But no, despite a recent New York Times article titled "It's Curtains", it is not over for Albert Hadley, b. 1921, who closed his design office on November 1st of last year. Fortunately, the upcoming auctions represent a retirement sale rather than an estate sale. At Sotheby's Manhattan on March 30 and 31, and at Stair Galleries, Hudson, NY, on April 1, 2011, there will be an auction of property from his office and warehouse. While many treasures have already found good homes, even second tier furnishings with an Albert Hadley provenance will be worthy of attention. There is anticipation building to see the on-line catalogs as well as the exhibitions themselves.
The sketches shown here are not by Mr Hadley but my own. However, they clearly show his influence in both theory and rendering style. As Albert Hadley is referred to as the Dean of American Decorating, these drawings would fall into the category of "school of . .". For the top sketch, I have used as inspiration an A.H. design for a bathroom window treatment for Mrs. Jock Whitney at Greentree, the Manhasset estate that will be featured in a future post. For my project, the bathroom with a wainscot of slabs of marble was given stencilled decoration on the upper walls, and the window was treated with a half curtain, a roller shade (not shown), and a swagged valance with trailing jabots, adorned with a fringe of tiny silvered bells and wooden silverleafed tassels, and silvered rings held with glass head picture pins. The bottom sketch was for dining room windows at One Sutton Place, an apartment which will also be featured in a future post. Here the sketch shows the proposal for using different fabrics -- one for the valance, another for the panels, and a third for the lining which is visible as a border on the face. Currently there is a trend for more simple window treatments, but there are still circumstances where the curtains can provide just the right finishing touch.
Love your charming "school of" drawings. I've always loved that rather old fashioned look of curtains (or half curtains) with a roller shade, especially when the shade is that classic dark green.
ReplyDeleteQ, the green roller shade worked in this bathroom scheme, but laminated fabric is an alternative for other conditions. The other project with the dining room also had shades, bronze mesh that matched the windows which were big single panes of glass facing the East River. In both cases, neither sun nor privacy was an issue so the shades were almost always up out of view.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by my blog! Great advice on the doorknockers. I have filed it away for future use!
ReplyDeleteI am now your newest follower!
Thanks for becoming a Follower, D.T. You'll find that I am a big fan of the lion-with-ring motif and use it as often as possible, be it for a door knocker, planter handle, or drawer pull (in addition to the uses discussed on your blog).
ReplyDeleteI am quite sure that prices at both auctions will go through the roof. And regardless of the "current trend", I think a well executed window treatment often makes the room.
ReplyDeleteLynn from Decor Arts Now
Love to see the 'install' pictures coming up...
ReplyDeleteI do think there will be a return to more curtains.
For the first time I have 'draped' my livingroom and diningroom in curtains.
Love the quiet softness the curtains bring.
Great post John!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the upcoming sales too.
Be well!
Dean Farris, Naples, FL
Lynn of D.A.N., I agree with your prediction of high prices as these celebrity auctions seldom (if ever) fail to exceed high estimates. I think a lot of curtain trauma has resulted from expensive mistakes, and there is reluctance for fear of a repeat. Good curtains can be costly, but they do not have to be.
ReplyDeleteC.J., curtains can make a room warmer or cooler, more private and secure, and more quiet. And thanks for using drape as a verb!
ReplyDeleteD.F., I am sure we will all be hearing more once the on-line catalogs are available.
ReplyDeleteI am a curtain girl myself (my mother and grandmother would have it no other way). Just yesterday I was telling my own children that I had been hanging some drapes---they chimed in right away "Mom, you always said they were curtains, not drapes!" I told them I had been hanging the fabric that goes on the crosses at church for Ash Weds and those are called drapes - I don't think we put curtains on the cross in Lent. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the sale and catalogue and also for the drawings!
I agree that prices realized will take one's breath away. Still, I plan on attending the previews (at both Sotheby's and Stair) to see what's what. Part of the reason so many people don't have curtains these days is they can't bring themselves to foot the bill for them. Can be wildly expensive (good fabric is and always has been expensive, and finding a proper curtain maker for people who are not in the trade is well-nye (is that the proper spelling?) impossible. So they justify that they can do without, citing what they see in the design mags (at least in shoots of today's modern buildings), or (if they live in a more traditional interior) they buy them by the yard at Pottery Barn. You get what you pay for. Reggie
ReplyDeleteCan barely wait for future posts on your work and on the interiors mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteWe live in the country. I have curtains in the living room and when entertaining at night, I always close them. It is not so much for privacy, no big city lights here, but it is so much more intimate and I might add, if one lives in an older home, warmer!
Helen, I agree that religious and ceremonial uses of draped fabric should not be referred to as "curtains". There are a couple more words used in decorating that will be discussed in future posts, however.
ReplyDeleteReggie, I do not think I will be able to attend the previews or the actual auctions, so I hope you will post any observations on your own most enjoyable blog.
ReplyDeleteJudith, I find that many interiors benefit from closed curtains at night. An exception might be in situations where artistic landscape lighting still provides attractive evening views.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. Curtains is an interesting subject. They can do wonders in a room, if done tastefully, of course.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Hadley is an interesting person. He designed the late Brooke Astor's library in New York, NY. What a beautiful room.
I do hope that more designers start experimenting with more elaborate curtains. While I do like plain panels, there are rooms that would benefit greatly from something more ornate on the windows.
ReplyDeleteM.F., that glorious library will also be the subject of a future post.
ReplyDeleteTPoC, I think many underestimate the benefits of the right curtains. Hopefully this will encourage consideration.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I agree about the curtains-form follows function. So many clients just don't live formally in the least. Though RD will loathe that! It is the designer that must put it right by balancing what is suitable-that is why simpler things are required. There is nothing still more satisfactory and challenging than getting all the elements of complex designs to hang perfectly hands on, on site. I try to get every window covered, as said-for night. I think it is a terrible site to look out on the void, and as I tell clients-the babysitters require them. Great sketches and post-I hope Hadley continues on if he wants to do so, but he has glorious laurels to rest on. pgt
ReplyDeleteL.A., a young Parish-Hadley decorator had his apartment published in the New York Times Magazine in the mid-80s, a great honor for the day and done in secrecy so as not to be scooped by other publications. It was styled specifically for the shoot with many of the furnishings borrowed for the occasion to fill out the otherwise sparse apartment. To compensate for the bare windows, he was infamously quoted as saying that curtains were out of style. (Madam was not pleased).
ReplyDeleteIt was such a delight to see Mr. Hadley honored in so many ways while he can take the bow. His designer tree has branched out, touching many lives, and making ours, the viewers, better for it.
ReplyDeleteAs for curtains or draperies (not drapes) I think that is a rather elite/effete argument. Whatever they are called, I like window treatments that enhance a room with warmth.
H.B.D., all the praise for Mr. Hadley is indeed well deserved. And I also agree that actions speak louder than words, but it is that old teaching experience that wants to spread deign education at every opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWe have been unable to get any information from Sotheby's regarding Mr. Hadley's auction either by phone or on line. Nor is it listed on their website calendar. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteThe on-line catalog is not yet available for Sotheby's sale N08743, March 30 & 31. The preview exhibition will open to the general public on Saturday, March 26.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your help! We will give it a go!
ReplyDeleteNot having enough lots of just Mister's for the whole two day auction, the sale will probably fall under the general title of European Furniture, so don't let that throw you off.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, have ordered the catalogue, and hope to be there.
ReplyDeleteWas that NY Times decotator Tice? I knew him, and G. Casati....were they your era?
ReplyDeleteNo, but Tice and his apartment were once profiled in the NY Times. Tice was an exceptional talent and certainly knew the value of curtains. Greg was right before my tenure, but I did meet him as he stayed in touch with his friends at P-H.
ReplyDeleteAll the PH "boys" had such a way back then... doing up their little apts with such a passion for design. I have such good memories of all the visuals connected with the office (its ever changing interior) and all that was created by an inspired staff.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the little folly you did in Memphis is a delight!
Thanks for your comments, TOPSY. During my time at the 63rd Street location, the Reception changed once or twice, but I could not tell you how many times Mister completely redid his Office. Of course the new look was always wonderful, but I hated to see the old one go. Perhaps it was like Billy Baldwin's tradition of changing his apartment in Amster Court, using it as a laboratory to try out new ideas. It was all a wonderful experience for me and an invaluable education.
ReplyDeleteJohn to have worked with the likes of some of designs greats, such as Mr. Hadley, must be time honored memories? I have grown weary of open concept, and the void of formal spaces. For many of us we tend to follow design not embrace it. Uber trends are for amateurs. If a grand window cries for grand curtains with a sense of theatrics, then follow that cry. I enjoy your posts immensely, so much to be learned and appreciated. Thank you John.
ReplyDeleteD.T., I think we can all learn from the past, the distant and not so distant, if we just make time for study to see what works for today and what doesn't. Creativity in design can not ignore the past, nor can it sacrifice style for utility and comfort. Trends are unavoidable in today's media, but it is not hard to imagine what will survive and what won't. Many thanks for your comment and continued readership.
ReplyDeleteFunny my mother and grandmother both traditionalists to the max still refer to them as curtains as well....the sketches are lovely and reminiscent of a time when things could just be as they were meant to be without too much preoccupation of following a trend or going with the more minimalist look that is so big now. To me, there are few things that can transform a space than curtains! I am sure the auction will be a huge success. I enjoyed this and am happy to know that there are some (myself included) that great design does not follow necessarily have to follow the trends.
ReplyDeleteI think in America you do have the luxury of such wonderful architectural detail that in Australia we just don't have!
ReplyDeleteI am a modernist, but I do love to see these incredible window scapes with beautiful 'drapery/curtains' that match the stunning architecture!
Unfortunatley, I am unable to carry out these theatrics in real life application!
Pity!
Janelle x
T.E.H., the great thing about blogs is that we can present whatever we want, unlike the magazines who are trying to please the advertisers as well as keep up readership.
ReplyDeleteJanelle, curtains can be very simple treatments and still effective additions to a room. I have never been to Australia, but I have done a couple of adobe houses in New Mexico that were very stark without furnishings. I have several regular readers Down Under and really appreciate your readership.
ReplyDeleteWe took a quick trip to Sotheby's over the weekend to view A. Hadley's items, very small grouping mostly tucked away in a corner on the 4th(?)level, like a treasure hunt finding other pieces throughout the much grander offerings. Sotheby's reps were most accommodating, even taking us "backstage" to find low "bookcase" - a very simple console table of just the right proportions designed by A.H. featured on cover of Feb/March 2000 issue of Elle Decor. All in all, a lovely personal grouping with Mr. Hadley's style evident in every piece. Thank you for your help in finding this very special collection.
ReplyDeleteWks, I am glad you were able to view the auction lots. And I am glad you were helped by the Sotheby's staff. The on-line catalog did not have a designation for the A.H. lots; I recognized them, but many would not. Of course, some have more of an A.H. connection than others. I am sorry that the A.H. sketches were not in individual lots so more people might have the opportunity to own one. All the estimates are unrealistically low, so be prepared if you plan on bidding.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying going through all of your blog posts.
ReplyDeleteFascinating, informative, and classic. Just like you! Is there a way to sign up so I'm notified when
post something new?
Chuck, I have added a Follow By E-Mail widget by Blogger that will allow you easily to submit your address. I think this will be the best way for you to receive the full blog updates.
ReplyDelete