"A house should grow in the same way that an artist's painting grows. A few dabs today, a few more tomorrow and the rest when the spirit moves you. When the painting is completed (as no room ever should be), it never reflects the artist's original conception. A room should come together through this process, as the people living in it grow, and where their needs and paths take them, in order to achieve the ultimate timeless undecorated look." Mario Buatta
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!
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 photographhere Long Island,2008, & below,
a perfectly incredible bath in the same house
This year Mario Buatta has been celebrated, but where does he fit in to today's ModPodge of decorating. Thank God he doesn't.
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 Hillshere
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
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.
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
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?
STATIONERY: Dark blue from Smythson CAR COLOR (EXTERIOR/INTERIOR): Navy/tan EVERYDAY DISHES: Blue and white anything COLORYELLOW
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
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 -hereat 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
“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.
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.
LISTEN AND LEARN
these are the things that make him the authentic Million Dollar Decorator.
Mario Buatta circa 1981,
Some things change-
Some things should never change.
to create a Buatta inspired room it is COLOR, COMFORT & THE PERSONALITY OF THE CLIENT.
Next time you need a refresher on what makes a timeless room-whether you are a fan of Chintz or not, take a crash course-from the Prince, you'll be brilliant!
the Wall Street Journal 60 Seconds with Mario Buattahere
I have been an interior designer for more than 25 years & have an abiding passion for the original, the truth & history. Little Augury was born on New Year's Eve 2008. It began as a way of continuing a conversation with a beloved mentor & the promise to keep just a bit of his wit & wisdom alive by sharing it whenever possible. Little Augury focuses on interior design, art, literature, fashion & social history with an eye, always looking back to the past, in the hope of understanding what is authentic & what will endure.
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