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image from House and Garden
cover of The Best in Decoration, House and Garden, 1987.
Buatta's client said 'Make it English'-of her New York pied-a-terre
from New York Apartments Private Views, by Jamee Gregory
So here is an important part of the education I received-this is the invaluable part.
Yes, I do believe in the idea of a higher education-but I would never have turned down an offer to work for someone the likes of Mr. Buatta in 1980 versus Drafting 101, 1980.
The Philosophy of Mario Buatta, you might say--is what I cut my design teeth on and it still rules today.
This photograph of Mario Buatta is etched in my memory-as I was graduating college and moving into a career-Mario Buatta is what one might now be called-Hot. I don't think he would say so-nor would he want to think any one else had said it-Anyway-apologies to Mr. Buatta!
MARIO MASTER CLASS
image from AD here
For readers of my blog-one knows I live a bit in the past-with most of the design features coming from rooms created years ago-or centuries ago. I like it that way. I prefer these rooms, the decor, the elegance, the timelessness, the quality of a good sofa and pair of chairs. How many times have I used such words and phrases to make a client understand where they should be going in a project?
AD photograph here Long Island,2008, & below,
a perfectly incredible bath in the same house
a perfectly incredible bath in the same house
This spring the New York School of Interior Design renamed its materials library after Mr. Buatta pronouncing it the Mario Buatta Atelier. Being titled, that lofty phrase will please Mr. Buatta. Known in circles of practical royals themselves as The Prince of Chintz, Mario Buatta has been in the business for about 50 years.
"Chintz is coming back in fashion. "Mario Buatta
This set of rooms for a home in New York is one of Mr. Buatta's most wildly successful. From these images I fell in love with the idea of head to toe use of a single chintz.
from House and Garden Best in Decoration, above & below
another view of the room, image from The Blue Remembered Hills here
a Buatta designed Chintz
Today's mantle seems to be more about Millions-something I don't think Mario Buatta would like to be dubbed-but for the sake of this little title- that's what I'm going with. A list of his clients-Henry Ford II, Malcolm Forbes, Barbara Walters, Nelson Doubleday, Mr. and Mrs. S.I. Newhouse, Charlotte Ford ,Mariah Carey and Billy Joel- proves his worth- though he is known to 'repurpose" curtains from redecoration to redecoration. His public commissions have been equally high profile: From 1985 to 1988, Mr. Buatta and the late Mark Hampton collaborated on the restoration of Blair House, the 1824 White House guest house on Pennsylvania Avenue, an $ 8.6 million project involving more than 100 rooms.( NYTIMES)
The Lee Dining Room at Blair House
images from Blair House here
BUATTA TRADEMARKS
One of his decorating devices I admire most is his use of the banquette in rooms to create always important additional seating.
LOTS OF SEATING
Houston, 2007.
These little jewel like spaces are perfect for tete a tetes- glamourous women with legs crossed seated side by side- teenagers courting- a bedtime story- You get the picture.
"Decorating today is dysfunctional. A chair here, a lamp here and a sofa over there—how do you read? How do you have a conversation? Rooms are set up for a camera, not for living. There's nothing personal, no relationship to the past." Mario Buatta
photograph from AD here
“I like all the chairs to talk to one another and to the sofas and not those parlor-car arrangements that create two Siberias.” Mario Buatta
Designers that equally admire and are in many ways adhering to the Buatta dictates of using the sofa banquette in their spaces are Miles Redd, Charlotte Moss,Todd Romano and Alessandra Branca.
Redd
Moss
Romano
Branca
During his week long reign in the spring-writer Bart Boehlert sat down and talked with Mr. Buatta. Buatta's wit and style are at its best with Boehlert letting Buatta take center stage.
LUXURY & COMFORT
a leather & nail-head front door opens up to a silver-papered elevator entrance
above and below, the Rooms of Hillary Geary & Wilbur Ross by Mario Buatta
all photographs from the NYSD, by Jeffrey Hirsch
Allusions to the rooms created by Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler are alive and well & front & center in most of Buatta's work.
Lancaster's Rooms
"My style icons are [decorators] John Fowler and Nancy Lancaster.
Nancy was a great woman, a real character. They don't make them like that anymore.
They're all blondes. They all look alike, dress alike, nobody has any personality." Mario Buatta
They're all blondes. They all look alike, dress alike, nobody has any personality." Mario Buatta
Derry Moore photograph of Nancy Lancaster
The Salon at Hambleden by John Fowler
COLOR
"Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll." Lord Byron
Some of Mario Buatta's most beautiful rooms are heavy handed in BLUE.
Could it be his favourite color?
Could it be his favourite color?
Evidence from a House Beautiful Favorites Things point to it.
CAR COLOR (EXTERIOR/INTERIOR): Navy/tan
EVERYDAY DISHES: Blue and white anything
COLOR YELLOW
So there goes that color theory-
but still there is a lot of incriminating evidence here.
ALL-PURPOSE GLASS: Royal Blue glasses from Ralph Lauren
TOWEL: Porthault's blue-and-white seashell
SCENTED CANDLE OR ROOM FRAGRANCE: Rigaud "Blue"SHEETS: Blue-and-white checks like Ralph Lauren's gingham
WORKHORSE FABRIC: Sunbrella indoor/outdoor, especially navy
am I BLUE? IS MARIO?
I'm blue, I'm blue! I'm a happy guy but I have always loved blue, in all its shapes and sizes. For libraries and dining rooms, I like this deep Mediterranean blue. I'd use it glazed and shiny, and bring in reds and greens and pinks. Every color looks fresh against blue. Put lemon yellow with it and it will look like a Matisse painting." -Mario Buatta: BENJAMIN MOORE BAINBRIDGE BLUE 749 -here at HB
Anemones and Woman, Harmony in Blue by Henri Matisse
image from WSJ.com, linked in footnotes
The essence of Buatta, 2005, with drop dead elegance & blue walls
Cool blues in a bedroom using a Manuel Canovas print, from the pages of AD
One of the most memorable and beautiful rooms I can remember is Buatta's 1984 Kips Bay Showhouse bedroom. In a post about the fabric used in the room I wrote: Buatta lavished the room in the B&F Verrieres and the results were stunning. I think this is Buatta's best published room hands down. It captures a mood, a spirit, an energy that makes a room timeless- of course Verrieres helps out loads. The Brunschwig motto " GOOD DESIGN IS FOREVER" echos in this beautiful room. The August 1984 issue of House Beautiful is filled with pages of the Buatta room & an interview with Buatta. Mario Buatta started with Verrieres-it is the room's inspiration. "This is a timeless room. There's no date on it because nothing is faddish. It's a forever kind of decorating.
“I must have visited this room 1,000 times before painting it,” artist Jeremiah says of his 1980 rendering of the Buatta room. “It was done from mental notes.”
another blue bedroom with Mr. Buatta's suggestion that yellow makes it like a Matisse.
(image from HB)
WALLS OF BRILLIANT LACQUER
images of more Buatta lacquer from The Peak of Chic, 2008 here
deepest aubergine lacquer walls in the Geary- Ross rooms, AD 2005.
the Geary-Ross Residence in AD 2005, with another Buatta Banquette,
the eggplant shade on the walls resembles porphyry.
images above & below from: AD, Nov. '89 Inside New York
a room designed at the request of Barbara Walters for a Charity Event, 1990.
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I was looking for that Kip's Bay blue bedroom. A true classic. We share the same taste, my dear. Love his rooms. So much more that certain "million $ decorators".
ReplyDeleteYou missed a link here. Mario Buatta got his start as assistant to the great designer Keith Irvine. Mario took his style from Mr. Irvine who worked for John Fowler and Sister Parrish. Keith's style was genuine. Mario Buatta's is, in my opinion, an overblown pastiche, where Keith's was authentic, genuine, grounded and warm. He was Scottish. He grew up in the finest of these houses. He knew these houses and he gave Mario his start, as well as Richard Keith Langham. I appreciate that you like Mr. Buatta, but in all fairness Mr. Irvine should not be left out of this post. Without his sharing and mentoring, Mario Buatta would never have had the career that he did. Nor would Mr. Langham.
ReplyDeleteWow, this tribute is overwhelming. Buatta's quality trademarks come through a gamut of styles and projects. One element I actively dislike, however, is the look of paintings "suspended" on heavy ribbons and bows, featured in the first photo.
ReplyDeleteHis characteristic uses of broad color and detailed patterns seem especially worthy of study.
--Road to Parnassus
I'm patiently waiting for the embracing design aesthetic of the 80s to come full circle. Mario Buatta's designs, perhaps a tad subdued, are desperately needed on today's design horizon where trendy and stagey seem to be at the forefront. I want the chairs and sofas and benches and wonderful pillows to all have great conversations once again, Thanks for this great post. Mary
ReplyDeleteThe high gloss walls are fascinating. This is very interesting as I tend towards Scandinavian Modern. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGaye you have really said and shown it all for Mr Buatta. I do adore his use of banquettes and his ideas of comfort in all homes!
ReplyDeleteBravo on an excellent post
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Pamela, as said it is one of those rooms- the details in the curtains-all the attention to every element, and the B& F Verrieres fabric is blue is perfection.
ReplyDeleteDandy-Yes there are reams and chapters to be filled about MB. I did not set out to chronicle his design story in full-impossible, but to point out My experience at the time upon embarking on my career & to highlight the elements of his work that I adhere to. Forgive any neglect.I have written about KL as you know in context with John Fowler-each contributes to the other, and no one is intentionally slighted here. I learned about design from many masters-I rarely if ever- worked off a room MB created, but his principles of design are impeccable in my humble opinion-and as he says in the video, his work is not for everyone, but for those who share his own tastes.I would love for you to share more of your experiences in working with Mr. Irvine. pgt
ReplyDeleteParnassus, point taken. I respect the breath of his many years of design. Certainly his signatures-the banquette, the ribbons, are very much documented in magazines and various books, however a comprehensive book of his work I think would reveal a broad range of rooms- the 2005 room with blue walls is timeless-and I challenge anyone to say "Mario Buatta" there.Take aways are evident in rooms-where simply removing some of the flourishes that defined the 80's make the older rooms he created much more of the moment. pgt
ReplyDeleteMary-my point exactly-as we can see in the NYSD rooms Buatta himself tones down some the 80's flourishes and uses the client's art en masse throughout the space. I was struck too by the HB bedroom with the canopy bed-a signature-with the Ikat fabric- a room very much of today, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteLinnea- I love these walls too, again each to his own, and I find many of the principles of his work- especially his first statement apropos for any style one loves best.
ReplyDeleteKarena, that little technique goes such a long way-capitalizing on those dead corners, especially in the New York apartment spaces-is so smart-and it looks smart too. The Todd Romano room attests to that. pgt
ReplyDeleteGaye, an amazing post. I think Mario Buatta is so right in his emphasis on lots of seating: it is practical, welcoming and stimulates conversation. It is something he has in common (or pehaps learned from) the John Folwer/Nancy Lancaster tradition.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a fan! Absolutely adore the new Ross penthouse, especially the library. He's also an extremely modest, elegant, erudite and witty man; a far cry from that silliness that passes for "high" design on Bravo these days. Doesn't anyone have good manners anymore? I think he hit it right on the nose in his description of today's artistically over-styled interiors. They're not for living!
ReplyDeleteOutstanding post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for such an in-depth look at Mario Buatta. I'm not a huge fan of chintz, but I've always marveled at how Buatta mixes and matches many patterns with such success.
ReplyDeleteEmile, The Lancaster-Fowler connection is real-He speaks about meeting Fowler-and seeing the Nancy's rooms in the last video, a bit long but very entertaining!
ReplyDeletePhilip- I thank you!
Michele- Oh so true. I think the videos show how stylish and full to the tips of class and taste-little of that, as you say, is exhibited on Bravo. Mr. Buatta is someone who seems very real and would be a pleasure to meet.
ReplyDeleteMark, He does do it well, and though the chintz is not for everyone, I long to do one room up in it from top to bottom-surface to surface! The small picture along with the Matisse paintings at right is my thinking on that!
I think Buatta’s has an Unparalleled Vision…I really enjoyed the superb examples of his work. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWhat a post! I can read it again and again and learn more every time. One image (all stunning) belongs to Alessandra Branca (below the quote on two Siberias) is that on purpose? What a post!
ReplyDeleteBrillante Interiors.
Elegance, well said, thanks!
ReplyDeleteBrillante- I know your own design work leans to modern lines-however you do see the theory here and I bet apply much of it to your approach with projects. You get it. The Branca photograph was misplaced-and should have been put with the other designer's using this seating arrangement-which I love. thanks for spotting that-I've made the change. PGT
Years ago, when I was callow and indecisive, MB offered me a job to come work for him at the insistance of a mutual friend. I foolishly turned it down, as I was pursuing a career in banking. I wonder if I would have been happier taking the path I forsook? Who knows. I see him about and at parties from time to time and find him amusing and droll, and fortunately he's forgotten that it was I who thoughtlessly spurned his generosity all those years ago. One of the greatest of them all. I do so long for a book. Fabulous post, m'dear. Reggie
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. Keep going back to it. First image of book cover blows me away. Perfection.
ReplyDeleteReggie darling, Little time is wisely spent on wondering what IF-You know that well. I would have jumped to do it-If, and If asked-If-I had been braver to move to NYC-etc.etc. I think you have found several niches beyond the "bank." Mr. Buatta seems to be all you say-and more. No doubt he would say the same to you. Yes, a book is long overdue-and how odd that a tree is sacrificed to more mediocre decorators and their one project.I mind boggles. PGT
ReplyDeleteClara, it is a great cover-perfection as you say. pgt
ReplyDeleteA delicious post. I feel taken back to things familiar but gone out of sight, and am now contented and sustained.
ReplyDeletepimp my bricks