The Modern Interior

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equivalent. In that context women took control of the construction of
their own modern identities even though they were still defined domestically
for the most part. De Wolfe’s stage set approach, which involved
unproblematically combining antiques with modern reproduction
pieces, was emulated by most of her fellow decorators.
Before the First World War the eighteenth-century French styles
were most frequently embraced in that context, although, for certain
projects, those of the English Renaissance, or the furniture of Thomas
Chippendale, seemed more appropriate. In nearly all cases, however, the
emphasis was upon the modernizing process of creating a frame for social
mobility and, at the same time, enabling women to develop their private
selves in their homes, especially in its most private areas, the bedroom and
the boudoir in particular. The emphasis was on lightness, elegance, comfort
and taste. Chintz was used widely, both as a means of recalling English
country houses, which inspired so many projects in those years, but also
because of its unpretentiousness and its patterned surfaces complementing
the use of plain, light colours on the wood panelling which was
frequently used to cover the walls. De Wolfe evolved a soft colour palette
which combined light grey with pale blues, pinks, yellows and creams.
Flowers were used liberally, in de Wolfe’s case with an emphasis on roses
and lilies.
Between the two world wars the influence of the new European
decorating idioms – especially those of Art Deco and that developed a
little later in France by a group of artists and decorators associated with
the Surrealist movement – was felt across the Atlantic. 42 As a result more
overtly modern elements began to make an appearance in interiors. 43
Frances Elkins, for example, introduced objects designed by Alberto
Giacometti, Jean-Michel Frank and Jean Dunand into her otherwise
traditional spaces. She also took the chintz theme to surreal extremes,
using the fabric on multiple surfaces in a single interior to dramatic effect.
Dorothy Draper also modernized the period room by playing around
with the scale of its components. In a scheme for the lobby of 770 Park
Avenue executed in 1929, for example, she placed a huge clock on a yellow
chimney breast over a ‘moderne’ fireplace. In her book Decorating is
Fun Draper explained that, ‘the big electric clock is fine in scale and is
made of white plaster with a carved black wooden eagle over it. By putting
all the emphasis on the clock it was unnecessary to have any more
decoration.’ 44 In the lobby of the Hampshire House apartment hotel on
Central Park South – the largest commercial commission ever awarded to