Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza at Daylesford

Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza
on the grounds of his Gloucestershire estate,
Daylesford.  The house was remodeled in the late
18th century by Samuel Pepys Cockerell for
 Warren Hastings with gardens by John Davenport.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes via Corbis.

After the 1978 death of the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, Daylesford was sold to Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza.  Known as "Heini" to his close friends, the baron was a Dutch-born Swiss citizen with a Hungarian title having his principle residence Monaco for tax reasons.  He also declared a second residency in the United Kingdom, but spent much of his time in later years in Spain.


Another view of the fantastic Orangery
at Daylesford as it appeared in the early 1980s.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.

The baron was born to a steel and armaments empire that also included oil, natural gas, and shipping.  On his father's death, he inherited hundreds of 14th to 19th century paintings by European masters.  (Many had been bought from American millionaires feeling the hardships of the Great Depression and inheritance taxes).  The baron added a 20th century collection of his own which included some paintings from relatives' collections and some new works. 


A view of the west elevation of Daylesford
in the early 1980s during the ownership of the baron.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.

In 1985, the baron married his fifth wife in a ceremony at his country estate, Daylesford.  He was 64 and she was 41, the "Miss Spain" of 1961.  The bride, Carmen Cervera, known as "Tita" to her friends, had previously been married to the actor Lex Barker of the "Tarzan" films.  Among the attendees were the Duchess of Marlborough, Henry Ford 2nd, and the Duke of Badajoz, brother-in-law to King Juan Carlos of Spain.  The new baroness did not care for Daylesford, however, and it was sold.


The Saloon at Daylesford as decorated by
Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.

Much of the baron's art collection was housed at Villa Favorita on Lake Lugano, Switzerland.  The villa had been purchased by his father in 1932 when their future in Germany appeared without promise.  After the Lugano City Council essentially rejected plans in 1988 by renown British architect James Stirling to enlarge the villa to better show the collection, his wife persuaded him to relocate 715 works which made up the core of the collection to Spain.


'Portrait of Ann Brown in the Role of Miranda'
by Johann Zoffany, circa 1770, once hung in
the Saloon of Daylesford during the Thyssen-Bornemisza era.
Image via Wikipedia.

The Portrait of David Lyon,
as seen in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum,
had previously hung in the niche in the Saloon
of Daylesford.

The former Villahermosa Palace in Madrid was renovated to the approval of the baroness and opened as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in 1992.  The collection, which includes silver, gold, and tapestries in addition to paintings, was initially on loan, then transferred to the Spanish Government the following year.  The Thyssen-Bornemiszas maintained residences in London, Paris, Marbella, the Balearic Islands, Jamaica, and Switzerland, but spent much of the time on an estate in La Moraleja, a fashionable suburb of Madrid.  The villa there was furnished with American paintings and the furniture from Daylesford.  The English country house had been lavishly decorated by Renzo Mongiardino, sweeping away the previous schemes by John Fowler for Viscount Rothermere seen in previous posts here and here. 



The Saloon at Daylesford as decorated by
Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Image from clipping in private collection.

It is always of interest to The Devoted Classicist to see how two great decorators each do a different take on the same house, in this case, for different owners.  Renzo Mongiardino was trained as an architect but his early successes were set designs for the stage and films.  For interior design, he used the visual tricks of the stage crafts;  Mongiardino employed a team of skilled carpenters, decorative painters, drapers, and upholsterers to create a mood, the overall effect being more important than the provenance of specific pieces. 

Details of the walls in the Saloon at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Image from clippings in private collection.

The stucco decoration on the walls of the Saloon was created by five people working for two months, casting and attaching the stars, painting and glazing the walls, then adding stenciled decoration.  The shafts of the existing columns were painted to resemble porphyry. 


Another view of the Saloon at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza,
showing the plaster relief decoration of the walls with stenciling.
Image from clippings in a private collection.

Mongiardino's decoration of Daylesford for the baron was recorded, in part, with a series of photos taken by Christopher Simon Sykes that appeared in the July, 1983, issue of House & Garden magazine.  Additional magazine photos are from clippings in a private collection with no identification as to the source.  Watercolor drawings and one photo are from the 1993 book that Mongiardino authored.


Elevations of the Long Gallery of Daylesford
as proposed by Renzo Mongiardino.
From ROOMSCAPES via
The Devoted Classicist Library.

Elevations of the Long Gallery of Daylesford
as proposed by Renzo Mongiardino.
From ROOMSCAPES via
The Devoted Classicist Library.

In ROOMSCAPES, THE DECORATIVE ARCHITECTURE OF RENZO MONGIARDINO, Mongiardino discusses his philosophy behind decorating the walls of the Long Gallery to compliment the Italian seventeenth-century paintings to be displayed.  He was concerned about the dramatic paintings, meant to be hung in shadows inside churches, only occasionally being illuminated by a ray of sun, and how they would appear in a completely new context in the cold light of England.  Mongiardino's story, and it is possible that at least part of the storyline was fiction, was that some long lengths of antique lampas, about sixty centimeters wide with a large design, were found in extremely pure red and brilliant yellow, made in Italy in the early 1600s.  But there was not enough of the antique fabric, so it was paired with alternating lengths of a new fabric custom made near Genoa in the same red and yellow, but with a small scale pattern.  (Although the text says that a wainscot was added to allow for the limited antique fabric, neither the watercolor presentations nor the photos show that feature).



A detail of the Long Gallery of Daylesford
with decoration by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.



Mongiardino was pleased with the results, the text revealed, because the paintings became unexpectedly antimated, "the large yellow-and-red damask transformed the dark areas from an opaque black into a deep darkness, full of reflections."  Other than a chandelier in the passage behind the screen of columns, there are no ceiling lights, only picture lights matching the coloring of the frames, mounted either at top or bottom of the paintings, plus the table lamps.


The Long Gallery at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo from ROOMSCAPES.

Another art-filled room was the Garden Room about which little is known except what can be gathered from this composite image shown below. 


For the art lovers, a better view of "The Card Game"
by Balthus, 1948 to 1950.  Now in the
Museo Thyssen, Madrid, the source of this image.

A composite detail view of the Garden room with
a Balthus painting "The Card Game."
Image from clippings in a private collection.

 

An interesting feature of the Garden Room was the patterned wallpaper, or possibly a chintz, that covered the walls, making no shy step into the background while still complimenting the art.

A composite view of the Library at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Image from clippings in a private collection.

The Library appears to have been relocated to a different space from what the Rothermeres had used and decorated as what has been described as an amethyst-colored room as the background for art.  A Picasso harlequin hangs against the chimneybreast upholstered, like the other wall surfaces in the room, in violet silk striped in blue and green, specially woven in Florence.  A frieze by Irene Carcano gives a degree of intimacy to the room, depicting neoclassical Pompeian scenes in the style of a Roman cameo.  Mongiardino added deep shelves to hold books, large portfolios, and record albums.  Sofas in 19th century Syrian velvet embroidered in white silk compliment the white marble chimneypiece and white architectural trim.


A composite view of the Cinema at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Image from clippings in a private collection.

The Cinema Room designed by Mongiardino was decorated with a frieze with silhouettes of film-related representations.  The space was used by the Baron as a holding area for new purchases before finding a place at Daylesford, or becoming part of the picture gallery at Lugano or going on tour as part of the Baron's program of exhibiting his collection.  From left in the image above, the paintings include a 1934 Picasso next to Titian's "Danae;" an 1891 Boudin rests on the center chair; at right on the floor, "Rider on a White Horse" by Balthus, 1941.


A bedroom at Daylesford decorated by Mongiardo
shown as used by Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.

The bedroom used by the Baroness was decorated by Mongiardino in his interpretation of the quintessential 'undecorated' Country House Style.  What appears to be tea-dipped bed hangings combine with slipcovers and rugs on carpeting to add layers of what might appear to have been accumulated in the great house over generations.  A festoon blind is pulled up behind the gathered valance at the steps to the French doors that open onto a rooftop terrace.  The fabric covering the walls was especially designed by Renzo Mongiardino.


The Domed Room at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for  HG.

Of all the rooms at Daylesford, the one that looks like it might have been a total fabrication by Mongiardino was the Domed Room.  However, sources say that it was one of the few unchanged rooms that were original to the house by architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell and Mongiardino only decorated it for the Baron.


The Domed Room at Daylesford
as decorated by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Photo by Christopher Simon Sykes for HG.

Another view of this room and a number of other rooms shot during the same time period can be viewed on the website of the clearing house for Christopher Simon Sykes photography, The Interior Archive.  (A link could not be activated, but go to their site and search "Daylesford").

In addition to ROOMSCAPES, an out-of-print book with only used copies available in hardback and new but more expensive copies in paperback, there is a more moderately priced option with Laure Verchere's 2013 book RENZO MONGIARDINO, RENAISSANCE MASTER OF STYLE.

The next post of The Devoted Classicist will present Daylesford under the ownership of its next/current owners, billionaire industrialist Sir Anthony Bamford and his wife Lady Carole.

Pickings of a Happy Booker

"Uncle Charles' Library"
Image by John J. Tackett.

Despite all the dismal news in recent years projecting the end of glossy coffee table books, the bountiful new selections available this fall disprove that.  Perhaps it is the lower costs of digital publishing and the acceptance of designer/authors to shoulder the up-front expenses, but there are many new interior design and architecture books that certainly show great promise.  It must be pointed out that The Devoted Classicist has not actually seen these new books, however, and whether the potential is realized is ultimately up to the reader to determine.  (But these books are sold here through Amazon.com and qualify for their standard 30 day return policy; see their customer service policies before ordering).  Just click on the title for more information and an offer to order or pre-order at substantial savings.

Released September 1, 2013.

REFLECTIONS ON SWEDISH INTERIORS  Authors Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems are owners of Eleish van Breems, Ltd., an antiques shop in scenic Washington Depot, Connecticut, that also offers design services.  The Devoted Classicist regrets that it is unknown whether this book presents only classical and/or antiques-filled interiors, but the cover does indeed look promising.


To be released September 17, 2013.

CLASSICAL INVENTION: THE ARCHITECTURE OF JOHN B. MURRAY  One of my co-workers at Parish-Hadley, John Murray's new book showcases eighteen of his projects, both apartments and country houses.  Utilizing the Beaux-Arts drawing format "analytique" which shows various elements of the architecture in a unified, artistic presentation, the studies are accompanied by photographs of each home as well.


To be released October 8, 2013.

THE DETAILED INTERIOR: DECORATING UP CLOSE WITH CULLMAN & KRAVIS  Although not necessarily well-known nationwide, the firm of Cullman & Kravis is highly regarded in the New York City area.  (John Tackett Design is proud to have worked with them on projects in the past).  Co-founder Hedi Kravis has passed, but Ellie Cullman and associate Tracey Pruzon show how the well-considered details add up to make a room a stunning tapestry of ideas.  It should be noted that their previous book DECORATING MASTER CLASS is one of the best of its type and highly recommended.


To be released October 1, 2013

ALLAN GREENBERG: CLASSICAL ARCHITECT Author/teacher/architect Allan Greenberg, who has offices in Greenwich, CT, New York City, and Washington, DC, presents a monograph of his firm's work, showing new residences, university buildings, and civic buildings all designed in the classic style.


To be released October 8, 2013.

MARIO BUATTA: FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN INTERIOR DECORATION  The much-anticipated monograph of the work of interior designer Mario Buatta is being published without a dust cover, I understand, but rather with the end boards printed to give the effect of a journal or scrapbook.  Buatta is known for his quips and jokes so the text is expected to be very anecdotal.  Blogger Emily Evans Eerdmans, an accomplished author in her own right, is credited as co-author and can be counted on to keep things on track.  Mario Buatta, who still has a NYC practice, was one of the most famous decorators in this country during the 1980s and 90s, so expect big-budget American versions of classic English Country House Style.  (John Tackett Design is proud to have worked with him on projects in the past, as well).


To be released October 15, 2013.

FIFTH AVENUE STYLE: A DESIGNER'S NEW YORK APARTMENT  Howard Slatkin, co-founder of the home fragrance enterprise Slatkin & Co., presents his first book which showcases just one residence, his own lavish Fifth Avenue apartment.  Combining two Pre-War apartments, apparently no expense was spared to reconfigure the high-rise space complete with opulent finishes inspired by various palaces.  The book promises to be an enjoyable survey of a man's fantasy home realized.


To be released October 15, 2013.

ALIDAD: THE TIMELESS HOME  Photographer James McDonald presents the work of the London-based, Persian-born interior designer Alidad.  (Devoted Readers will recall the post featuring his design for a Paris pied-a-terre here).  Richly furnished projects, including apartments in London and Paris, villas in Beirut and Kuwait, and seaside homes in Sardinia and Cornwall, are presented as a tapestry with color on color and texture on texture.  The text is provided by Sarah Stewart-Smith who is a London interior designer and writer.


To be released October 22, 2013.

STEPHEN SILLS: DECORATION  This is the first book to showcase the solo career of interior designer Stephen Sills, formerly in partnership with Ralph Jones and then James 'Ford' Huniford.  All previously published works -- for glamorous clients such as Tina Turner and Anna Wintour -- was in partnership so there is great anticipation in the Big Reveal of this designer's own decorative visions.  Sixteen homes, all photographed by Francois Halard, are presented.


To be released October 22, 2013.

IN WITH THE OLD: CLASSIC DECOR FROM A TO Z  My friend and fellow blogger Jennifer Boles of The Peak of Chic has compiled an encyclopedia of sorts to present 100 stylish decorating details from the twentieth-century with each entry including anecdotes and advice along with the facts.  What could be more delightful?  Surely this would make a most appreciated gift to anyone interested in interior design.


To be released November 5, 2013.

LUMINOUS INTERIORS  Another former co-worker from Parish-Hadley, designer Brian J. McCarthy brings a unique and refreshing interpretation of classic interiors.  Nine of his favorite projects from around the country are presented with Brian offering insight to his inspiration and revealing the design decisions that led to the finished product.  Brian has become very well known in the New York City area and this new book will ensure that proof of his talent will spread across the country.


To be released November 5, 2013.

DECORATING IN DETAIL  Designer Alexa Hampton, who continues her late father's legendary decorating firm Mark Hampton LLC, uses her second book to share her process to decorate eight homes across the country, selecting fabrics and furniture.  It is intended as a "how-to" book to develop an understanding of the development of the interior design of a residence.


To be released November 12, 2013.

RENZO MONGIARDINO: RENAISSANCE MASTER OF STYLE  Italian architect, theatrical designer and interior designer, Renzo Mongiardino, 1916 to 1998, has been a great influence in the career of The Devoted Classicist, inspiring his own interpretations with a version of classic, eye-pleasing detailing.  Will author Laure Verchere offer anything new about the great designer's work?  Scant preview images from publisher Assouline offer no promises.  But newbies will certainly be impressed by the genius of one of the truly great designers of the twentieth-century.


To be released December 2, 2013.

WILLIAM HODGINS INTERIORS  Although long established in his own practice in Boston before my tenure, Bill Hodgins is another very successful decorator to have come from Parish-Hadley, a great influence in his design DNA.  Baltimore author Stephen M. Salny writes the text to accompany the photos, almost guaranteed to show Hodgin's trademark neutral palatte, often with Swedish neo-classical furnishings, and always with a tailored, architectural sensibility.


To be released March 4, 2014.

JACQUES GARCIA: TWENTY YEARS OF PASSION: CHATEAU DU CHAMP DE BATAILLE  Drawing on his experiences from his work furnishing rooms of Versailles and the Louvre, the interior designer Garcia employed many of these same principles in restoring and decorating his own home, Chateau du Champ de Bataille, over a period of twenty years.  In addition to his collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture, porcelain, etc., the gardens have also been restored in a period style.


To be released April 1, 2014.

GEORGE STACEY AND THE CREATION OF AMERICAN CHIC  Interior designer Maureen Footer, who worked at McMillen Inc. and Molyneux before establishing her own firm, has written a much-deserved book on the great decorator of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, George Stacey.  Greatly influential, he brought a modern aesthetic to the classic French taste.  His Victorian-inspired interior for Babe and Bill Paley's country house at Kiluna Farm with hand-screened canvas walls served as a background for their exemplary French Modern pictures all of which figured importantly in a photo-shoot of Babe for Vogue in 1950;  the famous photo ignited a new-found enthusiasm for Old School comfort.  For the uninitiated in the history of 20th century design, this book should prove to be an eye-opener.  A "tease" for the book, including the John Rawlings photo of Mrs. Paley in a Charles James gown, can be seen at the Little Augury blog post here.

Remember that The Devoted Classicist has not laid eyes on any of these books, but they all show great promise of being very interesting.  Devoted Readers are among the most savvy in the whole blogosphere, so it is hoped they will come back and leave a brief comment after they have had the opportunity to take a look at one of these books.


Mongiardino for Princess Firyal, London

A proposal for the two long walls of the grand salon
of the London house of Princess Firyal of Jordan from
ROOMSCAPES

The genius of decorator Renzo Mongiardino, 1916 to 1998, was rooted in his early architectural and theatrical design experiences, creating fantastic thematic interiors, often from only a shell.  An example of his interpretation of an Orientalist theme was carried out for the London house of Princess Firyal of Jordan.  The house in the fashionable Belgravia section had been cleared of most detailing by the previous owner.  It is comprised of two houses from the first half of the nineteenth century joined by a high-ceilinged hall that was formerly a stable but converted to a ballroom with high oeil-de-boeuf windows and balconies at each end. 


An early conceptual study for the grand salon.
from the Mongiadino monograph
ROOMSCAPES

According to an article in the May, 1987, issue of Architectural Digest, Mongiardino told the princess, "You're a beautiful Oriental woman, why not an Oriental house?  It's right for England.  It's in the culture.  It's Brighton!"



Two different schemes for the four walls
of the grand salon by Renzo Mongiardino
for Princess Firyal of Jordan's London home.
ROOMSCAPES

Mongiardino developed two schemes for the grand salon.  Both schemes divided the walls into three sections, but the interpretations varied with the scheme in the first four drawings in the series shown above being more neo-classical.  Exhibiting three large eighteenth-century French tapestries against a background of vivid red-pink damask, this scheme was not selected to be realized.  The chosen scheme, shown in the bottom four drawings in the series, has lengths of silk printed in gold with different oriental motifs like celebratory banners.  The proposal shows these flags of variegated violet alternating with coral, malachite green with ivory, and topaz with blue, but only a deep dusty rose for the banners was used in the room as realized.  The round windows, with two false windows added at each end when the balconies were closed off, are anchored with a decorated band.  The wainscot is dark slate blue overlaid with a damask motif in ochre and silver-gray taken from a painting by Gentile Bellini.  Above the wainscot, stretched silk is hand printed with a trellis grid containing pale green medallions.

The grand salon as photographed
by Derry Moore. appearing in the
May, 1987, Architectural Digest.

Both the location of the entrance stairs and the fireplace varied from the drawings in the version realized.  Thickly quilted slipcovers of cap form cover all the seating in the Derry Moore photo that appeared in the 1987 magazine. 



The grand salon as photographed
by Walter Russo for the 1993
Mongiardino mongraph
ROOMSCAPES
 

A paisley print fabric with the appearance of antique shawls covers all the seating in the grand salon as shown in the book ROOMSCAPES, THE DECORATIVE ARCHITECTURE OF RENZO MONGIARDINO published in 1993.

The small salon as photographed
by Derry Moore, appearing in
Architectural Digest, May, 1987.

"The small salon was draped with bold striped silks to create a military tent," Mongiardino explained in the article.  A window effect is expressed by an 1886 panoramic painting of Jerusalem.


The hall as photographed
by Derry Moore, appearing in
Architectural Digest, May, 1987.

Entrance to the grand salon is made from a hall with the openings glazed in mirror.  The lower walls are covered in 19th century Chinese Export silk and the upper walls are stencilled in an intricate Orientalist pattern.  The wall lights, designed by Mongiardino, have a marbleized finish.


The dining room as photographed
by Derry Moore, appearing in
Architectural Digest, May, 1987.

The wall covering in the dining room is hung rather than fixed as upholstery.  Rich green velvet is embroidered and appliqued with gold, hanging tapestry-like from a marbleized cornice.  An 18th century marble chimneypiece with pietre dure insets gives an architectural presence while 18th century famille rose porcelain and a fanciful Venetian glass chandelier provide additional color.  Exotic whimsy is provided by a set of gilded wicker chairs.


The sitting room
as photographed by Derry Moore, appearing in
Architectural Digest, May 1987.

The focus of the sitting room is a gilt-bronze chimneypiece designed by Mongiardino, flanked by a pair of English chairs, circa 1685.  The painting is "An Intercepted Correspondence, Cairo" by J.F. Lewis.  Bookcases are painted with a red tortoiseshell finish against upholstered walls of silk velvet with appliqued paisley motifs.

A tempietto in the garden.
Photo by Derry Moore appearing in
Architectural Digest, May 1987.

Born Leirjal Firyal Irshaid in Jerusalem in 1945, she was married to Prince Muhammad bin Talal, the younger brother of the late King Hussein of Jordan, from 1964 to 1978 with the marriage ending in divorce.  Keeping the title of Princess Firyal, she became the companion of the billionaire Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos from the late 1970s until his death in 1996.  In a 2009 dispute with the sons of her companion Lionel Pincus (now deceased) involving the combined apartments they shared in the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, it was alleged that there was a history of her having rich boyfriends paying for her lavishly decorated residences.  Not only did Niarchos pay for the London house, it was reported, but also her apartment in Paris, decorated by Geoffrey Bennison (see the post on The Blue Remembered Hills blog).  In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of various cultural organizations, Princess Firyal serves as Jordan's Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, a diplomatic envoy appointment she received in 2007.

Princess Firyal
at the 2008 Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame Induction.
Image:  contactmusic.com

 

MONGIARDINO a new book by Laure Verchere

Devoted Readers will be interested to know that a new book about Renzo Mongiardino by Laure Verchere titled MONGIARDINO has just been released by the art & lifestyle publisher Assouline.  It may be purchased at a substantial discount from the published price here.