Publisher's Synopsis
A pivotal figure of 1950s Café Society, Georges Geffroy was venerated in his lifetime as an oracle of grand classical interior design - but this was a classicism revisited, purified and stripped back to its quintessence, far removed from any notion of pastiche. Geffroy's loyal client list featured a 'who's who' of the great names of the time, for whom he created interior designs of supreme refinement. He complemented his decorative schemes with objets and furniture from his favourite period, the late eighteenth century, selected with a famously unerring eye from the most distinguished antique dealers of the time, and draped them with silks chosen with his unique flair for colour. Every detail of his compositions spoke eloquently of his incessant quest for perfection. Declaring his unbounded admiration for the work of Christian Bérard, Geffroy designed celebrated interiors for Christian Dior, a friend from his youth, as well as for the great beauties of the age, goddesses of elegance such as Daisy Fellowes and Gloria Guinness, and icons of taste including Charles de Beistegui, Alexis de Redé at the Hôtel Lambert, and Arturo Lopez in his Neuilly mansion and on his legendary yacht. At the end of his life he crowned his career with his exceptional designs for the great art patron and collector Antenor Patino, a final project that allowed him to showcase his remarkable gifts once more. This book reconstructs Georges Geffroy's interior design projects with the greatest possible accuracy, thanks notably to previously unpublished archive documents and to the valuable contribution of Hubert de Givenchy, one of his most fervent admirers. Generously illustrated throughout with many hitherto unseen images and supported by comprehensive appendices, this is an essential volume for anyone interested in the history of taste, as well as for connoisseurs of architecture and interior design. Text in French.
