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Sleek
lines, monochromatic colors, checkerboard patterns, and the
reproduction of furniture from 1930's designers like Jean-Michel
Frank and Pierre Chareau, have made Andrée Putman one of the
world's most sought-after interior designers. Her current
exhibition, "Andrée Putman, beyond style" at the
Cultural Services of the French Embassy, showcases a remarkably
eclectic variety of objects designed by the high priestess of
style: a baby grand, furniture, and even elegant modernist
silverware for Christofle.
One
of the most successful pieces on display, and the centerpiece of
the show, is the striking Voie Lactée or Milky Way
baby grand, which Putman designed for Pleyel, the French firm
whose pianos were used by Chopin, Debussy, and Saint-Saëns.
The Voie Lactée is made of black lacquer and chrome; its
music stand and top stick are jazzed up with Putman's daring
characteristic checkerboard pattern in black-and-white, and there
is a star-filled deep-blue sky on the underside of the lid.
A contemporary twist on classic luxury.
Putman
received wide acclaim for the furniture designs that she produced
for her firm 'Ecart International' in the late 1970's. This
exhibition coincides with Putman's redesign for Morgans, the
groundbreaking boutique hotel that she originally decorated in
black and white in 1984. This time around the monochromatic
palette is reworked with all the subtlety of shades of gray. |
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