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| An interior design project by Bunny Williams in Richmond, Virginia, features decorative painting by Bob Christian. Photo from Architectural Digest, January, 2012. |
One of The Devoted Classicist's favorite motifs in decorative painting on walls is draped fabric. A very effective but relatively subtle example of this is seen in a Richmond, Virginia, house decorated by Bunny Williams and featured in the January issue of Architectural Digest magazine. The painting was executed by Bob Christian Decorative Art. After studying painting in art school and training under John Rosselli, Bunny's husband and owner of several To-The-Trade businesses in addition to the retail shops Treillage, Ltd. they founded together before their marriage, Mr. Christian relocated to Savannah, Georgia, where his wife owns Julia Christian Gallery, a retail outlet for paintings by both of them.
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| Homeowners Helga and Floyd Gottwald, Jr., pose in the entrance hall of their Richmond home decorated by Bunny Williams. Photo from Architectural Digest, January, 2012. |
Although the scheme does not completely cover the walls, or even the whole room, the photo with the homeowners gives a good representation of how the decorative painting helps tie together the large-scaled architectural detailing by Jay Hugo of 3north.
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| The wife's sitting room in a North California project by Suzanne Rheinstein with decorative painting by Bob Christian. Photo from Architectural Digest, December, 2011. |
Another of my other favorite motifs for decorative painting on walls is trellis work. Coincidently, here is another example of painting by Bob Christian, this time in a house in Northern California decorated by Suzanne Rheinstein with architecture by Ken Linsteadt in the December issue of Architectural Digest. The decorative painting helps lift the low large-scaled cove with a representation of bamboo used to give the treillage a lighter appearance. The potted flowers are a reference to her home furnishings shop Hollyhock.
Decorative Painting, Part One can be viewed here and Decorative Painting, Part Two can be viewed here. More of the work of interior designer Bunny Williams can be seen in her book BUNNY WILLIAMS' POINT OF VIEW: THREE DECADES OF DECORATING ELEGANT AND COMFORTABLE HOUSES, available at a discount here. Suzanne Rheinstein's own homes and some projects are shown in her book AT HOME: A STYLE FOR TODAY WITH THINGS FROM THE PAST, available at a discount here. A favored rate subscription to Architectural Digest magazine is offered here.
Just love these examples. These things have gotten so "heavy handed". Nice to see a lighter touch. Very chic. Leave it to Miss Bunny.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jane. Bunny's got it all goin on.
ReplyDeleteThese are quite something, and I think the large scale of the house can accommodate this kind of decorative painting, although truthfully, I would prefer plain walls, or a more delicate all-over pattern/texturing.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything like that black bat-wing light fixture! It looks ready for Halloween--or is it more line an upside-down umbrella?
--Road to Parnassus
I have to agree... absolutely love the draped fabric example.
ReplyDeleteI saw the painted hangings in the hall and though how pleasant it was to look at something with guts rather than the etiolated stuff seen elsewhere. I would like to have seen the hangings not used as background but perhaps I'm being crankily purist (just one cup of coffee this morning!)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful examples of decorative painting dahhling.. & such a nice mention of the Christians...
ReplyDeleteI'm lost in admiration of both examples of Bob Christian's work, which has
ReplyDelete"redeemed" decorative painting from triteness or grandiosity, don't you agree?
Parnassus, the light fixture is called "Umbrella Chandelier" and is a standard model created by Bunny Williams' husband John Rosselli. I think the color is dark green with gold detailing, but custom finishes and other variations are available. This and other fanciful models are sold to-the-trade through www.johnrosselliassociates.com. Sometimes I worry, when using decorative light fixtures that are not antique (essentially one of a kind), that new ones are too "common". So I am glad you found this model so unique!
ReplyDeleteJWC, thank you for commenting.
Blue, although I love wall painting being the featured decoration -- and that will be seen in future posts in this series -- I do also appreciate the decorative layering seen here in Bunny's project. Variety, and all that. But your comments are always appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHRH, the Christians are hardly in need of my endorsement, but I was happy to learn about them and Spread The Good Word. There are many other decorative painters today, too, and they will be featured in future posts in this series.
Toby, it is true that Decorative Painting has gotten a bad name lately; when it is bad, it is truly horrid! Although I am not opposed to a bold spareness (as opposed to just empty or unfinished), well-executed decoration can really be a source of joy in a space.
ReplyDeleteAs an artist myself I enjoy wall painting. Apart from doing for others, every house I have owned I have done some sort of wall painting. Once it got us in trouble, since I had painted some cracks in the wall, a prospective buyer thought it was a real crack and by painting the walls in the room we were trying to coverup the defects:)
ReplyDeleteThe simulated damask wall painting in Virginia home is beautiful, It is subtle in spite of the scale.
Thanks for sharing your story, PC, a lesson to decorative painters everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThis will be interesting reading for me! I shall sit down with a cup of tea and take a good look at it.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I think I did not explain myself clearly for when I wrote "etiolated stuff elsewhere" I was not referring to another room or to Bunny Williams' decoration, but to many other examples of decorative painting seen today - elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteBlue, I understood what you meant, but always welcome clarification.
ReplyDeleteI was struck with its beauty. What's the paint color in the living room? It looks so fresh, it's like you are in a garden.
ReplyDeleteThis is not one of my own projects, but I assume the paint was custom mixed. For depth of color, the background may even be a translucent glaze with the overlay of trellis painted on top of that.
ReplyDelete