Known for his spare interiors as well as his use of humble, natural materials, Jean-Michel Frank is one of those designers who is often credited by contemporary designers as being a major influence, yet he has remained a bit of an enigma. Perhaps this was due to his all-too brief career and life, having committed suicide in 1941. Or maybe it was because some critics labeled Frank a society decorator. Whatever the reason, critical study of Frank's career did not begin in earnest until the 1980s with a monograph written by Leopold Diego Sanchez. Unfortunately, this book is a bit scarce as well as cost-prohibitive. There is, however, a new work on the design legend that is not only quite comprehensive and informative but will probably prove to be yet another authoritative work on Frank.

Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period (Rizzoli) initially took shape as the doctoral thesis of Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, a historian and authority on twentieth-century applied arts. The book provides the reader with a biographical account of both Frank's life as well as an in-depth look at his career as a designer of both spaces and furniture. While Frank's success was certainly guided by his talent, it was also nudged along by Frank's fortuitous friendships with the French and European beau monde, something which is explored in the book.

But Frank certainly developed a style that was all his own, and this is really the heart of this book. Much attention is given to Frank interiors, including his work for Jean-Pierre Guerlain, Andre Meyer, Templeton Crocker, Cole Porter, and of course Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. Today, Frank seems to be recognized more for his furniture designs than his interiors, so the text and photographic record of Frank's tables, lamps, and chairs are a major asset of Jean-Michel Frank. Also, Frank's career was characterized by collaborations with other gifted designers and artists, most notably Adolphe Chanaux, Alberto Giacometti, Christian Berard, and Emilio Terry, and this work is given due diligence in the book.

I'll admit that I have not yet finished this book; I'm taking my time reading the text, and I find myself getting lost in the gorgeous black and white photos chronicling Frank's work. But so far, I do feel that I better understand the genius and the style of this sad artist, and for this alone I highly recommend this book.



The Sitting Room in the penthouse of Templeton Crocker, San Francisco, 1929. The walls and ceiling were covered in squares of parchment, while the armchairs were upholstered in white leather. One of the Parsons-style cocktail tables was covered in brown shagreen, while the other was sheathed in patina bronze.


The Music Room in Cole Porter's Paris apartment. Although Armand-Albert Rateau was responsible for the paneling (silver lacquer at that), Frank designed the furniture.


Image at top: A Fire Screen covered in straw marquetry, c. 1924. The cabinet at bottom was covered in parchment, c. 1931.


A set of parchment nesting tables and an X lamp made from terra cotta.

It was back in December that she had first heard of her.  Ingrid Pullar.  Ingrid was  photographing a story that the New York Times was running on Marrakech.   No slouch, in addition to the New York Times, she had taken photographs for Time Magazine. 

The blogging girl took one look at Ingrid's portfolio and emailed her.  The email didn't have to go far- - only to Casablanca where the Swedish photographer had lived for years.   Ingrid was friendly, and they exchanged a number of emails and phone calls.

Life hadn't been easy for the blogging girl recently, and so she turned to Ingrid's photos for beauty therapy.  Then she thought that perhaps, just perhaps,  you might be in need of a little beauty therapy, too...

*

Picking Moroccan saffron.  The poetic spice culled from an equally poetic flower.....

A tagine, the ubiquitous Moroccan stew seen bubbling all around the city.  Cooked in a conical dish by the same name.  So delicious.

Moroccan roses in a hammam bowl......... Morocco has valleys filled with roses.  No wonder that Moroccan souks are filled with rose soap, rose cream, and rose oil, made fresh.

From Julie:

Spotted on Design*Sponge: New Birds and Bees handblown glass and cloth-covered cord table lights from Brooklyn-based Lindsay Adelman. $950 through Future Perfect.

I had the chance to visit the showroom of Joe Nye New York last week, and I was not disappointed! There are so many great pieces there that I was ready to ship half of the store home to Atlanta. Many of the finds can be attributed to Joe himself, while others are courtesy of the guys from Downtown. (I mean really, is this not a winning combination? Joe is the walking embodiment of style with a capital "S", while David and Robert of Downtown know what's going to be hot eons before the rest of us do.)

What really caught my eye was a new line of hand-forged wrought iron and steel patio furniture that is being sold at JNNY. The chairs, benches, and tables (the large basket-shaped one doubles as a planter) are powder coated in a choice of sixteen different colors, although custom colors can be special ordered (all pieces are made here in the States). And they don't rust! To me, the furniture looks a bit Elsie de Wolfe with some Mathieu Mategot and Rene Prou thrown in for good measure. How neat are these shield-back chairs?





Here is just a sample of what was in the showroom last week. If you see anything of interest, I encourage you to contact Karen at the showroom. She is really knowledgeable and nice too! (Tel. 212-486-7551)

From Cody Hudson

From You Work for Them

From Tamara Shopsin

In Spring, there are iris and lambs ear, magnolias and cherry trees blossoming.

Most passers-by are fooled into thinking my neighborhood is just another pretty place to live. A place where the neighbors plant rock roses and iris around the stop signs. A place where the kids are picked up in carpools for school, and cars are given a wash on the weekends.

But they would be wrong........ We have a secret. We have people that are extraordinary here. And we have creatures that are strange and beautiful.

There are dragons here with red and golden wings, and cobalt scales. They breath fire from mouths agape with sharp white teeth.

We have white tigers with ruby red eyes that stand guard to protect us from any who would harm us.

There are fairies with gossamer wings of opalescent glass who look from the windows.

There are griffins and flying fish.

There are hobbits in holes.

And we have miniature gardens for the gnomes and brownies that gather here.

And the people here are artists and magicians. They can create new worlds from the clay of the earth. They can entrance and mesmerize the lucky few who chance upon their handiwork.

Not an ordinary neighborhood, this.

The owners of this house have been working to create handmade tiles to adorn their house since long before I moved here over 16 years ago. Every year there is some new treasure to discover. There is a glimpse of some scaffolding in the far left of the last picture indicating there will soon be more to capture the imagination.

Posted by Bluelines

Ideal for city-dwellers and garden neophytes, here's some easy and out-of-the-box (er pot) ideas from our favorite gardener.

Guest Blogger: Margaret Roach

What’s going to fill those pansy and viola pots once the weather heats up and they go by? For season-long color in containers, true annuals (like petunias or coleus) aren’t the only answer.

What I’m using for “annuals� in some tough low-light areas of my garden made their way to my pots from points as diverse as the shrub department of the local garden center; from my vegetable garden beds -- and even from my favorite mail-order houseplant nursery. The best part: All either were recycled from prior garden use…or will be recycled into another spot indoors or out when I’m done admiring them.

These baby fancy-leaf begonias just arrived from Logee’s Nursery in Connecticut, and are perfect for pots for a location in filtered light -- like under a tree. How many annuals for shade offer this kind of nonstop color? Come October, they’ll move inside with me as permanent members of the family (and summer outside again next year).

Begonia ‘Little Brother Montgomery’(below)

and ‘Marmaduke’ (above) are two of my favorites for their leaf color and texture among Logee’s many choices.

To add some structure to my grouping of pots in a semi-shaded spot with the begonias, I bought this little-leaf evergreen holly or inkberry, Ilex glabra. It is hardy in my zone, and I have a spot in the garden for it…but not till after summertime service. I’ve also potted up some small trees trees, like Japanese maples (below), with pansies and creeping perennials at their “feet.�

I always keep a few choice hostas ready to do duty as pot plants, carrying them over from year to year in the vegetable garden when it’s empty all winter, then lifting the big clumps out and popping them into shade pots. You can also buy some hostas for this use -- or one of many other perennials. It’s easy, showy, and the hostas don’t seem to mind being put on display. A favorite for this purpose: the classic vase-shaped blue ‘Krossa Regal (above)’. Variegated hostas are especially ornamental, too (like Hosta fluctuans ‘Sagae,’ below).

I plug in extra bits of golden moneywort, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea,’ that have outgrown their place in the garden, or snippets of the gold Sedum called ‘Angelina’ (detail, above) to cascade over the rim. Little-leaf ivy (perhaps snatched from a hanging houseplant?) would be great, too. The salvaged snippets of Lysimachia don’t look like much now, but wait: Soon the top pot, about 30 inches wide, will be spilling over. And I didn’t buy a thing.

Heucheras, another perennial, make great potted subjects, and I love using the newer Euphorbias, like ‘Helena’s Blush’ and ‘Efanthia.’ Both would be showy all season at the base of taller things like my maple trees. Use your imagination: Curley parsley would make a similarly great edger below a taller plant, and the whole herb department is filled with good choices…and you can cut off bits for supper, too. Like I said, recycling at its best.

Pottery Sources:
Great mossy, old-looking terra cotta from Campo di Fiori; lead and stone lookalikes of wonderful quality from Campania. In both cases, these are wholesalers; use their dealer locator to find the seller near you.

I went to see who it was that could be gracing this beautiful and edgy cover. The white upholstered sofas and daybeds (Room and Board), the ebonized floors, the black tiled fireplace surround...I thought I had found a new crush.

But then..... I knew it was you as soon as I saw the white sheers and your custom designed light fixture (ABYU Lighting) in the foyer. Yes...you had me at "Hello". Only you could have piqued my interest with the Country Swedish chair with the seat in Sacco Carpet goat hair!

One of the things I love about you is the way you mix up the high and the low. Like in this Dining Room: putting a Larsen Velvet on a Crate and Barrel chair. It makes my heart smile, like wildflowers in a silver vase. Zimmer + Rohde fabric used as wall art, it's wonderful.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well men aren't the only ones who love the culinary arts. And to find a kitchen at the other end of the Living Room, well that's just magic. And then you go and make it look like this! That curtain of beads by BallChain around the stovehood, the Plexi-Craft barstools.... sigh.

I could lounge here for hours on this banquette by the window. Long relaxing dinners with family and friends. Maybe a little Jamie Cullum playing in the back round. You did this on purpose, I know it. (Chairs through Room and Board).

Then you got really glamorous, but I could expect no less. In the Master Bedroom, you went for the Swarovski crystals on the custom shade and Ostrich Pillow on the bed, both by ABYU. Jean Harlow would be right at home. So could I.

And there it was.... just what I'd hoped for. One of your iconic feather lampshades (ABYU) hiding in the guest room, perfectly juxtaposed with the Man Ray photographs.

What I love about you is that you inspire me. I can watch you make magic using sources available to everyone, like this bed by Room and Board, the Restoration Hardware Lamps, and the mirrors by Crate and Barrel.

I promise, I am not stalking you........yet......

All photos by Antoine Bootz for Veranda, May-June 2008

Posted by Scott

If you are like me and have terrible sneezing fits in the middle of the night, why not treat yourself to one of these guys i found on Etsy?

Optic Blossom

Wallflower

Blue Wallflower

At least you'll be sneezing bedside in style.

I like the lighthearted playfulness of these three, but there are a ton to choose from. Check them out!