John Richardson: At Home

Such a great book!

Terrific book.great value

Not as interesting as I thought it would be

Livro maravilhoso vale a pena adorei.

Excelente

I just received this book a couple of days ago, so can't pretend to have read it completely through or studied the photographs as closely as I will over time. My impression is that it ranks with Cecil Beaton at Home, Bunny Williams: Affair with a House, and Furlow Gatewood: One Man's Folly as portraits of connoisseur collectors and their habitats. Richardson, who died, at 95, just before the book came out, wrote the text himself so the book is a very personal informal autobiography and testament, focusing on his homes throughout his long life.These include the big Victorian house in London where he spent his childhood, Stowe School, with its 18th century garden structures, where he began to appreciate art, the Slade School of Fine Art, where his studies were cut short by the war, the French chateau in which he lived for a decade and got to know Picasso, then a historic flat in London, his first small New York apartment, a Connecticut estate incorporating two houses, each inspired by a landmark building, and finally a big New York loft redesigned to have the feeling of an English country house! Many of his furnishings moved with him from London to New York and Connecticut, to provide continuity in a long and productive life.The illustrations include black and white photos documenting his early years in England as well as his life in France (art collecting and bullfights) and New York (Elaine's and Club 54). Most of the pictures, however, making up the largest part of the book, are full color, full page (or more) photographs of the rooms in all his homes and, in Connecticut, his garden. There are also large color photos of the buildings of Stowe and the Slade, as well as the Chateau de Castile, his French home. The photographs are by Francois Halard (France, Connecticut, N.Y. loft), Derry Moore (London), and Oberto Gili (N.Y. apt.), with vintage photos by Horst P. Horst and Robert Doisneau.His style was maximalist, but his eye was perfect, and his aim was to create comfortable, livable rooms that just happened to be filled to overflowing (almost, but not quite) with an astoundingly diverse collection of beautiful furnishings, art, and fascinating objects. His ideal, even in his New York loft, was to recreate the worn, eclectic, lived-in ambiance of the English country house. He gives credit to his various cats and dogs over the years for their help in creating the distressed look he desired.Richardson is best known, of course, for his multi-volume Picasso biography, but he also had a long career as an expert for major auction houses in London and New York and in other artistic/art historical pursuits. He owned wonderful Picassos, needless to say, but also fine examples of art and objects representing every period, style, and culture, all together in one glorious, as he would have it, "mess."Richardson explains that many of his purchases were, in fact, bargains from flea markets and "junk shops." You can only think: I wish I had been there. He also reveals that, when, during the writing of this book, he decided to sell the Connecticut house(s), he was pleased when the purchaser wanted all the contents as well. It is very nice to know that this wonderful, very personal, collection remains together.

Disappointing, as I enjoy John Richardson`s Picasso books tremendously. None better!