History of Interior Design II: March 2017

"Dorothy Draper was to decorating what Chanel was to fashion. The woman was a genius; there'd be no professional decorating business without her." -Carleton Varney, Interior Designer

Born in 1889 to a wealthy and privileged family in Tuxedo Park, New York, Dorothy Draper was the first to 'professionalize' the interior design industry. She was an only child for the first nine years of her life and was nicknamed 'Star' by her family. Before establishing her Interior Design empire, Draper was a debutant. In 1902, She married George Draper, a doctor who equaled her social statues, however he had no interest in high society. Instead, he devoted himself to research and became a specialist in the treatment of Polio. About 10 years after their marriage, Dr. Drapers childhood friend, Franklin Roosevelt, showed symptoms of this disease and he became FDR's personal physician. Together, Dorothy and George had three children who grew up as neighbors to the Roosevelts in the Upper East Side. Both Dorothy and her friend Eleanor Roosevelt chafed against it's conventions and restrictions and yearned to make the world a better place.

"Your home is the backdrop of your life, whether it is a palace or a one-room apartment, it should honestly be your own-an expression of your personality." -Dorothy Draper

For Dorothy, making the world a better place was not about laws and rights, but a matter of walls and furniture. In 1923, Draper established the first interior design company, Dorothy Draper & Company, in the United States which was, at this point in time, unheard of, also taking into consideration that Draper was a women and it was considered daring for a woman to go into business herself at this time. About a week after the Wall Street Crash, her husband ran off with another women, however, she persevered through the Great Depression by honing her signature style at hotels, resorts, restaurants, and nightclubs across the country.

"If it looks right, it is right" - Dorothy Draper

In 1939, Draper published 'Decorating is Fun!', a design manual that was also a self-help book. In addition to stating the rules of scale and symmetry, Draper also wrote to the nervous housewife, "If it looks right, it is right. Don't be a slave to tradition or to your mother-in-law's taste. Paint the ceiling, hang your own curtains, and fill the space with what you love. The first rule of decorating, is courage, followed by color, balance, smart accessories, and comfort." While she was not considered a modernist, she prized light, brightness, practicality, and fun, over 'stifling' formality. Also recognizing that her readers might potentially be single like herself, and wouldn't have anyone to hang curtains for her, she encouraged all women to set up the ladder themselves. A few years later, as the country was entering the second world war, Draper published her follow-up 'Entertaining is Fun!'

"A true artist of the design world...Dorothy Draper became a celebrity in the modern sense of the word, virtually creating the image of the decorator in the popular mind." - Architectural Digest

In 2006, Draper was honored in a retrospective exhibition of her work entitled "The High Style of Dorothy Draper" by the Museum of the City of New York which was the first time that such an honor was given to an interior designer.

Important Designs:

The Dorotheum, a restaurant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Quitandinha Palace & Casino Resort, Petropolis, Brazil

The Carlyle, New York

Modern Applications:

EC:

"I believe that a less severe principle can be found - the mixing of styles. The Noble frames that came to us from the past can receive today's creations. The house that we build now can welcome ancient things of beauty."

Born in Paris on February 28, 1895, Jean Michel Frank was the third son of banker Leon Frank and of Nanette Loewi. He was the first cousin to Otto Frank, and, therefore, a first cousin once removed of Anne Frank. He was a dedicated pupil at Lycee Janson De Sailly, an elementary school in Paris up until 1904 and in 1911 he began to study law. In 1915 tragedy struck is family when both of his older brothers died fighting in World War I and his father committed suicide shortly after. Within in the next four years, his mother also passed away and Frank, inheriting a small fortune, begins to travel the world evolving in the artistic and social circles of that time. By 1930, Frank has become an established professional decorator and has also become the head of the Chanaux Company as artistic manager. From then on, he brings together talented artists from whom he had already commissioned a few creations. He also became a design legend through his many furniture designs. In 1940, Frank flees France, escaping the Nazi's and ended up teaching in New York for a short time before he committed suicide on March 8, 1941 after jumping off a building.

Jean Michel Frank Furniture: