the absolutely perfect thing – which you didn’t realise you wanted until you see it. Happy purchasing!

Wax Seal Tea Caddy – Adam Calvert Bentley

http://www.decorativefair.com

London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair, Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, London SW11, 24th -29^th January 2017

19th Century Kurdish rug from Sauj Bolaq, Kurdistan
Brian Macdonald

In this welcome move the LARTA Fair moves to the mezzanine floor at Battersea Evolution and makes the perfect combination with the Decorative Fair downstairs. Visitors will find a good range of collectable decorative rugs, carpets, tapestries, suzanis and embroideries and other textiles. Now that it will be a bigger event than usual there will also be some contemporary designs and a variety of tribal, Islamic and Asian artefacts, including jewellery as well. Don’t forget that the best pieces can be seen online in a ‘virtual fair’ which becomes live when the fair opens.

An early 1800’s Epigonation (in Greek meaning “over the knee”) vestment, worked in silver gilt on a red velvet ground.
Marilyn Garrow

http://www.larta.net

BOOK REVIEW: On the Fringe

Dec18

On the Fringe

A Life in Decorating

By Imogen Taylor

Pimpernel Press

9781910258774

£50.00

This is a page-turner combination of autobiography and the author’s long and distinguished career at Colefax and Fowler. She was a fitting heir to both Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler’s decorating vision. She started at the firm in 1949 and when John Fowler retired in 1971 he handed his clients, including HM The Queen, over to her. She was until her retirement (1999) the firm’s principal decorator alongside Tom Parr.

With clients in the Middle East, America and the United Kingdom we see through her work how the Colefax & Fowler country house style evolved to reflect the current day but throughout it all she never lost her ‘perfect taste’.

One meets famous clients such as the Windsors, Dolly Rothschild, Harry Hyams and John Aspinall as well as fellow colleagues, including a young Duchess of Cornwall. We also learn about the techniques used in creating these highly liveable-in interiors including the legendary ‘twelve different whites’.

I was interested to read that the late celebrated violinist Iona Brown was a friend as I too had known her when I was briefly at the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields. I was fortunate enough to meet Imogen Taylor recently at the Hatchards’ Christmas Evening and congratulated her on this delightful book that greatly adds to the history of Colefax and Fowler and the continuing story of interior decoration in this country.

http://www.pimpernelpress.com

BOOK REVIEW: CECIL BEATON AT HOME: AN INTERIOR LIFE

Nov24

CECIL BEATON AT HOME: AN INTERIOR LIFE

By Andrew Ginger, Foreword by Hugo Vickers

Rizzoli New York

PRICE: £50.00

ISBN: 978-0-8478-4877-5

: © Cecil Beaton at Home: An Interior Life by Andrew Ginger, Rizzoli New York, 2016

I was fortunate enough to meet the author Andrew Ginger at the two exhibitions he curated around the theme of ‘Cecil Beaton At Home’ at Salisbury Museum and Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in 2014. They were excellent shows and it was remarkable to see objects and paintings from Beaton’s homes.

View of the dining room, Ashcombe 1935. The curtains were of an orange-and-yellow striped silk
© The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s

Now thanks to Andrew’s continued enthusiasm and dedication to the fascinating subject of Cecil Beaton in his own homes we have this hugely enjoyable and well-researched book which is copiously illustrated bringing the houses, Beaton, his friends and loves to life.

The drawing room at 8 Pelham Place, 1962. Combining two rooms into one created a single salon of 31’ 1” by 15’ 2”
© The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s

The name Cecil Beaton is well-known to many for he was multi-talented – a celebrated photographer, costume and set designer, playwright and designer of fabrics – but he was also as this book amply proves a good interior decorator creating beautiful, striking rooms, whether in his homes or the New York hotel suites he decorated and was allowed to stay in at a discounted rate.

The and Winter Garden at Reddish House, painted left-handed by Cecil after his stroke, 1979
photograph by James McMillan, (copyright for CB artwork to National Portrait Gallery, London)

The book rightly focuses on Beaton’s two Wiltshire homes – Ashcombe House and Reddish House – with their remarkable and sometimes eccentric interiors which I would so loved to have seen but thanks to this book I at least can enjoy them, especially that beautiful Edwardian-influenced drawing room at Reddish.

The drawing room at Reddish House, painted by Cecil Beaton, Christmas 1955
photograph by James McMillan, collection of Stiles Tuttle Colwill

There have been many marvellous books on Cecil Beaton but to me this book is the best as I believe people’s homes reveal them and Beaton certainly comes to life through the pages of this book. Wonderful!

The last portrait of Cecil, looking through his last fashion spread for Vogue in the library at Reddish House, September 4, 1979
copyright Lee Higham, Assistant, 1979

www.rizzoliusa.com

The Flair of Fleur Cowles

Nov17

Christie’s Interiors including Flair, The Fleur Cowles Collection

Wednesday 23 November 2016 at 6.00 pm

Christie’s South Kensington, 85 Old Brompton Road, London SW7

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

It is totally appropriate that the section of this Interiors sale devoted to the collection of Fleur Cowles should be a special stand-alone evening sale. What a lady! Publisher, journalist, author, artist, patron and fashionista. She was a major part of society in both New York and London and included Cary Grant, the Windsors, the Reagans, Princess Grace, the Queen Mother, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh among her friends. When I had the great delight of meeting her many years ago at exhibition of her work she was with the British actress Dulcie Gray.

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

Cowles and her fourth and last husband Thomas Montague-Meyer (they married in 1955 with Cary Grant as their best man) lived in two connecting ‘sets’ in London’s famed Albany, Piccadilly. The colourful interiors remained unchanged and so it is an exciting chance to acquire something which has real resonance and flair and reflects its owner.

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

Flair was the title of the short-lived but glamorous magazine that combined striking design and great editorial using cut-out covers and unfolding pages for illustrations. Although popular, it was costly to produce and so only lasted for twelve issues. But it has been a source of inspiration to editors ever since and copies are still eagerly fought for.

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

Lot estimates range from between £500 and £30,000 and include a Picasso drawing, artworks by René Gruau and Frederico Pallavicini who worked with her at Flair. Furniture, Dior hats, photographs and her own pictures all combine to make this sale a remarkable tribute and insight of her taste and life. I know that I count myself lucky to have actually met her!

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

http://www.christies.com

BOOK REVIEW: Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats

Nov15

Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats

Written by James Reginato, Foreword by Viscount Linley, Photographed by Jonathan Becker

Publisher: Rizzoli

£40.00

ISBN: 978-0-8478-4898-0

greathousesmodernaristocrats_cover

The doors of some of the beautiful great homes of the UK and Ireland are opened in this book which celebrates both their history and the lives of the present day occupiers. It celebrates great houses such as Blenheim Palace, Broughton Castle, Haddon Hall and smaller ones such as the Old Vicarage in Edensor which was the final home of the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. We even visit the late 3rd Baron Glenconner’s homes on Mustique and St. Lucia and the Earl of Durham in Tuscany. The book is beautifully illustrated with some interiors revealed for the first time. An absolute must have for those interested in history, interior design and people.

http://www.rizzoliusa.com

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Tag Archives: Interior Design

Vanessa Bell & Patti Smith

BOOK REVIEW: Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court