“It is assumed that everyone knows and understands what is meant by the word beauty,” Leo Tolstoy wrote. “And yet not only is this not known, but now, after mountains of books have been written…the question of what beauty is remains completely open.” This statement, along with others just as weighty, is included in the…Continue reading What Is Art?
Category: Furniture Design
There are myriad angles to furniture design that makes it an entertaining subject to explore, especially when unleashing the imagination on the subject. I often pair furniture with historical figures that I think would have enjoyed living with it, such as a piece titled A Midcentury Cougar on the Prowl in which I explored the mid-century furnishings in the movie The Graduate, suggesting newer pieces Anne Bancroft’s character might have enjoyed!
In The Valentino Lair, I suggested a bedroom setting in the Bernhardt Showroom in High Point would have been the perfect hangout for Rudolph Valentino: did you know he published a book of poetry? In An Unsung Hero of Modern Design, I presented the favorite author of one of the mid-century’s iconic designers Edward Wormley; and in Timothy Oulton Design Adventurer, I channeled his adventurous designs through Mr. Biggles, Oulton’s favorite novel as a child.
For a riff on the Barrymore Avignon chair, I had one speaking to the other—the seating standing in for Petrarch and Laura, who met in a church in the French town of Avignon. I really adore imagining scenarios such as these, letting my imagination run free as I write!
An Unsung Hero of Modern Design
Resurrecting pivotal eras in design is irresistible to vanguards who understand that sometimes the best place to begin looking into the future is to take a glance back in time. The resurgence of the mid-century aesthetic, which defined the quietly sexy fifties and less subdued sixties, is proof that if vision and quality existed there…Continue reading An Unsung Hero of Modern Design
One Special Summer with Jackie O
Hegel’s caveat “history teaches us nothing” may be relevant in cultural and philosophical realities but in the design world the statement is far from succinct. No one knew this more resolutely than Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, or as we have come to affectionately call her Jackie O. One Special Summer with Jackie O She was…Continue reading One Special Summer with Jackie O
Timothy Oulton Design Adventurer
“As the momentous words ‘England is now, therefore, in a state of war with Germany’ came somberly over the radio, Major James Bigglesworth, D.S.O., better known as Biggles, switched off the instrument and turned to face his friends, Captain the Honourable Algernon Lacey, M.C., and ‘Ginger’ Hebblethwaite. There was a peculiar smile on his face.”…Continue reading Timothy Oulton Design Adventurer
Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard the narrators and experts interviewed in the PBS documentary Secrets of Henry VIII’s Palace reveal anecdotes illustrating life within the palace walls during the Tudor king’s reign, which included the…Continue reading Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
The Tides In Our Veins
The Tides in Our Veins One of the most evocative trips I can remember taking as a young woman was a four-day escapade to Carmel, California. I was a newly minted poet, or so I thought I could dare call myself such being inspired as I was by my college professors and the heroes they…Continue reading The Tides In Our Veins
The End of an Era
Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again, and interesting, and modern. A voiceover of Don Draper reciting the lines leading this post while thumbing through a copy of Frank O’Hara’s Meditations in an Emergency bring one of my favorite episodes of Mad Men to a close. He’s…Continue reading The End of an Era
Courtesan Style Counts
Everyone has a different definition of beauty but I’m betting it’s the rare soul who wouldn’t be enamored with this sexy chair by Alden Parkes, which the manufacturer has dubbed the Courtesan chair. It is aptly named because it represents the boldness and refinement of an alluring caste of women as well as a luxurious trend…Continue reading Courtesan Style Counts
Rooms of Their Own
A private place in which to write… As someone whose life is spent working with words for at least a part of every day, I find myself obsessively scouring the biographies I read for mentions of the rooms in which lauded writers made their magic. Descriptions of them exist more often than visuals do so I…Continue reading Rooms of Their Own
Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story
Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story Oh, fateful town in France! While communing in your Sainte-Claire d’Avignon, I saw her. Laura. The name that would haunt me for the rest of my days; the visage I would spend every waking hour longing to glimpse once more, knowing I was doomed to never look upon that…Continue reading Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story