Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2022 i Veranda

“Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue.”—HENRI MATISSE Among its powers, art is a salve. To the French painter and master colorist Henri Matisse, it represented both emotion and relief. That he painted his artworks into Large Red Interior—his last finished oil painting, on exhibit through September 10 at the Museum of Modern Art—is telling of its potency, and even necessity, within our own environments. In this issue, we explore the role of art in exceptional design, from the works we collect for our interiors to the enduring impact of craft in our most important buildings—and how each becomes a personal bolt-hole of wonder and self-expression.…

EARTHEN INTRIGUE I WAS VISITING THE HOME of some architect friends in Massachusetts the first time I saw one of Peter Lane’s clay installations in person. It was an eight-foot-high crevassed wall separating the living room from a smaller reading area. It had such obvious soul. As the day waned, its dips and crests created the most interesting shadows, reminding me of the Crystal Caves in Bermuda. I kept walking over to study the morphing light. It had this way of pulling you in. Imagine my surprise when, in conversation with Lane years later, I learned that his grand, architectural form of clay sculpture—wall installations rich in artistic detailing—started with thrift store pottery. “I was in this vintage shop in Miami, and the things that inspired me were so expensive,”…

ONE ROOM IN THE SAN FRANCISCO HOME of Gordon Getty and his late wife, Ann, could offer up a master class in the history of decorative arts. While the whole house is exquisitely executed, the main drawing room encapsulates Ann Getty’s command at full tilt. A lifelong student, the philanthropist did her research, consulted with experts and craftsmen, and sought out the very finest to fill this room with a layered sumptuousness that speaks of varied periods and styles. The art and furniture within are among the nearly 1,500 pieces being offered at auction this October by Christie’s, and as Jonathan Rendell, deputy chairman and senior advisor of Christie’s Americas, explains: “The primary sitting room successfully captures her fearlessness in defining her own aesthetic, bucking traditional rules of collecting in…

AS FIRST IMPRESSIONS GO the searing landscape and ethereal warning issued by artist Whitney Bedford is a stirring welcome. In the Vero Beach entry where her work hangs, the message is clear: The art and artists within are fellow inhabitants, or close to it. “Whitney has been quietly doing strong work for a long time and is someone I’ve collected for probably 20 years, but this was the first time she’s gone to this scale so I got very excited,” says the homeowner, who bought the trio of ink and oil panels specifically for the floating entry wall in her family’s second home. “This piece is about growth and decay. It speaks to climate change—it’s got incredible punch and interest. I kind of love that it’s the first thing you…

OBJECTS & ARTIFACTS Pages 20-21 Metro Montage wallcovering: Phillip Jeffries; phillipjeffries.com. St. Pete Large Burl cocktail table: Highland House; highlandhousefurniture.com. Obj_1.02: Orior; oriorfurniture.com. Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort Melange lamp: Circa; circainteriors.com. Nilo candleholder: Maison Gerard; maisongerard.com. Box tray: Anastasio Home; anastasiohome.com. Sebastiao Lobo for Amy Meier Grace tray and Geometric Stone Objects: Amy Meier; amymeier.com. EXPOSITION MODERNE Pages 22-23 Wall and trim paint color: Distant Gray by Benjamin Moore; benjaminmoore.com. Legacy Heritage 3-inch fluted molding and 4-inch fluted molding: Van Dyke’s Restorers; vandykes.com. STAR POWER Pages 38 and 40 Vintage velvet necklace case: Chairish; chairish.com. Mid-Century Malayer rug: Mansour; mansour.com. Ethereal Visions tarot card desk: The Huntress; thehuntressny.com. Moxie mohair: S. Harris; fabricut.com. Large smoky quartz crystal point: Jia Jia; jiajiajewelry.com. Mohair velvet: Rose Uniacke; roseuniacke.com. HIDDEN AGENDAS Pages 42…

EARLIER THIS SUMMER I fell in love with a painting in an unexpected place: my dear friend M.K. Quinlan’s clothing and vintage shop. To celebrate her new brick-and-mortar location, she curated a selection of works from artist Justin Giunta and hosted an opening for his show. It had all the trappings of a bona fide gallery opening—rousing conversation among a mélange of stylish guests (some old friends, some new), loads of visual stimulation, and free-flowing wine. After a chat with Giunta about his unique approach to still life painting, I bought Bauhaus Still and left invigorated by discovering a new way of seeing things when I didn’t know I was looking for it. There are so few moments for spontaneity these days, but immersing ourselves in creative work—our’s or others’—can…

Circle of Influence Coco Chanel adored buttons and used them to refashion the female form. In tribute, the maison’s new Golden Pearl Motif long necklace dangles a timepiece of yellow gold and brilliant-cut diamonds at the plunge of a sautoir—that intoxicating emblem of the era (and Chanel herself). But the true signature of Mademoiselle emerges when the timepiece flips to reveal an oh-so-Coco button of gold pearl. Chanel Hors-Série Mademoiselle Privé Bouton Golden Pearl Motif long necklace, 800-550-0005 Star Turn Nearly a century after Gloria Swanson first donned her Cartier rock-crystal and diamond bracelets—including in Sunset Boulevard—the maison’s Deco decadence returns in its shape-shifting Libre Morphosis watch. A twist of an elastic band takes it from watch to bracelet as links of brilliant-cut diamonds and pyramid-cut garnets command the spotlight. Cartier Libre…

OVER A SWEEPING STRETCH OF LINEN secured to a table extending more than 50 feet, an artisan impresses a single dye-coated piece of hardwood to fabric. A different carving, another dip into the dye, and a crescendo of colorful pattern begins to dance across the cloth. With each block or stamp comes new layers, alive with hand artistry. The Indian-born technique of hand-blocking fabrics has been, in the post–Industrial Age, alluringly rare. But a resurgence is afoot with top textile houses from Brunschwig & Fils and Jean Monro to Hazelton House and Cowtan & Tout reinvesting in the historic technique. “Hand-block fabrics are art forms, worthy of preserving for the future generations,” says Stephen Elrod, executive vice president, creative director of Brunschwig & Fils. “The blocks themselves are works of…

GLOBAL THEATRE PREVIOUS PAGE: “I had just come back from India and was inspired to try to do something different,” recalls Gooding of her graphic, mandala-inspired arrangement. She had only three big dahlias on hand, so she improvised with mums, snipped boxwood from her yard, and figs from the refrigerator. “And it took only 20 minutes. If you don’t try something new, you’ll never create the next new classic.” “Creating moments of surprise is what I adore most,” says consummate hostess and Juliska cofounder Capucine De Wulf Gooding. “I think of beautifully set tables as tableaus, moments that make guests realize how much they are appreciated.” The tableware company she and her husband, David, dreamed up during a trip to France was launched on this very principle: “to create togetherness,”…

FROM THE START, I was swept away by this romantic apartment in the country,” recalls interior designer David Jimenez. “When I first walked up the driveway toward the manor house, with its towers and classical harmony of design, I fell in love with France all over again.” After moving to Paris six years ago, the New York City native began looking for a stylish country house for weekend getaways. The criteria: a generations-old residence with handsome architecture that was no more than an hour from the city. Lovely private grounds with fields and forests for long walks accompanied by birdsong were also a must. He searched for two years and triumphed when he found his dream retreat—an expansive eight-room private apartment in a centuries-old manor house on the grounds of a…

A PASSAGE TO INDIA David Hicks employed eye-popping black borders to “divide” the amber walls of his St. Leonard’s Terrace dining room into panels, a look inspired by the color and patterning of Jaipur’s Durbar Hall. A SHIMMERING CROWN In Manhattan, Jeffrey Bilhuber finished a flocked wallpaper by Mauny with a coordinating border; the opulent frieze with copper leaf underlay becomes a garland for an understated cornice—and a tip of the hat to the copper wallpaper tacks borders were once intended to hide. SUITE STRIPES Doyen of English country house style, John Fowler elongated dusky-blue bedroom walls with vertical floral sashes. The Hampshire Hunting Lodge’s current owner, designer Nicky Haslam, preserved what he calls a “quick, inexpensive” decorating trick. COVERT AFFAIRS In New Orleans’ French Quarter, Brockschmidt & Coleman uses…

ADVANCED GEOMETRIES Soane Britain’s Rumi linen frames a 1920s Egyptian khayamiya in an intricate leaf pattern (also shown on cushions, opposite). Date fabric’s stylized hexagons animate the Quiver Klismos stool. ARCHIVAL GRAPHICS LULU LYTLE has been an Egyptomaniac all her life. Yes, massive cultural obsessions with the ancient civilization have come and gone, but the cofounder of Soane Britain has been having an Egypt moment since she was a little girl collecting travel brochures about the far-flung destination. She wrangled a trip there with her parents at age 17. “To me it was completely intoxicating,” she says. “The intensity of the heat and the light, the extraordinary relief of the shade, the ripples on the Nile, the overwhelming scale of the architecture. I was in love.” It’s no wonder Lytle,…

MINERAL ARTISTRY The designer heralds agate’s “untamed voice,” natural surface variations that give it its patterning. “For me it’s about sensuality and romance, pulling elements from French Deco, Japan, jazz, and old Hollywood. I love the hybrid vigor of marrying things that are historically divergent…”—NICHOLAS VARNEY I WAS SMITTEN AT 11 YEARS OLD. My family was on a ski vacation in Switzerland, and my father took me to a jewelry store to shop for a ring for my mother. He always had an eye for glamour, color, and nostalgia—as president of Dorothy Draper & Company for more than 50 years, Carleton Varney’s signature was that romantic element. But seeing my mother’s delight when opening the ring, the loving sense it engendered between my parents, was an explosive, powerful feeling for…